There were several firsts that occurred when Old Dominion played host to Massachusetts Saturday night.  The game marked ODU’s first home conference football game as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association and was the first matchup between the two squads.  The game’s outcome, a 48-33 win by Old Dominion, was the Monarchs’ first conference victory.  The win also marked the program’s first over a Top 25 FCS team in 27 games to date.

ODU QB Thomas DeMarco tossed three touchdown passes against UMass before leaving the game with an injury.

It was the first collegiate appearances of two true freshmen, however, that played a crucial part in the Monarchs’ victory.  Playing in place of injured starter Thomas DeMarco, quarterback Taylor Heinicke guided the offense to three touchdowns in the second half once UMass had taken a 26-25 lead with 5:30 left in the third quarter.  Another Monarch freshman making his debut, running back Tyree Lee, rescued the ODU running game after Angus Harper and Colby Goodwyn left with injuries.  Lee finished with 38 yards on eleven attempts while scoring his first career touchdown. 

There was more to this game than just two freshmen, though.  Old Dominion scored the game’s first 25 points, attacking mostly through the air as DeMarco connected on three touchdown passes.  UMass’ offense itself finally got on track and scored touchdowns on four consecutive possessions between the second and third quarters to take its 26-25 lead.  Massachusetts quarterback Kellen Pagel, who also left with an undisclosed injury in the third quarter, threw for three touchdowns during the Minutemen’s run.

After ODU receiver Jackwail Bailey blocked a UMass punt that resulted in a safety late in the third quarter, the Monarchs scored touchdowns on three of its next four possessions to lead 48-26.  The three scores included two Heinicke TD throws of 56 and 38 yards along with Lee’s touchdown run.  The Minutemen scored a touchdown with less than two minutes left, but the Monarchs recovered the ensuing onsides kick and ran out the clock from there. 

In the Zone’s preview of the game, there were three areas UMass needed to control to win the game – the running game, the kickoff return unit, and play of the secondary.  Minutemen running back Jonathan Hernandez almost matched his season average with 121 rushing yards against ODU.  But Hernandez had only six rush attempts for nine total yards after the Minutemen took its 26-25 lead, when the team needed to keep ODU’s offense on the sidelines.  Once the Monarchs had a 34-26 lead, the vociferous 19,818 Monarch fans made their presence known by disrupting UMass’ offense.  The ODU defense tackled Hernandez behind the line of scrimmage on three of those six attempts with the help of the crowd noise.

Monarchs football coach Bobby Wilder (above) and his coaching staff put together another perfect special teams game plan. However, Wilder can not be pleased that his team blew a 25 point lead and surrendered 33 ponts on defense to UMass.

Knowing that its kickoff coverage unit had struggled this season, the ODU coaching staff designed kicking off away from star returner Jesse Julmiste.  The senior wideout entered the game leading the CAA in kickoff returns with an average return of 33.2 yards per attempt.  Instead the Monarchs kicked directionally to upback DJ Adeoba, who had five kick returns to Julmiste’s two.  This strategy worked effectively, as a UMass unit that had been averaging 29.7 yards per return was held to only 97 return yards on eight attempts.  Considering its kickoff coverage, the blocked punt and recovering a first quarter onsides kick, the Monarchs decidedly won the overall special teams game.

The play of the secondary for UMass, however, had the greatest outcome on the game.  Missing a starting cornerback and starting safety due to injuries, the Minutemen were challenged early and often by ODU quarterbacks.  In two quarters of action each, DeMarco threw for 219 yards with three touchdowns and Heinicke had 119 yards and two touchdowns.  Massachusetts did intercept two DeMarco passes in the second quarter to help jump start its offense. 

In the end, the Old Dominion receivers proved to be too much for the young UMass secondary.  Five Monarchs had at least 60 yards receiving and eight receivers caught at least one pass.  Nick Mayers and Larry Pinkard caught two touchdowns each, while Reid Evans streaked down the left sideline past the Minutemen defense to haul in a 56-yard TD reception.  Massachusetts was also flagged for three pass interference penalties on Monarch pass attempts that would have resulted several additional long completions.

At the time this article is published, the extent of the injuries suffered by DeMarco and Pagel is not known.  If the two starters cannot play next week’s game, then Old Dominion and Massachusetts will each be led by a freshman at quarterback.  The Minutemen return home to face Central Connecticut while the Monarchs travel to Rhode Island to attempt to complete another first – the team’s first conference win on the road.