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Athlon Sports
Old Dominion Football: 2024 Monarchs Season Preview and Prediction
By Athlon Sports,
3 hours ago
Once again, Old Dominion has a lot of questions heading into the season. Can they stay healthy? Do they have the right guy in Grant Wilson at quarterback? Can they protect him? Can they hit the ground running in conference play? Finding answers is going to be essential for coach Ricky Rahne if they want to achieve their first winning season since 2016.
The Monarchs were competitive in 2023; they just constantly found themselves in situations where they had to be perfect. Eleven of ODU’s 13 games were decided by one score, and five of those ended in losses. That included the Famous Toastery Bowl, in which they blew a 35-14 lead in the fourth quarter and lost 38-35 to WKU in overtime.
In terms of yards per game, only ULM had a worse offense than Old Dominion (348.3) in the Sun Belt last season. Starting quarterback Grant Wilson, who transferred last year from FCS Fordham, had his moments with 17 touchdown passes as well as four rushing touchdowns. The offense as a whole, though, was rough around the edges.
From a pass-blocking perspective, Old Dominion had the worst offensive line in FBS last season. The Monarchs allowed 62 sacks, averaging nearly five per game. Offensive improvement starts with better line play.
The most notable individual performance of the 2023 season for Old Dominion was that of All-America linebacker Jason Henderson. Henderson has led FBS in total tackles each of the last two seasons after posting 170 in 2023. He missed spring practice recovering from a knee injury but is expected to return at some point during fall camp. He’ll be one of five returning defensive starters for ODU.
One of those starters is defensive tackle Denzel Lowry, who earned All-Sun Belt honorable mention honors last season. He had three sacks with five tackles for a loss. Just as the O-line needs to win more battles up front, the defensive front needs to generate more of a push after the Monarchs a league-low 19 sacks last season.
There are no returning starters in the secondary, but there are some interesting transfers who will contribute. Former North Texas safety Patrick Smith-Young seems extremely likely to do so after being the second-leading tackler on the Mean Green last season with 77.
Kicker Ethan Sanchez has not missed an extra point in two seasons, which is somewhat rare in college football. He hit 66 percent of his field goals last season. Likely starting punter Seamus Hall is a Division II transfer who is capable of flipping the field with 70-yard punts. He had a 42-yard average last season.
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