Go Big Blue! Old Dominion Football Monarchs in 2010.

2009 drew quite a buzz for Monarchs football. Its September, its time to get gassed up about Monarch Football again.

ODU has a young team coming back. Not graduating any players, this year there will bring plenty of familiar faces. But there will be a few newcomers who will be expected to make an immediate impact. Old Dominion was one of the schools to benefit from Hofstra University’s struggles. Hofstra’s football program couldn’t survive solely from Marques Colston hype alone. They folded, and Old Dominion reaped the benefits. The Monarchs landed a couple of defensive prospects with plenty of upside including D-Lineman Deron Mayo. Younger brother to Jarod Mayo of the New England Patriots, Deron is a Junior who managed 33 tackles while starting in only 5 games with Hofstra. Deron is expected to play a big role in tightening up Bobby Wilder’s “bend but not break” Defensive Line. Remember that Monmouth game? Yea, the one where David Sinici ran for over 200 yards and 2 TDs? This is a revamped Defensive Line that should make a huge difference in the Old Dominion defense. The D, or lack thereof, was the by far Old Dominion’s biggest problem. The two losses came from the two teams who could move the ball at will. And with the schedule getting more and more difficult with each year, the Monarchs Defense needs to rise to the challenge and step up their game. These transfers along with another year of the team maturing and getting stronger will hopefully help remedy that.
Here’s the big ticket… Quarterback Dominique Blackman, is a transfer from the University of Washington. Blackman was towards the bottom of the totem pole of QB’s in Washington and due to his size(6’5″, 250lbs) the Huskies coaching staff asked Blackman to try to move to the Tight End position. Blackman decided he’s better off just playing Quarterback somewhere else, and we couldn’t be happier to have him here at Old Dominion. The guy is a monster, he’s got Linebacker size and a cannon for an arm. I’ve been watching video of this kid’s game and he’s the real deal. Kid? This is a god damn MAN. 6’5″, 250lbs., refuses to go down with an arm tackle, or even a solo tackle for that matter. In the footage he’s throwing the ball with accuracy, 50+ yards in the air, while on the run. He shows some mobility in the pocket, and even breaks for a few long runs. Blackman was ranked the #27 pro-style QB in the nation coming out of high school by Rivals.com, and was rated the #112 overall prospect by PrepStar. Like I said, he’s the real deal, and the first high profile prospect to come play at Old Dominion.

All this talk about the new kid on campus… Don’t we already have a Quarterback? Thomas DeMarco was the clear cut MVP for the Monarchs last season. He’s got two years of eligibility left, while Blackman has three, so obviously the Monarchs are set at the QB position for a while. But are we in a Quarterback controversy here? I think it has to be DeMarco’s job to lose. He played so well last season, running the offense, being a vocal leader, and leading the team to a 9-2 first season record. How can you even think about taking that guy out of the starting lineup? He ran such an efficient offense that demanded top play from the Quarterback position and he more than answered the call. But Blackman’s 3,700+yards and 35TDs last year at Junior College demand a consideration for the job. He made it to a BCS school for a reason, he has the tools and is prepared to play. With offers from other BCS schools, Colorado and Kentucky, he did not transfer to Old Dominion to sit on the bench. This is what Blackman said in an interview on the second day of practice “I didn’t throw an incompletion the whole damn day, and the first day, I threw one incompletion. I haven’t turned the ball over. I’m the only quarterback that hasn’t thrown an interception. … I’m just trying to do what I need to do to play. I don’t want to think about redshirting. I don’t want to think about anything but playing, because that’s what I came here to do, play.” I like that attitude and I like a competition for any starting job, but I am not a fan of a two Quarterback system. It just never seems to work. But maybe with these two more than capable QBs it can be done? When asked about Dominique’s playing time Coach Wilder had this to say, “Dominique’s going to play for us in the fall. He’s not going to sit. I don’t know specifically what his job will be, and figuring that out is our major challenge as coaches. But with a talented player like that, we need to get him on the field. There are different ways to do that.” I don’t even know what that means. Two QBs? Send Blackman into a pass catching formation? Put DeMarco in a Half Back situation? Who knows? I guess we’ll see this weekend. But in the long run, I think DeMarco will be out sooner than his full eligibility.

Get fired up, the season is only days away. The level of play is getting better and better each week. There’s no excuse to see empty seats at Foreman Field. Get out to the games and have fun.

Check out Big Blue getting some love as one of the best mascots in college sports…