An In-Depth look at the Monarch's open scrimmage!

78 degrees and sunny: perfect weather for ODU football! On Saturday, August 26th, 2017 Monarch Nation made its way to Foreman Field to get their first glimpse of their 2017 Old Dominion football team. Excitement and expectations were high as the last time we saw a 105 player Old Dominion team was in the Bahamas, where ODU capped off a 10-win season defeating Eastern Michigan University 24-20. There were some major questions entering this season: who will replace and try and replicate the fantastic play of Quarterback, David Washington, will the defense be able to build on the progress they made last year, is there a bonafide play maker on the team (with exception to Ray Lawry)? Most of the questions we, as fans have, cannot be answered until we get into the actual season, but I can try my best with what we saw on Saturday!

Scrimmage format:

I am basing this on what the format of the scrimmages were when I was playing, but it seems like Coach Wilder followed a very similar script. How it tends to go is first team and second team switch off working against their counterpart with players swapping teams based off their role. Special teams is mixed within these periods (punts, kickoffs, field goals) and ends with the futures scrimmaging and getting more experience.

Injuries: Four players that are listed as first-team or second-team didn’t practice today: Sean Carter (S), Pat Toal (DL), Ryan Londree (DL), Justice Davila (S). Get better guys, we need you.

QB play:

Blake Larussa

As expected Blake Larussa, the redshirt sophomore native of Virginia Beach started off with the first team. His first throw came in the form of a screen to the right to Jeremy Cox, who scrambled forward for a nice 4 yard gain before being taken down. A few plays later in the drive Blake was able to create time by escaping the pocket before scrambling for a solid 14 yard gain. Blake’s day went very well in my opinion. While not overwhelming, he seemed to understand the defense the best, play to his skillset, properly use his check downs, and not panic when the defense brought pressure. (Yeah, I just used an oxford comma... deal with it.)

Jordan Hoy

To my knowledge, the Junior College transfer from Fullerton City College in California (still not as good as my JUCO, City College of San Francisco), will be the second string quarterback. Starting fast, the second team lead by Hoy was able to put up impressive numbers right off the bat with a quick throw that led to a touchdown. The kid impressed me during the game with the playmaking ability with his legs; multiple times he was able to escape pressure and gain significant yards. His big problem on Saturday was forcing throws and/or not going through his progression and instead leaving the pocket a little prematurely and running the ball, not allowing for the play to develop. His skills are all there, raw, but there nonetheless. I honestly do see Coach Wilder and Coach Scott using him in some type of wildcat hybrid similar to what Tebow did at Florida during the 2006 national championship run.

Steven Williams

So I can say that I believe the hype; the kid passes every eye test and has a skill set that could make him a superstar. While his talents make him a player we should all be excited for, I understand 100% why he isn’t starting. His skillset is great but very raw. There were times when he threw balls (like a fade in the end zone from the 11-yard line) that were so perfectly placed you couldn’t help but admire it. However, he did have the first interception in a very turnover-less game (excluding the Ray Lawry fumble early on) when he threw a ball too far ahead of his receiver on a streak-type pattern to a tight-end who hadn’t even looked at the QB and was instead, blocking (so there could be blame on him too). Overall, he brings an element that the other QB’s don’t have with the size and we should all be excited about ODU’s future QB play (especially with Ron Whitcomb at the helm of the QBs and their development).

Drayton Arnold

It seems all but certain that Drayton will never be the Quarterback we all thought he would be. It is unfortunate but understandable by some of the throws he tried to make. I will give him great credit though, he had the best throw of the day throwing an absolute dime from 45 yards out for a touchdown. I’d love to see him develop his skill-set but it seems all but certain he will follow Schuler Bentley.

The Defense:

The defense looks explosive and so much more improved from two years ago and even last year! They had hiccups but the majority of yesterday’s practice was dictated by the defense. We all knew the defensive line would be great and create so many disruptions for the QB and running game, but that unit impressed more than I thought possible. They were always in the backfield due to their great get-offs, they were cutting off the running lanes perfectly, and they were able to get to the QB or Running backs multiple times for TFLs.

Couple of shout outs for players who stood out:

Justin Noye (#22) and Lawrence Holley (#9 pictured to the left) came up with great back-to-back interceptions. Keep them coming!

Brandon Tyson (#8) had a heck of a day and I am so happy for him. He deserves all that he is going to get this year! If you haven’t read the article linked to the homepage about him, please read it.

Demetrius Stitmon (#45): congratulations on the scholarship, man! I remember when Coach Wilder announced to the team that I had earned mine; the feeling is better than anything and you deserve it! Keep working hard!

Offensive Line:

I think this is by far my biggest worry for our offense this year. The first-team line is great and does a great job of not only holding blocks, but getting out on screen plays. The second team line got beat up all day by the DL and it wasn’t even close. They were constantly pushed back and it just seemed like it wasn’t a cohesive unit. While you always help for perfect health the whole season, injuries happen and if an OL member goes down, will his backup be able to the fill the void? But then again, I'm a kicker, what do I know?

Playmaker ability:

There are two players that really flashed playmaker ability. I am so proud to say that my buddy and fellow #15, Isaiah Harper, is finally the playmaker on special teams. I’ve always known how explosive and fast he is, and yesterday he proved it on both kickoff and punt return. Don’t be surprised if he takes a few the distance this year and we’re ranked in the top 15 in both return units.

Gemonta Jackson had a great day and showed his big play ability right off the bat with a short crossing pattern route that he caught and took the distance. I look forward to seeing his development this year.

Special Teams:

Now we get to the important stuff, am I right??? In all honesty, I’ve heard that the Freshman kicker/punter, Nick Rice, is on the tail of both all C-USA Freshman team members, Bailey Cate (P) and Brad Davis (K). After the showing by Bailey on punts, I would say that we will see a great increase in his productivity this year so no need to worry there. Brad has improved drastically on Kickoffs and it’s fair to say that a unit that was already highly nationally ranked will get even better. Place kicking is where it might get interesting; both kickers struggled yesterday with each missing multiple times and Brad’s early kicks looking somewhat 2015 Eastern Michigan-esque (Get the joke? It’s fun laughing at yourself…) I truly believe that Nick will handle field goal duties by the end of September; he has a very strong leg and gets great height which could make all the difference. I have to give props to Coach Bankins for what he has been able to do to the coverage units and I am excited to see continued development and respect for the third, and most important part of a football game!

Have any questions about the scrimmage or other players/units? Leave them below and I will be sure to address them as fast as possible! Have a great day and as always, go monarchs!