MINIUM: RAHNE PRAISES ODU STUDENTS, WHO HAVE TURNED OUT IN BIG NUMBERS FOR FOOTBALL
An average of more than 4,000 students have shown up to ODU's first four football games and that has drawn praise from Head Coach Ricky Rahne.
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – For much of his first three seasons as Old Dominion’s head football coach, Ricky Rahne did everything he could to persuade students to attend home games.
“I was commenting all the time about how we needed student support and walking around campus giving away gear with tickets,” he said. “Sometimes they listened to me and sometimes they didn’t.
“Well, this year, I don’t say anything, and they’re out in full force.”
Indeed, ODU students have turned out in good numbers. They picked up the full allotment of 5,500 tickets for ODU’s first two games against East Carolina and Virginia Tech, both of which sold out.
Then 4,612 students showed up for the Texas State game on Oct. 19.
Arguably the best turnout of all came last Thursday, when 3,924 students showed up and stood throughout a nationally televised 47-19 victory over Georgia Southern. Thursday night games typically draw sparse crowds and the ESPN2 cameras at the game spent a lot of time focusing on ODU students.
ODU has averaged 4,884 students and student guests through the first four games, nearly 900 more per game than last season.
“They’ve done an unbelievable job and created a lot of excitement in the stadium,” Rahne said. “We really appreciate that.”
Even if Rahne hasn’t been drumming up student support, ODU’s Student, Engagement and Services department, which is known simply as SEES around campus, has worked to get students out. SEES has held tailgates on Kaufman Mall and students at the tailgate at last Thursday's game received free t-shirts commemorating the Military Appreciation game.
ODU PLAYERS HAVE SYMPATHY FOR APP STATE
The ODU football team will be staying in a hotel two hours away from Boone, North Carolina on Friday as the Monarchs prepare for Saturday’s 2:30 game against Appalachian State. And that’s fine with Rahne.
Boone was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 232 people in four states, including more than 100 in North Carolina. Thousands of people have been left homeless and dozens of people remain missing.
The hotel that ODU reserved for this weekend is full of families made homeless by the flood and the Monarchs graciously offered to stay elsewhere.
“They’re dealing with so much there, like making sure that everyone has a place to stay,” he said.
“If it means we have to stay further away so that families can have a place to live, everyone on our team is willing to do that.”
ODU players expressed sympathy for flood victims and App State students and players.
“What they are going through is rough,” said offensive lineman Zach Barlev, a transfer from Illinois. “I’ve never experienced anything like that.
“I saw stuff about it on College GameDay this week and it was actually awesome to see what they are doing there. The football team has given out a lot.”
Mario Easterly, a sophomore safety from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, said he’s also impressed with how App State has aided relief efforts.
“I feel for them,” he said. “I know they’re going through a lot.
“But at the end of the day, we’ve got to play football and we’re going to go down there and play our best ball against a good team that’s definitely hungry.”
That was surely the case this past weekend when the Mountaineers hosted Georgia State in their first home game since the disastrous flooding.
App State rallied to defeat Georgia State, 33-26, to break a three-game losing streak. It was the first home game for App State in 37 days.
After App scored its first touchdown, most offensive players ran past the end zone jumped into the student section. That drew a penalty flag, but App State Coach Shawn Clark said that was fine with him.
It was, he said, a way for the students to bond with their many fans.
"Just like our community has battled their tails off for the last four weeks to get some kind of normalcy in their lives, our program is doing the same thing,” Clark said. "Our community is behind us 100 percent, and we're behind our community 100 percent.
“It's still going to be a long haul for our community, and we're going to be there every step of the way.”
SEASON TICKET HOLDERS GET FREE TICKETS FOR MIKE JONES’ OPENER
ODU football and men’s and women’s basketball season ticket holders can claim two free tickets each for ODU’s men’s basketball opener on Monday, Nov. 4, against Buffalo.
The game will mark the beginning of a new era for ODU basketball as alumnus Mike Jones is now ODU’s coach. Joe Rafanelli, ODU’s senior associate athletic director for revenue generation and external operations, said the offer is being made in part to try to draw a sellout for the opener.
“It also shows that there is value in being a season ticket holder,” he said. “This will be an historic game. We’re trying to make it easy for our fans to attend this game.”
Season ticket holders in all three sports can also claim tickets for the final ODU women’s basketball game of the season against Georgia Southern on Feb. 22.
“We usually make these tickets available for the last games of the season for both the men and women,” Rafanelli said. “But we felt more people would be interested in seeing Mike Jones’ first game.”
ODU sent an email to all season ticket holders this week detailing how to claim tickets.
STUDENTS WANTED FOR ODU FIELD HOCKEY GAME FRIDAY
ODU’s next home football game against James Madison on Nov. 16 is sold out, but a few hundred student tickets remain to be picked up.
And if you’re a student and want one of those tickets, the first 100 students to attend ODU’s field hockey regular-season finale on Friday against UConn will receive tickets for the JMU game.
And this is not just another field hockey game. If the Monarchs win, they claim the Big East regular-season title.
ODU broke a 10-game losing streak to UConn last season on the strength of a Rina Tsioles goal in overtime. ODU won the Big East Tournament last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
UConn is ranked 7th nationally while ODU is 22nd. The game begins at noon and will be televised on ESPN+.
Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram