Minium: ODU Fans Should Drink in the Accolades Pouring In For Surging ODU Football Team
ODU, which has won four games in a row, received votes for the first time in the FBS Coaches Poll and is ranked 46th nationally and first in the Sun Belt in the ESPN power rankings.
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Ricky Rahne was surprised to hear that his Old Dominion football team received votes for the first time ever in the American Football Coaches Association poll.
And if you know the ODU head coach at all, you won't be surprised to learn that he didn’t seem impressed.
“To me it’s not a big thing,” he said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “We’re focused on going 1-0, focused on trying to stack some good days of preparation together.”
That’s a good thing for ODU’s coaches and players. They should not allow the accolades pouring in for the Monarchs to distract their focus.
Their attention should be only on Marshall, which hosts ODU at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
But for ODU fans, it’s OK to celebrate and look ahead to what might be.
CLICK HERE to see Coaches Top 25 Poll
It’s OK to brag a little about your Monarchs. It’s OK to go on the internet and read about how your football team is being mentioned among the nation’s best.
It’s OK to drink in the joy of a 4-1 start in which the Monarchs blew out Virginia Tech, 45-26, in Blacksburg, and whose only loss was a 13-point defeat at Indiana, now ranked seventh nationally.
It’s OK to enjoy it because the Monarchs haven’t been 4-1 in more than a decade.
ODU was 38th nationally in voting by a panel of FBS coaches, and that’s far from the only accolade the Monarchs are receiving.
ODU moved up eight places in the ESPN power rankings, to 46th, just ahead of a power schools, including Arizona, Pitt, Kentucky, Rutgers, Maryland, Wisconsin, N.C. State and Michigan State, to name a few.
CLICK HERE for ESPN Football Power Ratings
“RANKODU” was trending this weekend on X, the social media site previously known as Twitter.
The @ReddittCFB Twitter account posted this on Saturday night following ODU’s 47-7 victory over Coastal Carolina: “Old Dominion is absolutely a College Football Playoff contender. Should be favored to go 12-1 with a closeish loss to Indiana.”
OK, closeish isn’t a word, but you get the picture.
ODU is a legit contender for the College Football Playoff. And while a lot has to fall into place for the Monarchs to go to the national championship playoffs, meaning it's still a long shot, never has ODU and College Football Playoff been mentioned in the same sentence prior to this season.
ODU has been hitting on all cylinders. The Monarchs have outscored their opponents, 181-73, and have outgained them in offensive yardage, 2,492 to 1571.
They've sacked opposing quarterbacks 14 times while opponents have sacked ODU's Colton Joseph five times.
ODU’s offense is 10th nationally with an average of 498.4 yards per game.
Yet the road ahead is daunting. ODU is the favorite on Saturday but the Monarchs have never won a game in Huntington, West Virginia. The Monarchs have only beaten Marshall once, in 2016, in 10 tries.
Then comes a game at James Madison in which the Monarchs likely will be slight underdogs. The winner of that game will almost surely be favored to win the Sun Belt East.
ODU has lost three in a row to the Dukes.
The Monarchs then finish the season against five Sun Belt opponents, including an Oct. 25 home game against App State. And if you know the Sun Belt, you realize that every team is talented and that every team is capable of beating ODU.
Yet this team seems to have the talent and character to win a Sun Belt Championship and that's a direct reflection on Rahne and his staff.
During an era in which an average FBS team lose 20 to 50 or more players yearly in the transfer portal, credit Rahne and his coaching staff with recruiting smartly.
They were able to retain Colton Joseph, who had top-dollar offers from several power programs, but wisely saw the potential of this ODU team and the role he could play.
His passing game has improved over last season, he's making smart decisions and his speed and slick moves when he tucks and runs give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares.
Joseph has completed 81 of 124 passes for 1,215 yards and 12 touchdowns. His 86.6 rushing yards per game ranks him fifth nationally among quarterbacks.
But that’s not all on Colton. ODU managed to retain and recruit a talented offensive line that has provided him outstanding protection. Kudos to the starting O line: Zach Barlev, Skyler Grant, Ryan Joyce, Maarten Woudsma and Stephon Dubose-Bourne.
ODU had only one returning wide receiver with any catches in Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, a sophomore who has played exceptionally well. He has 22 receptions for 295 yards and five touchdowns.
ODU coaches traveled far and wide to fill out the depth chart with outstanding junior college receivers, including Ja’Cory Thomas (19 receptions, 343 yards, three TDs) and Tre' Brown III (17 for 302 yards and a touchdown).
ODU ‘s offensive backfield was also bereft of depth, but coaches recruited Trequan Jones from Georgia Military junior college and he’s rushed 48 times for 456 yards and four touchdowns.
Ke’Travion Hargrove, who transferred from Grambling, has 136 yards on 26 carries and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass against Coastal.
The defense had a lot of holes to fill and, again, the coaches did so with a ton of new players, but also with players developed by Defensive Coordinator Blake Seiler and his staff.
Jerome Carter, a sophomore safety from Lake City, Florida, leads ODU with 37 tackles and two interceptions. Safety Mario Easterly, a junior from York, Pennsylvania, has 33 tackles and an interception.
Both were recruited and developed by ODU.
ODU’s linebackers have played exceptionally well. ODU lost All-American Jason Henderson, who stepped away from football earlier this season.
Jahleel Culbreath and Jeremy Mack Jr. (each with 30 tackles) and Seth Naotala and Jackson Forrest (18 tackles each) have done yeoman’s work at linebacker in their absence.
Safety Nickendre Stiger, a transfer from Kansas State, has 24 tackles, four pass breakups and two forced fumbles. Cornerback Botros Alisandro, who transferred from Purdue, has 20 tackles and four pass breakups. Zion Frink moved from safety to corner and has 15 tackles and three breakups.
Kris Trinidad, a fifth-year senior from Richmond, leads ODU’s D linemen with 14 tackles and 3 ½ tackles for a loss.
While it’s way too early to call this ODU’s best team ever, Rahne essentially called it his best team in remarks after Saturday’s victory over Coastal Carolina.
“We have more guys who understand what it takes to win each football game,” he said. "That's the difference this season. It’s the deepest team we’ve had and the most complete team we’ve had.
"We’re not focused on getting the ball to one guy.
“We have multiple pass rushers, multiple guys in the secondary who can make plays, we have multiple linebackers who can make tackles, we have multiple players who can make tackles on special teams, we have multiple guys who can run the ball and make explosive plays.
“Our depth, that is the reason we’re playing so well.”
There’s much more to this team than depth. The camaraderie among these guys is something you rarely see in college football.
“I’ve said it so many times, these guys enjoy playing football,” Rahne said. “They just love to play football.
“They don’t just love Saturdays, they love the other parts as well. They understand that preparation during the week allows them to get to where they want to be.”
Carter said that “last year, we weren’t as locked in. There was stuff in the locker room that you’all didn’t see.
“But this year, we’re a brotherhood. We play for each other. We really care about each other.”
And that is reflected in ODU's record and all of the sudden national attention.
Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram