Minium: ODU Football Team Proved in Second Half Against Buffalo That it Can Win A Lot of Games

By Harry Minium
 
If you missed seeing the second half of the Old Dominion football game Saturday night, and some fans left at halftime, you missed a miraculous comeback and also learning a lesson everyone who stayed behind drank in.
 
If the team that absolutely dominated Buffalo in the second half shows up the rest of the season, ODU is going to win a lot of games.
 
ODU (1-3) was terrible in the first half, especially on offense. The Monarchs had six penalties, gave up touchdowns on a blocked kick and fumble and dropped two first-half touchdown passes and deserved to be down to Buffalo, 35-7.
 
Buffalo, mind you, is a pretty good team. The Bulls' only losses were at Nebraska and a 3-point home loss to No. 16 Coastal Carolina. Buffalo only lost once last season and won a bowl game.
 
And in the second half, ODU dominated the Bulls unlike I've seen a Monarch team dominate an opponent in years. They were more dominating than they were in a 47-7 victory over Hampton.
 
ODU's defense limited the Bulls to 40 yards and just one first down in the second half, and by the way, both numbers were far and away school records.
 
ODU's offense, meanwhile, rolled to 319 yards, 19 first downs and four touchdowns.
 
That may have been the best half of football ODU has played since Sept. 22, 2018, when the Monarchs upset Virginia Tech at old Foreman Field.
 
Alas, ODU didn't stop making mistakes in the second half. Isiah Paige, a freshman with loads of potential, fumbled a few feet from the end zone. Minutes later, Nick Rice missed a game-tying point after touchdown.

It wasn't a conventional PAT, however – because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, it was a 35-yarder. He missed it by inches.
 
Yes, it was a hurtful, heartbreaking loss. But the second half was also a revelation and could be a turning point for a team I've said all season has the potential to be very good.


 
When this team is motivated, when it truly buys into the 1-0 mentality that coach Ricky Rahne has instilled, this is a good team, one capable of beating anyone left on its schedule. Going 1-0 means putting aside what happened on the last play, or yesterday or last week and focusing on the next play or the day's practice or that day's team meeting.

Win each rep, each rep and each day.

"That second half showed the potential this team has when we execute the right way," Rahne said. "The first half showed what any team is going to look like when you don't execute.
 
"The second half showed what we can do."
 
He added that he expects the way ODU played in the second half "to become the standard."
 
Going 1-0 means practicing hard and well and the team got off to a good start Sunday. "It's the best Sunday practice we've had," he said.
 
What happened at halftime to change things? Apparently, the Monarchs finally took to heart Rahne's message about going 1-0.
 
And he also challenged them.
 
"I told them I wanted guys to compete and if they didn't want to compete, they can stay in the locker room," he said. "If they can't compete then I don't' want to be associated with them."
 
Asked if he feels better about his team now, he responded: "I feel better because we executed how I know we can. I feel better because I believe in this team, and I believe they can do what they did in the entire second half. I've believed that the entire season. I think second half bolstered their belief in the process."
 
Sixth-year senior captain Isaac Weaver said that's indeed the case.

"Coach Rahne told us (at halftime) the only way we had a chance is if we go 1-0 on every play," he said. "That's something he's been preaching from the first day and I think that's the first time we really embraced it. 
 
"It was the first time we've really had good evidence what happens when we do that."


ODU offensive lineman Isaac Weaver 

I think the unsportsmanlike conduct flag that forced Rice to try to kick a 35-yard PAT perhaps should have stayed in the ref's pocket. Kids are kids and some are going to let their emotions get away from them. There was no taunting of Buffalo players, just the joy of guys celebrating a miraculous comeback.
 
Rahne disagrees with me. He thought it was a good call, and he obviously knows a lot more about football than I do.
 
"I think it's the rule, you can't do it and I think they should throw" the flag, he said, adding: "I want things officiated well. That's the rule and I agreed with that rule. It's an emotional game and we let our emotions get the best of us."
 
But he also noted a play later, after the missed extra point, Buffalo players also came on the field. "I don't remember 23 guys being on their field goal block team," he said. "There were guys out there all the way out to the numbers."
 
Would a penalty in that situation have helped ODU? Probably not. Buffalo easily recovered the on-side kick. But moving the ball 15 yards forward would have put more pressure on the Bulls. On that we'll never know because the refs didn't call the penalty they should have.
 
It was a Conference USA officiating crew that got some very tough calls correct. For instance, fans insisted that Buffalo's Dylan McDuffie was tackled in the end zone for a safety in the waning minutes. But he wasn't. It was a tough call and the refs got it right.
 
They got many others correct as well.
 
There was no malice toward ODU. Refs sometimes get things wrong, as all of us do.

Rice is one of ODU's all-time best kickers and he remains so even after the miss. Had it been a true PAT attempt, it almost surely would have sailed through the uprights. Toward the end of its flight, it drifted inches to the right.
 
This loss is not on him, or any other single player. Fumbles, missed blocks, dropped passes and poor throws also occurred.
 
"Nick has been through a lot," Rahne said. "He's missed kicks before and he's bounced back and done very well.
 
"His confidence level is the same. That's one of the reasons I have a lot of respect for that kid. He's earned the right to have confidence
 
"Tom Brady is considered one of the greatest players of all time and he's missed a few. For whatever reason, kickers are never allowed to miss. And quarterbacks miss all the time."
 
The road ahead is difficult for ODU. The Monarchs make the longest road trip in Conference USA Saturday when they visit UTEP. And El Paso, located underneath New Mexico halfway to the Arizona border, is a 1,980-mile flight from Norfolk. A 9 p.m. Eastern start time guarantees the Monarchs will arrive back in Norfolk as the morning sun is rising.
 
UTEP (3-1) is in its fourth season under head coach Dana Dimel, with whom Rahne coached at Kansas State. Rahne calls him "a great man and a great football coach."
 
Assistant Defensive Coordinator and Safeties coach Remington Rebstock came to ODU from UTEP in 2019.


ODU's Remington Rebstock coach at UTEP last season 

Dimel has done a terrific job of rebuilding a program that was at a low ebb when he took over in late 2017. The Miners have 14 starters back and did well recruiting junior colleges.
 
Their most impressive victory was a 20-13 triumph over New Mexico last weekend. No surprise here – UTEP is a 3 ½-point favorite.
 
The trip to UTEP can be exhausting and next week, the Monarchs get right back on a plane and go to Marshall (2-2), a team that blistered Navy, 49-7, and lost games it probably should have won against East Carolina and Appalachian State.
 
Then ODU returns home on Oct. 16 to host Western Kentucky, which lost by three at unbeaten Army and by two points last week at home to Indiana. The Monarchs then get a much needed week off.
 
It's going to be a tough slog, but then these guys have been through a lot, or as Rahne said Saturday night, "they've been kicked around."
 
They were 1-11 in 2019 and did not play last season. They're 1-3 so far this season and yet they are approaching the future, and the first of eight Conference USA games, with a positive attitude.
 
And so are ODU fans.
 
As I headed from the press box to the interview room Saturday night, there was a buzz among the crowd exiting S.B. Ballard Stadium. Some were disappointed about the loss, but most of the comments fans made to me were "what a comeback" and "that's a good football team."
 
And both statements are absolutely correct.
 
Minium was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in his 39 years at The Virginian-Pilot and won 27 state and national writing awards. He covers ODU athletics for odusports.com Follow him on Twitter @Harry_MiniumODU, Instagram @hbminium1 or email hminium@odu.edu