NORFOLK — Old Dominion has lost one game, won two easily and limped to victory despite a few self-inflicted foot wounds in another.
As the Monarchs enter Saturday’s home game against Coastal Carolina, they’d prefer to resume their normal gait.
ODU (3-1) lost three fumbles inside Liberty’s red zone in last week’s rainy 21-7 win at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
The Monarchs, after entering the game perfect in red-zone opportunities, whiffed on all five chances against the Flames. In addition to the fumbles, ODU missed a pair of field-goal tries.
With nothing but Sun Belt Conference games remaining, the Monarchs hope to shore up their drive-finishing abilities. Blowing away opponents is better than getting away with mistakes.
“You always want to teach these lessons after a win, just because it is so hard to win games,” sixth-year ODU coach Ricky Rahne said Monday during his weekly news conference. “But yeah, we certainly did leave points on the board.”
Despite not turning in what might otherwise have been a dominant performance, the Monarchs continue to make national ripples — even if they’re distant.
For what it’s worth, ODU is ranked 54th in this week’s ESPN College Football Power Index, which “represents how many points above or below average a team is,” according to ESPN.com. “Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date and the remaining schedule.”
ODU opened the season with a 27-14 loss at Indiana, which is now ranked No. 8 in the nation by the Associated Press, before crushing North Carolina Central and Virginia Tech by a combined 67 points.
Though the Monarchs aren’t among the teams receiving votes below the AP Top 25, they’re likely starting to receive consideration.
ODU began last season 1-4 en route to a 5-7 finish, leading to a fifth-place Sun Belt East prediction in a preseason poll.
The Monarchs, buoyed by their relative sprint out of the gate, are ignoring any chatter coming from outside the program.
Now, sophomore receiver Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding said, is as good a time as any to get behind the team.
“Media is never something that we try to look into too much,” Gladding said, adding that he’s noticed an uptick in congratulatory interactions with fellow students. “It’s their job to do the media. It’s our job to go out there and play football. So with that, if you want to jump on the bandwagon now, come on right ahead. But we’re not really worried about you too much.”
Rahne, whose 23-31 record with ODU has come in the five seasons since the COVID-canceled 2020 campaign, has urged his players to avoid external opinions all along.
That things may have changed since his team’s hot start, Rahne said, doesn’t matter.
“I mean, if you’re not going to pay attention to it when people are telling you that you’re ugly,” he said, “you probably shouldn’t pay attention to it when they’re telling you you’re pretty.”
Appearances aside, ODU’s players can feel their visibility growing.
“More students just know the names of us,” sophomore safety Jerome Carter said. “They don’t just know us by our number no more.”
Perfection, as it inevitably does, eluded the Monarchs last week. They turned the ball over four times and still won, perhaps a sign that a sound team’s pursuit of flawlessness leaves room for mere sufficiency.
As players make their way to classes and lunch and practices, they’re experiencing what they’ve sown so far.
“The energy is definitely a little more vibrant,” Gladding said. “Coming from last year to this year, you can definitely see that the school as a whole just has more of a spirit to it. It has a soul. The entire campus has a soul.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com.
