By Harry Minium
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - D.J. Mack Jr., the Norview High School graduate and Central Florida transfer, will start tonight when Old Dominion takes on Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Head Coach Ricky Rahne made the announcement via ODU's Football Twitter account.
Mack competed for the starting spot with senior Stone Smartt and redshirt freshman Hayden Wolff. Both Smartt and Wolff started part of the 2019 season, the last season ODU played.
Rahne said earlier this week that he decided who will start at quarterback last week.
Speaking on Aug. 23 at ODU's media day, Mack said ODU was the right place for him at the right time.
"It feels amazing to be playing at home," he said. "Being from Norfolk, making your name here, doing something here at a higher level is really important to me.
"Being able to come home was a blessing. When I went to UCF, I made the decision for the right reasons at the time. But coming home to Old Dominion, I think that was something that was meant to happen."
A 6-foot-3, 226-pound junior, Mack is a durable quarterback who has great open field moves and good speed but also has an accurate passing arm.
A graduate transfer from UCF, Mack was the backup quarterback for the Knights in 2019 and missed the 2020 season with an injury.
His best season at UCF came in 2018, when as a redshirt freshman, he subbed for McKenzie Milton, who missed the last three games of the season with an injury.
Mack played in 10 games and started the last three, throwing for 619 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 337 yards and six more TDs.
But he will long be remembered at UCF for leading the Knights to the 2018 American Athletic Conference championship.
Starting only for the second time, he helped rally the Knights from a 17-point halftime deficit to a 56-41 victory over Memphis in the championship game. Mack completed 19 of 27 passes for 348 yards with one touchdown and rushed for 59 yards and four touchdowns. He was named the game's Most Outstanding Player.
It was the most passing yards by a UCF freshman since Ryan Schneider in 2000. His four rushing TDs tied the school's single-game record and set an AAC championship-game record. The then-unbeaten Knights lost to No. 11 LSU, 40-32, in the Fiesta Bowl.
As a senior at Norview, Mack was the Abe Goldblatt All-Tidewater Player of the Year, as chosen by The Virginian-Pilot, where he passed for 2,975 yards and rushed for 1,127 more and 52 total touchdowns.
He was a three-star recruit at Norview and ranked the nation's No. 17 dual-threat quarterback.
Mack was among nine players ODU signed from the transfer portal and at least six will start against Wake Forest.
He said the competition with Smartt and Wolff was friendly. Mack, Smartt and Wolff all said at media day that they will do whatever they can to help whoever starts.
"For me, it wasn't about trying to go out there and outdo someone else," he said. "It was going out there and being the best I can be every day for me, my family, my teammates, the coaches and Old Dominion."
He said after the nearly 22 months since the last time he and most of his teammates played in a game, "we're ready to get out there. It's been a long time time since we've been able to strap it on and play against somebody.
"I love our offense. I think it's going to be explosive. We can't wait to get out there."
The game will be televised by the ACC Network and the Old Dominion Radio Network at 7 p.m.
D.J. Mack Jr., the UCF Transfer and Former Norview High School Star, to Start at QB for ODU Against Wake Forest
