Minium: Date With South Florida in Cure Bowl Puts ODU Football on its Biggest Bowl Stage Ever
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Every bowl game is special, and that was clearly the case when Old Dominion competed in the Bahamas (2016), Myrtle Beach (2021) and Famous Toastery (2023) bowl games.
But the Monarchs will be playing on their biggest bowl stage ever when they take on South Florida in the StaffDNA Cure Bowl on December 17 in Orlando, Florida.
The bowl is considered among the top two or three bowl destinations for Group of 6 schools and matches two of the nation’s best Group of 6 teams. ODU and USF, both of whom received votes this week in the coaches Top 25 poll, are 9-3 and, for a time, were considered potential College Football Playoff contenders.
The game begins at 5 p.m., meaning much of the broadcast will bleed into prime time on ESPN. And the Cure Bowl generally draws good TV ratings.
In recent years the game has attracted between two and three million TV households, and while game attendance has hovered around 10,000, officials are hoping for 30,000 or more given USF’s proximity to Orlando.
USF is located in Tampa, just 84 miles from Orlando.
While ODU fans will clearly be outnumbered, if the interest on social media is any indication, Monarch Nation will also be well represented.
To purchase tickets in the ODU section of the stadium, CLICK HERE.
USF and ODU meet rarely in any sport, but for nine seasons, from 1982 through 1991, both were members of the Sun Belt Conference. ODU moved on to the Colonial Athletic Association and Conference USA before re-joining the Sun Belt in 2022.
ODU Head Coach Ricky Rahne said that from the start of the bowl selection process that he was hoping the Monarchs would head to Orlando.
Part of the reason is location – Orlando is a tourist destination, with four Disney parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom), three Universal parks (Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe), SeaWorld Orlando, and Legoland Florida.
Cocoa Beach and the Kennedy Space Center are just an hour to the East.
Orlando attracted more than 75 million tourists in 2024.
“We have so many coaches with young kids and to be able to go down there for our players, I’m really excited about this,” he said. “It’s a perfect opportunity. I love the timing, the location, and very bluntly, I’m excited about the opponent.”
USF was red hot when the season began, upsetting then No. 25 Boise State in its opener, 34-7, and then, in its second game, shocking then No. 13 Florida, 18-16, on 20-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica as time expired.
The Bulls dropped narrow losses in two of their final five games at Memphis (34-31) and Navy (41-38) that had they won, they would have played in the American Conference championship game.
The Bulls run a “veer and shoot” offense that emphasizes a quick pace and wearing down opponents. They outscored their opponents, 516-280, and are an especially strong second-half team.
USF’s offense is ranked second nationally with an average of 501.7 yards per game. ODU is 16th at 460.8.
USF quarterback Byrum Brown, a 6-foot-3, 231-pound redshirt junior, recovered from a serious injury last year to throw for 3,158 yards and 28 touchdowns and rush for 1,008 yards and 14 touchdowns.
With his size and speed, he can be an intimidating presence when he leads the option play.
“Their tempo is going to be a challenge,” said ODU defensive lineman Kris Trinidad. “They’ve got a good group of guys up front who play fast and hard.
“They’ve got a really good quarterback. I feel like he really led their offense and he pushes their tempo.”
ODU’s defense has been among the nation’s stingiest, allowing 331.4 yards per game, which is 33rd nationally. And the Monarchs allowed just 26 points in their final four games.
“You’ve got two 9-3 teams playing each other,” Rahne said. “That’s what the bowl season is all about, having two really good football teams going against each other, two teams with really good defenses and explosive offenses.
“It’s a heck of a matchup and I know our guys are really looking forward to it.”
The game will be played in historic Camping World Stadium, which opened in 1936, the same year Foreman Field (now S.B. Ballard Stadium) opened at ODU. Both were built with funds provided by President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression.
After undergoing several massive renovations, it now seats 60,219 spectators.
An aisde here, when the Orlando stadium was known as the Tangerine Bowl, and was much smaller, it was the home of the Orlando Panthers, then archrivals of the Norfolk Neptunes of the Continental Football League.The Neptunes played their home games on ODU's campus.
The Cure Bowl has raised $6.25 million over the years for cancer research, and that is special to Rahne given that his mother, Deb Rahne, is a breast cancer survivor. She underwent successful cancer treatment during the latter stages of the pandemic and is fully recovered, he said.
“Obviously, people who know me know how much I love my Mom and how much she means to me and how much she’s meant to me my entire life,” he said. “I’m lucky to still have her, and a lot of other people don’t.
“So, this is something I think really matters and is a great message. I love all the bowl sponsors, because they give everybody an opportunity.
“But to have one like this, with a message like this, is something pretty special.”
Want to help ODU football players have an experience they will remember the rest of their lives? CLICK HERE to donate to the Reign as One Bowl Campaign.
ODU Bowl Season is presented by Miller’s Home Comfort. For over 40 years, Miller’s has remained a powerful presence in the Hampton Roads community. From our initial start as a simple oil company to our growth as one of the area’s leading heating, cooling, IAQ and plumbing businesses, we've thrived because our customers trust our knowledge, honesty, reliability and professionalism.
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
To see past stories from Minium, CLICK HERE