By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – For the faithful Old Dominion fans, the ones who've been with the program since the Monarchs began playing football in 2009, ODU's short but contentious rivalry with Georgia Southern brings up both fond and bitter memories.
ODU was in its third season in 2011 with freshman quarterback Taylor Heinicke running the show when the Monarchs collided with Georgia Southern in the second round of the FCS playoffs in Statesboro, Georgia.
Heinicke threw for five touchdowns and ran for another in a performance that garnered him national acclaim, but ODU's defense just couldn't stop the Eagles. Georgia Southern clinched a 55-48 victory after recovering an attempted ODU on-side kick with just 39 seconds left.
Video of ODU 2011 FCS playoff game
The teams met again in the 2011 FCS playoffs, and in spite of holding a 14-point fourth-quarter lead, ODU could not stop the Eagles from rallying to claim a 49-35 victory.
Highlights of ODU 2012 FCS Playoff Game
Both games were televised on ESPN and for many college football fans, it was their introduction to ODU. And for such a young program, the games were memorable, even if the final results weren't.
The teams meet again for the first time in a decade Saturday when ODU hosts the Eagles at 3:30 p.m. It will be ODU's homecoming game.
Much has changed over the last decade. Both moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision and had their struggles doing so. And now both are among the hottest teams in the Sun Belt Conference.
ODU (3-3, 2-0 Sun Belt) was picked to finish last by league coaches but is now in first place. The Monarchs upended Virginia Tech in their opener and knocked off previously unbeaten Coastal Carolina, 49-21, this past weekend in Conway, South Carolina.
Georgia Southern (4-3, 1-2) upset Nebraska in its second game and rallied to knock off No. 25 James Madison, 45-38, last week in Statesboro, Georgia.
ODU is no longer a pass-happy team with a sedentary defense that simply outscores opponents. Defensive coordinator Blake Seiler has shored up ODU's traditionally poor defense and last week, Blake Watson rushed for a school-record 259 yards at Coastal.
Georgia Southern was an option team from the time former Georgia defensive coordinator Erk Russell founded the program, but that all changed last spring when first-year coach Clay Helton brought a new offensive scheme to Georgia Southern.
The Eagles passed for 578 yards last week against JMU with a player ODU is very familiar with doing the damage. Quarterback Kyle Vantrease started last season at Buffalo and led the Bulls to a 35-34 victory at ODU that may have been the most empty win that week in all of college football.
ODU trailed, 35-7, at halftime but thoroughly dominated the second half before losing, 35-34, on a missed extra point. The Bulls walked out of S.B. Ballard Stadium knowing they'd been outplayed.
Coach Ricky Rahne was the quarterbacks coach at Vanderbilt when ODU and Georgia Southern played in the FCS playoffs, but he's aware of the history between the two schools.
"I think it's a pretty cool deal to have them for our homecoming just based on how important they are to the history of Old Dominion," he said. "ODU had a couple of good battles against them in the playoffs.
"We're both in the Sun Belt and that's a cool deal for both of us."
Helton and Rahne were on opposite sidelines once in their career.
Helton was the head coach at USC when the Trojans defeated Penn State in the Rose Bowl played on Jan. 2, 2017. Rahne was then Penn State's pass game coordinator and tight ends coach.
Expect to See More of D.J. Mack
Backup quarterback D.J. Mack Jr. passed for a touchdown and ran for another in the victory over Coastal Carolina, and although he had been used from time to time earlier this season, never had he experienced so much success.
Rahne said you can expect to see more of Mack.
"We wanted to make sure we had it ironed out, that everything was good to go where he would be put in a position where we thought it would be successful," Rahne said.
"He's one of our most dynamic guys with the ball in his hand and we've got to continue to find ways to get him in there."
Rahne stressed that starter Hayden Wolff has nothing to worry about.
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Wolff was brilliant at Coastal Carolina, completing 12 of 16 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Yet Rahne said it was one of his incomplete passes that most impressed him.
"To me, one of the most important plays of the game was the fifth play," Rahne said. "They ran a coverage that we weren't expecting, and he did not put the ball in jeopardy on purpose.
"He threw the ball away instead of trying to force a play. I thought that was huge, huge growth for him, but also huge for our football team."
That drive ended with a Blake Watson touchdown run.
Rahne said that as is often the case with quarterbacks, Mack and Wolff remain close.
"If you noticed, on (Mack's) touchdown pass, the very first person out on the field to congratulate him was Hayden Wolff," Rahne said.
What Kicked ODU's Running Game Into Gear?
ODU rushed for a grand total of 357 yards in its first five games, an average of just 71.4 yards per game.
So what happened Saturday to unleash a 357-yard onslaught of rushing yardage against Coastal Carolina?
Actually, it's pretty simple, Rahne said.
"We were closer maybe than what meets the eye," he said. "We were just a block away here, a block away there. We were really close and we stuck with it.
"I thought our offensive staff did an excellent job of game planning in a way that gave our blockers and our runners angles and numbers. And I thought our running backs did a great job of being patient to wait for the holes to develop and then explode through."
Watson, especially, had a great game, he said.
"He was using his off hand to swipe way defenders, to stiff-arm defenders and then set up his blockers down the field to create explosive plays," Rahne said.
Offensive linemen Nick Saldiveri said this was truly a team effort, that it wasn't just the offensive line that opened holes.
"I thought everyone, from the wide receivers to the tight ends, were making great blocks downfield," he said. "Offensive lineman open holes to break running backs past the line of scrimmage, but at the end of the day it's the blocks downfield that gets us in the end zone."
"Juice Man" Gets Some Love from ODU O Line
There is perhaps no fan more beloved by the ODU football team than Ray Wittersheim, who acquired the nickname "Juice Man" when he began holding a juice container for the players during their Monarch Walk.
Wittersheim is a donor and also a close friend of the program. When the team won the Bahamas Bowl, he purchased 200 footballs with Bahamas Bowl logos for the players and coaches. Whenever he appears at a practice, players rush over to say hello.
"Other than my family, I don't think there's anything I love more than Old Dominion and Old Dominion football," he told then Virginian-Pilot reporter Ed Miller a few years ago.
So, when Wittersheim had health problems earlier this season, the coaches and players gave some love right back to him. And most of the love came from the offensive line – Wittersheim wears a "Hog Academy" t-shirt with every ODU O lineman pictured on the back.
Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Kevin Reihner put together a video from himself and the O line and Rahne sent an individual video.
"Hey brother, the OL heard you were fighting to get back on your feet and wanted to send some words of encouragement," Reihner texted Wittersheim.
"This ODU/Hampton Roads community has truly become a home for my wife and I and you are a huge part of that."
Wittersheim, the president of Tecnico Corporation, a marine and industrial contractor, had complications from knee replacement surgery, but said he is back on his feet and fully recovered.
"I'm blessed beyond belief and with my Monarchs playing the best game of the season, I couldn't be better," he said.
ODU Atlanta Alumni Pumped about Georgia State Game
The ODU Alumni Association is planning a tail-gate next weekend in Atlanta, when the Monarchs visit Georgia State. As a center of high-tech business, Atlanta has nearly 2,000 alumni from ODU, which graduates a ton of science, business and computer programming students.
Matthew D. Harrell, an ODU alum living in Atlanta, is trying to spread the word about the event. For $50, you get a game ticket and tailgate experience which includes a buffet and three drink tickets.
"Here, in the middle of SEC and ACC country, that's a great deal," he said.
For information on the tailgate, CLICK HERE
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter Facebook or Instagram
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