Old Dominion at Villanova, Mr. C's Game Thread

[Mr. C]

VILLANOVA, Pa. — And it is on to game two of my doubleheader, after working my way through the undergrowth of Route 30 traffic to the Main Line for Villanova homecoming and a Colonial Athletic Association encounter with Old Dominion.

ODU's Monarchs are the new kids on the block — and I'm not talking about some boy music group, with contrived dance moves. But that hasn't stopped them from getting off to a quick start at VU. This is the first time that the two schools have met on the gridiron.

The Monarchs have taken advantage of Villanova turnovers to vault to leads of 13-0 early in the first quarter and 23-7 midway through the second period.

ODU (5-2, 2-2 in the CAA) has made some goofy plays of its own, a two-point conversion try after its first TD and a questionable onside kick try that backfired, but a couple of long touchdown plays and a couple of fumbles by Wildcat QB Dustin Thomas have given the Monarchs a comfortable lead.

Villanova, which has only one win and six losses this season (0-4 in the CAA), will have to try to come back behind an offense that has struggled to score points this season and an ODU defense that has distinguished itself.

With some surprising results around the CAA again today, Old Dominion is in prime position to keep its postseason hopes alive.

[Mr. C]

Villanova is trying to at least make this a game as the first half winds down. The Cats have a first down at the Monarch 35 with less than four minutes left.

[Mr. C]

Dustin Thomas received some good protection and hit Mikey Reynolds for a first down at the ODU 20.

[Mr. C]

On the next play, a good fake by Thomas helped freshman Austin Medley break loose for a 20-yard TD scamper. It is Old Dominion 23, Villanova 14 with 2:44 left in the half. 11 plays, 77 yards and 5:23 on the drive.

[Mr. C]

Behind some nice plays with his feet and his arm, true freshman Taylor Heinicke marched ODU right back down the field and fired a 16-yard TD pass. ODU 30, VU 14 as the first half ends.

[Mr. C]

Heinicke was the Georgia High School player of the year last season. The Monarchs took Heinicke's redshirt off three games back when incumbent QB Thomas DeMarco was injured. It is amazing to me to see how much better ODU looks offensively with Heinicke in the lineup after watching what the Monarchs did against Delaware in their CAA opener. I don't see the senior DeMarco getting his job back.

[Mr. C]

My rant on officials for the day. How can no one on the field see it a Villanova pass rush is going around the corner and left tackle, Ryan Jensen is practically ripping the shoulder out of his jersey. It was the single most obvious holding I've seen all year and NO FLAGS.

Back to normal programming, with nine minutes left in the third period, it is still Old Dominion 30, Villanova 14.

[Mr. C]

Dustin Thomas is continuing to live in the land of turnovers — and not the apple, or cherry kind — and had a pass picked off to set up another ODU scoring chance.

[Mr. C]

Old Dominion moved to the one-yard line on a run for the corner and one of the officials was injured on the play when he got hit by two players.

[Mr. C]

Villanova made a courageous goal-line stand after ODU had a first and goal from the one, but the Monarchs squeezed into the end zone on fourth down to make it 37-14 midway through the third period.

[Mr. C]

Freshman Chris Polony has replaced Dustin Thomas at QB and was moving the Wildcats deep into ODU territory until a fumble gave the Monarchs the ball again. Four turnovers today for Villanova.

[Mr. C]

Jonathan Plisco, the two-time All-American punter for ODU, continues to impress with his leg and his legs. He seems to launch booming kicks with long hang-time and has shown he has some good moves on fakes, too. For the second time watching Plisco in person, he scampered for a first down on a fake kick to keep an eventual scoring drive alive (to make it 37-14). Plisco was implored to lose weight and dropped 31 pounds in the off-season, a good thing for a punter with obvious NFL potential.

This is a good game for both teams on punting, with Mark Hamilton showing off his leg on punts and placements for Villanova.

[Mr. C]

After three quarters, it is still Old Dominion 37, Villanova 14.

[Mr. C]

ODU had out-gained Villanova 344 to 158 through three quarters, with a 63-49 edge in plays. The Monarchs had 198 passing yards from Heinicke (22-of-31) and 146 yards on the ground.

[Mr. C]

Freshman QB Chris Polony has been a bright spot for Villanova in this game, leading the Cats near the red zone before a drive came up empty with about a minute left. This one is going to end with Old Dominion holding on to a 37-14 victory. It's been an interesting day in the CAA, with Towson beating William & Mary, Rhode Island upsetting Delaware and New Hampshire and Richmond seemingly on the way to wins over UMass and Maine.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Rough season continues for the Wildkittens.

[danefan]

Freshman QB Chris Polony has been a bright spot for Villanova in this game, leading the Cats near the red zone before a drive came up empty with about a minute left. This one is going to end with Old Dominion holding on to a 37-14 victory. It's been an interesting day in the CAA, with Towson beating William & Mary, Rhode Island upsetting Delaware and New Hampshire and Richmond seemingly on the way to wins over UMass and Maine.

Richmond choked big time......crazy CAA

[HailSzczur]

When you look at the stats from the game the only really glaring difference between the two teams is +4 TO margin in favor of ODU.
ODU only had 1 more 1st down, a worse 3rd down conversion rate, more penalties, and an about even time of possession.

Oh well there's always next year.

[HailSzczur]

Freshman QB Chris Polony has been a bright spot for Villanova in this game, leading the Cats near the red zone before a drive came up empty with about a minute left. This one is going to end with Old Dominion holding on to a 37-14 victory. It's been an interesting day in the CAA, with Towson beating William & Mary, Rhode Island upsetting Delaware and New Hampshire and Richmond seemingly on the way to wins over UMass and Maine.

Hamilton looked good too. The punter/kicker has been one of the most consistent performers on the team averaging 44.2yds per punt with a long of 58yds and a perfect 9/9 on field goals and 9/9 on PATs.

[Mr. C]

Hamilton looked good too. The punter/kicker has been one of the most consistent performers on the team averaging 44.2yds per punt with a long of 58yds and a perfect 9/9 on field goals and 9/9 on PATs.
Hamilton is having an All-American season in this writer's mind. He and Plisko could be the All-American kicker and punter. See my earlier post on the two of them. There probably isn't a player in the country doing a better job as a punter and kicker combined than Hamilton in any NCAA division, or NAIA either.

[Mr. C]

When you look at the stats from the game the only really glaring difference between the two teams is +4 TO margin in favor of ODU.
ODU only had 1 more 1st down, a worse 3rd down conversion rate, more penalties, and an about even time of possession.

Oh well there's always next year.

Andy Talley summed it up as 21 points for ODU off turnovers and the poor quarterback play by Thomas. I would expect to see Chris Polony starting at quarterback next week at home against a tough Maine squad.

"We are continuing a pattern, making turnovers on offense and giving up the big plays on defense," Talley said. "The turnover thing is 21 points. You can't GIVE anyone in our league 21 points."

[ODUsmitty]

ODU mailed it in for the second half. Stats, like 3rd down conversions, mean nothing.

Game was over at half. Happy homecoming.

[Mr. C]

Richmond choked big time......crazy CAA

We were following that in the interview room. Maine scored 23 points in the fourth quarter. The Black Bears are a special team. That blocked extra point and two-point defensive conversion gave Maine a huge momentum swing and was the difference in the game. Second time this year that Maine has basically won on a two-pointer, remembering that two-point gamble on offense at JMU. I can't wait for my trip to Orono, Me. in a couple of weeks to see the Maine-Towson showdown. Towson is also having a magical year.

[Mr. C]

ODU mailed it in for the second half. Stats, like 3rd down conversions, mean nothing.

Game was over at half. Happy homecoming.

The key drive was when ODU moved the ball up the field in the two-minute drill and scored before the end of the half, after Villanova had cut the lead to 23-14.

[Mr. C]

Rough season continues for the Wildkittens.

The Cats will be fine. They have a lot of talent, but they are one of the youngest teams in the country and the youngest in Andy Talley's coaching history. They just need to get things sorted out at quarterback. I really liked what I saw from Polony. Maybe a Chris Boden in the making.

[HailSzczur]

The Cats will be fine. They have a lot of talent, but they are one of the youngest teams in the country and the youngest in Andy Talley's coaching history. They just need to get things sorted out at quarterback. I really liked what I saw from Polony. Maybe a Chris Boden in the making.

While the Boden comparison is a bit of a stretch I think but he definitely has a lot of promise. And the returning receivers will be very helpful in making him look like Boden. I hope Andy starts him the rest of the season. Haven't been overly impressed with Thomas, I'd like to see Polony get afew weeks to get a little rhythm and prove himself.

[ngineer]

The Cats will be fine. They have a lot of talent, but they are one of the youngest teams in the country and the youngest in Andy Talley's coaching history. They just need to get things sorted out at quarterback. I really liked what I saw from Polony. Maybe a Chris Boden in the making.

Another Lehigh Valley product from Whitehall H.S. that got away from Lafayette and Lehigh. If only we had scholarships...

[VBR_Productions]

The only thing I have to add is that Nova's linebacker Dillon Lucas is having a great season as a true freshman, and will graduate with a great career. Coach Talley acknowledged after the game that he's got room to grow physically as a true freshman, but he's brought a maturity that the team has needed with their lack of seniors. He's going to be a special player and CAA fans should get to know the name sooner rather than later.