The Monarchists

A Happy Ending. 

The Old Dominion Monarchs ended the season on a high note with a win over the Arkansas State Red Wolves.  The Monarchs controlled the entire game by running the damn ball and running it well.  Indeed, the Monarchs rushed for an insane 406 yards.  Unreal.  After going up 14-0, the Monarchs never surrendered the lead and staved off a potential comeback, winning 40-32.

The player of the game is clearly true freshman quarterback Quinn Henicle (aka Lil’ Heinicke).  Henicle started for an injured Colton Joseph.  Although Henicle played most of the game against Virginia Tech, this season finale was his first start and he took it by the horns.  He was incredible on the ground setting a school record on his very first play with a speedy 92-yard rushing touchdown. That is the longest TD run by an FBS quarterback and it ties the longest rushing TD in the country.

Henicle rushed all over the Red Wolves all game.  In total, he ran for 206 yards on 19 carries and scored two touchdowns.  He did okay passing the ball where he threw just 12 passes and completed nine for 143 yards including two more scores to tight end Pat Conroy.  His ceiling is high and he may push Joseph for playing time next season.

The offense played well the entire game.  The Monarchs outgained the Red Wolves 539 yards to 410.  The passing game could have been better.  There were only 12 attempts and only two catches by wide receivers.  However, they did not really need to pass because the running game excelled with a big push upfront.  This was a great last performance for many of the offense’s biggest playmakers.  Seniors Michael Flores, Santana Saunders, Isiah Paige, Diante Vines, and Aaron Young all likely played their last game as a Monarch and they all played well.  In fact, running back Aaron Young added another 100 yard rushing game with 119 yards on the ground and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

The defense did not play its best game allowing 32 points and 410 yards.  Ark. State’s quarterback, Jaylen Raynor had a really good game, with 261 yards and three touchdowns. ODU had a hard time on fourth down stopping their star wide receiver, Corey Rucker, who made eight catches for 115 yards and a score, becoming the all-time Arkansas State receiving yards leader.  However, the defense did provide a lot of pressure on the quarterback getting 6 sacks.  Kris Trinidad led the team in sacks with two.  But where the defense played the best was getting two turnovers in the first quarter which certainly made the difference.  Safety Will Jones II gets a special shout out for his 5 tackles, early interception and forcing a fumble.

Ark. State finishes its season with a winning record at 7-5. Head Coach Butch Jones is doing well with that program and he hopes to get first bowl win since 2019.  As a bowl team, their opponent will certainly affect their chances.  If they face an average team from the MAC or CUSA, then they will have a good chance at winning.  However, the Red Wolves may struggle against a team from the AAC or Mountain West with their thin defensive line.

ODU’s win finishes the season on a high note, it extends its series against ASU to 2-0 and 5-1 against the SBC West since joining the Sun Belt.  However, it was not enough to reach the postseason.  The Monarchs’ season is now officially over and it ended with a 5-7 losing record.  Ricky Rahne’s seat is certainly getting pretty warm with four seasons without a winning record.  It is frustrating because this ODU team is a pretty damn good team that just kept coming up short far too often.  Not only were they competitive against the top teams in the Sun Belt, but they also played the most difficult schedule in the league.  Ultimately, Old Dominion played ten bowl teams, the most in the Sun Belt.  For context this is how many bowl teams each SBC team played:

• ODU:  10 (4-6 against bowl teams)
• Ga. State:  9 (2-7)
• App. State:  8 (2-6)
• Troy:  8 (2-6)
• ULM: 8 (1-7)
• USM:  8 (0-8)
• South Ala.:  7 (1-6)
• Marshall:  6 (3-3)
• Ga. So.:  6 (4-2)
• Texas State:  6 (3-3)
• Louisiana: 5 (3-2)
• Ark. State:  5 (1-4)
• CCU:  5 (1-4)
• JMU:  4 (2-2)

So, an easier schedule would have done ODU wonders to making 2024 a season to remember.  In fact, had Virginia Tech canceled the series like they attempted to do, then ODU would have replaced them with an easy FCS team and likely be bowl eligible right now.  But still, ODU shoulda, coulda, woulda won more.  There were winnable games that slipped from their grasp.  They could have defeated South Carolina, East Carolina, Coastal, JMU, Marshall, App. State, etc.  beating any one of them could have made this a successful season.  Instead, the Monarchs will be sitting on the couch this December while their peers are still practicing.

On the bright side, ODU finishes the season with a solid win and the future at quarterback looks bright.  Assuming either Henicle or Joseph stay for 2025, and ODU reloads at receiver and the offensive line, then the Monarchs should have a very solid team next year.

I will be preparing a season recap soon but until then I will simply raise my glass and say enjoy the win.