By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion's football program is on course to set a home average attendance record, and if that happens, ODU students will deserve a ton of credit.
More than 5,000 students passed through the turnstiles for last weekend's homecoming game against Georgia Southern. So far this season, 19,001 students have turned out for four games, an average of 4,750. If that number holds up, it will set an ODU student attendance record.
This surge of student interest in ODU football comes at a time when student attendance has been on the wane nationally.
Not only have students been turning out, but they have also been staying well into the second half. In the past, many have left at halftime, and that's also an issue at many FBS schools.
Most ODU students stuck around last weekend until the final minutes.
ODU has averaged 20,282 fans per game, slightly more than the previous record of 20,118 last set in 2017, when the Monarchs played in the smaller Foreman Field. Overall, attendance is up 27 percent from last season, when ODU averaged 15,966.
ODU's final home game against James Madison on Nov. 12 has already sold out the 21,944-seat S.B. Ballard Stadium. All student tickets have also been claimed for that game.
Tickets and student tickets are available for ODU's only other remaining home game -- its first Sun Belt Conference game against Marshall on Saturday, Nov. 5. That game, set for 2 p.m., matches teams that have met the last seven seasons as members of Conference USA.
Marshall, which upset Notre Dame earlier this season, handed ODU a heartbreaking, overtime loss a year ago on the road. Marshall leads the series, 6-1.
To purchase tickets for the Marshall game, CLICK HERE. To pick up student tickets, CLICK HERE
ODU, Georgia State Have Much in Common
Old Dominion will be reunited with an old Colonial Athletic Association rival when the Monarchs travel to Georgia State Saturday in a matchup of two universities that have much in common.
They're both urban schools that began football about the same time – ODU played its first season in 2009 and Georgia State in 2010.
Both moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision a year apart. ODU handily won all three games the schools played before Georgia State moved to FBS in 2012. ODU moved up in 2013.
Georgia State struggled more than ODU to get its footing in football until 2017, when Shawn Elliott was named head coach. The Appalachian State alum quickly rebuilt the program. He has taken the Panthers to bowl games in four of the last five seasons and Georgia State won three.
In 2019, the Panthers opened the season with an upset victory at Tennessee.
This year's team is 2-5, but as ODU coach Ricky Rahne noted at his weekly press conference, "They have played a very difficult schedule."
The Panthers outgained South Carolina in their opener, but two blocked punts returned for touchdowns led to a 35-14 Gamecock victory.
The Panthers led North Carolina in their second game, 28-21, in the second half before falling, 35-28.
Then, against Charlotte, they rolled to 602 offensive yards, but were undone by three turnovers in a 42-41 overtime defeat.
Georgia State finally got things together in a 41-33 victory over Georgia Southern earlier this month, piling up 335 rushing yards. And it's Georgia State's running game, ranked 10th nationally, that looms large in Saturday's game.
Three of Georgia State's top 11 all-time rushers start, including tailbacks Tucker Gregg (. 2 with 2,156 career yards) and Jamyest Williams (No. 4 with 1,525 yards).
Quarterback Darren Grainger (No. 11 with 1,054 rushing yards) is a Furman transfer. Although he's just in his second season with Georgia State, he is fifth among the school's career passers with 3,002 yards.
After starting 0-4, the Panthers defeated Army (31-14) and Georgia Southern before losing at App State on Wednesday of last week, 42-17.
The App State game, a mid-week nationally televised contest, gives Georgia State three more days between games than ODU.
Both teams have much reason to play with a sense of urgency.
ODU (3-4 overall, 2-1 Sun Belt) remains very much in the race for the Sun Belt East Division title. Georgia State (2-5, 1-2 Sun Belt) must win four of its last five games to become bowl eligible.
Game time is 3:02 p.m. on ESPN+.
Rahne Curious about Georgia State's Center Parc Stadium
Georgia State plays football at Center Parc Stadium, one of the most unusual and yet historic stadiums in the Sun Belt, and one that Rahne says he's anxious to see.
The stadium was built for the 1996 Summer Olympics with a seating capacity of 85,000. It was then renovated and downsized into the 49,896-seat Turner Field, and was home of the Atlanta Braves from 1997 through 2016.
When the Braves left the city of Atlanta for a new stadium in the suburbs, Georgia State purchased and renovated the facility at a cost of $52.8 million.
The stadium seats 24,333 for football and like any baseball stadium turned into a football facility, has an odd design. ODU's radio crew of Ted Alexander and Andy Mashaw will call the game from an end zone. Sideline reporter James Withham may have the best view of the game.
More than 20,000 upper deck seats remain but have been covered and won't be used unless needed.
Rahne's wife, Jennifer, plans a trip each summer for her, her husband and sons, Ryder and Jake, in which they attend four or five Major League Baseball games. The family previously attended games at Turner Field. Rahne said he's interested to see how the stadium looks now.
"I am curious as to how it looks because I grew up in the era when Camden Yards and Coors Field were built, when they tried to get to those retro stadiums and away from the big ones," he said.
"I hear they've done an unbelievable job."
Rahne and family have attended games in every Major League Baseball stadium except for Seattle, Oakland and San Francisco. He said the family will attend games in all three this summer and add a stop in suburban Atlanta's Truist Park.
This will be the last year the family takes an extended summer trip together because his oldest son, Ryder, will be entering high school.
"When he's in high school sports, he will need to be around during the summer," he said. Ending the family tradition touring ballparks in July "will be kind of a bittersweet deal for me," he said.
Rahne: Taylor Heinicke is a "Walking Billboard" for ODU Football
Rahne was busy watching film and meeting with his team on Sunday and did not have time to watch Taylor Heinicke's first start this season for the Washington Commanders against the Green Bay Packers.
But he checked his cell phone from time to time to see how Heinicke was doing and was very pleased with the outcome.
The ODU alum, who set most school passing records in his 3 ½ seasons, got off to a tough start against the Packers but had an outstanding second half. Heinicke completed 20 of 33 passes for 201 yards, two touchdowns and an interception to lead Washington to a 23-21 victory.
"He's a walking billboard for our program," Rahne said. "They (announcers) say about 422 times that he's from Old Dominion. That's a pretty awesome thing to have our name keep coming up like that."
Heincke and Rahne have forged a good friendship in Rahne's nearly three years at ODU. Heinicke has done TV ads to push football season tickets and attended ODU's 20-17 victory over Virginia Tech earlier this season, and hugged Rahne just before gametime.
Rahne said that beating Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, and Tampa Bay's Tom Brady a year ago, "is a pretty special deal."
"To be able to say that he's gone toe to toe with Brady and Aaron Rodgers and all those guys, I mean, that's a pretty sweet thing to be able to say," he said. "Taylor is one of the best competitors that I've ever seen."
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: ODU Football Attendance up 27 Percent Thanks in part to Surge in Student Interest
