Old Dominion Monarchs: 2011 JMUSB CAA Football Preview #10

Well, we saved the worst for last.  For the first time, we must include the upjumped jackanapes from ODuh in an actual CAA preview as they join the conference full-time this year after two years literally playing the little sisters of the poor and crowing about almost beating William & Mary.  I already hate these guys and the Dukes haven’t played them in 40 years, and I don’t mean “hate” like I feel about Liberty or the aforementioned William & Mary, we’re talking full-on George Mason, CrAppy St. style hate.  Needless to say, the addition to the CAA and FCS of the Monarachs is both a blessing and a curse for JMU.

Blessing

ODU has tons of alumni (or at least those who took classes there), a decent television market with no competition from pro teams, a huge enrollment (or at least lots of kids living above their parents garage – very few basements in the tidewater – and taking classes), and big dreams that match the Dukes.  Honestly, they’re more similar to JMU in almost every way (I’m not conceding any similarity on the academic front to thes clowns) than any of the other Virginia CAA schools and are likely going to be joined at the hip with JMU’s futures when it comes to FBS possibilities like no other school.  W&M is public, but let’s be honest, they do take academics a tad bit more seriously and have a small enrollment and limited athletics budget.  UR is private, tiny, and ridiculous.  VCU and GMU care about basketball and have excelled in that arena, but are a long way from football as a reality and are sure to encounter resistance from alums and locals in the current economy should they start to make noise of that kind.  Like App. St. and to a much lesser extent Delaware, ODU will immediately join JMU as fairly local FCS schools with the enrollment, ambition, and potential for facilities upgrades to make them all appealing to FBS conferences should the right opportunity present itself.

This should also be another great rivalry and brings with it echoes of the old CAA basketball clashes.  It’s beyond argument that from JMU’s perspective, an annual matchup with ODU is preferable from a fan interest and ticket sales viewpoint than the now defunct series’ with Northeastern or Hofstra.

Curse

It goes without saying ODuh will be a forced to be reckoned with on the recruiting trail in the talent-rich Tidewater area, especially for the kids from their own backyard who are overpromised by bigger schoools and come crawling back home after a lack of playing time (should prove extra appealing that the academic expectation in Monarchland is likely to make JMU look like MIT).  They have a bigger market than JMU and seem to be building solid community support even frm non-alums.  They have the type of reckless ambition that brings to mind Miami, SMU, and UNLV (and all the good and the bad that comes with it).  Lastly, they’ve made improvements to their facilities, though they’ll be no match for New Bridgeforth, especially whenever the bigger ticket donors figure out end-zone seating isn’t exactly the best reward in the Oyster Bowl.

The Preview

As you can tell, we’re a bit distracted by the bigger picture when it comes to ODuh and can only hope the Dukes take them as seriously as required and calm us all down at least for a year.  The Monarchs have been building for five years towards this particular year and they have a TON of players returning (51 lettermen, 19 starters) including their first star player in QB Thomas DeMarco.  HC Bobby Wilder came from Maine a few years back to start the program, bringing a few friends from the Black Bears program, so ODU’s staff should be very familiar with the CAA even if the players are not.  Plus the players have to know they’ve got a lot to prove this year. They start the season with three jokes and no FBS game so of course their fans will be acting like Skins fans in the preseason by the time they face an actual challenge at Delaware in Week 4.  They also get both RhodeI and Towson, so they’ve got winnable CAA games before a serious closing stretch that includes the Dukes (can’t wait for our first trip down there to spoil their party).  In general, the schedule is very manageable considering their talent and motivation, but they are the true mystery team in the Conference this year as there is just no way to know how they will stack up week after week in the FCS’ SEC.  Even with a possible 5-1 start, nothing will be proven until we see if they have the depth to get to 8 wins and the postseason now that the big boys are here.