Camel Foe – Week 3, Old Dominion

Posted: September 14, 2012 | Author: bristol | Filed under: Camel Foe | Tags: Cal Bowdler, Campbell, ODU, Old Dominion |Leave a comment »

The Fighting Camels step it up big time competition-wise this week as they travel to face Old Dominion University (ODU!).

Old Dominion

Location: Norfolk, Virginia (population: 242,803 as of 2010 census)

Established: 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary. It became Old Dominion College in 1962 and Old Dominion University in 1969.

Enrollment: 24,125

Nickname: Monarchs

Mascot: Big Blue won the 2010 Capital One Mascot Challenge and has his own Facebook page, complete with more than 11,600 likes.

Affiliation: ODU is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, which is FCS in football and Division I in all other sports. On May 17 of this year ODU announced it would move to Conference USA on July 1, 2013. The football team, restarted just 3 years ago in 2009, will be an FBS independent for 2 seasons before joining conference play in 2015.

Random Fact #1: ODU derives its name from one of Virginia’s state nicknames, “The Old Dominion”, a name given to the state by King Charles II of England for remaining loyal to the crown during the English Civil War.

Random Fact #2: ODU is one of the nation’s largest providers of online distance learning courses.

Random Fact #3: The ODU Lady Monarchs basketball team has won 3 national titles – 2 in the AIAW (1979 & 1980), the precursor to the NCAA in women’s sports, and 1 in the NCAA (1985). They also reached the 1997 national title game before losing to Tennessee.

Random Fact #4: The school colors are silver and two types of blue, slate and cerulean.

Notable Alumni:

• Ben Bailey, the host of Cash Cab
• former NBA player Cal Bowdler
• Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States (attended but did not graduate)
• Basketball Hall of Fame member Anne Donovan
• Poet Maya Angelou (attended but did not graduate)
• Benjamin S. Grffin, four-star general in the United States Army
• Basketball Hall of Fame member Nancy Lieberman
• Lashawn Merritt, 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 400 meters and the 4×400 meter relay
• Oliver Purnell, head men’s basketball coach at DePaul University
• Actress Deborah Shelton (A-Team, T.J. Hooker, The Fall Guy, Cheers and others)
• Justin Verlander, author of 2 no-hitters and the 2011 AL MVP

Good work ODU. Any awesome people from Norfolk?

• Musician & hip-hop producer Timbaland
• MLB baseball players David Wright, B.J. Upton and Justin Upton
• Actor Tim Reid (WKRP in Cincinnati, Simon & Simon, Sister Sister)
• Actor Rob Estes (Silk Stalkings, Melrose Place)

Oh yeah, the Football Team:

• Despite starting football just 3 years ago, ODU is already nationally competitive. They went 9-2 as an FCS independent in 2009 and 8-3 in 2010. Last year, they joined the CAA and went 9-2 in the regular season, earning the program’s first playoff bid. The Monarchs defeated Norfolk State 35-18 in the first round of the FCS playoffs before falling 55-48 to Georgia Southern in the second round in a game that saw 1167 yards of total offense.
• ODU enters the game ranked #6 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and #4 in the FCS Coaches Poll. They are 2-0 this season, defeating Duquesne 57-23 and winning at Hampton 45-7 in a weather shortened contest.
• The Monarchs have defeated Campbell in each of the past 3 seasons: 28-17 in 2009, 44-13 in 2010 & 41-14 last season.
• ODU football is sold out for the 4th straight season. Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium holds a crowd of 19,818.
• In the season-opening rout of Duquesne, QB Taylor Heinicke went 41-63 for 492 yards and 4 TDs and ran for 38 yards. He was named CAA and TSN National Offensive Player of the Week.
• The Dukes actually led that game 20-10 at the half before ODU exploded for 47 second-half points.
• RB Tyree Lee leads the team with 131 yards rushing and 3 TDs through 2 games. Blair Roberts is the leading receiver with 13 grabs for 157 yards.
• Craig Wilkins leads the team with 12 tackles, 2 sacks and 4 TFL and has forced 1 fumble. Rodney Hunter has collected 2 interceptions in the first 2 contests.
• Best Name Nominees:
  • Fellonte Misher, Connor Mewbourne (Did you say “Meow”), Jason Rexroad (Car RamRod?), Aquante Thornton, Jagger Blehm
  • The winner – Jagger Blehm.
  • [Ed. Note – If Jimmy has written this, the winner would have been Fellatio Misher, even though that’s not his name.]

Prediction:

Last week, the Camels offense sputtered but the defense shined in their 10-0 win over Virginia-Wise, evening their record at 1-1. Braden Smith passed for 200 yards and 1 TD despite losing a tooth on a first half hit. RB Josh Williams, making his first start, ran for 89 yards on 23 carries and had 4 receptions for 26 yards. Lucas Smith spearheaded an excellent defensive effort with 2 sacks while Matt Farris and Steth Monroe each grabbed an interception. The Camels outgained the Cavaliers 320-175 and recorded their 2nd shutout since reviving the football program.

Unfortunately, none of those positive vibes will do much good this week. ODU has averaged 51 points the first two weeks while allowing 15. The Camels are scoring 15 points per game while giving up 15.5. There are also not any other numbers that indicate this is going to be anything other than an easy victory for ODU. The Camel offense could not do much with the Virginia-Wise defense, so I do not foresee any more luck with the 6th (or 4th) ranked team in FCS. Much like the last 2 seasons, ODU scores early and often while rolling to victory. I’m going to guess a slightly worse beating than last year since the Camels appear a bit weaker and ODU is an FCS force to be reckoned with – 48-10 Monarchs.

 

 

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