ODU Searching For Answers, ECU wins 39-21 at home (9-10-22)

By: Tyrone Montgomery Jr

Headline Photo Credit: ODU Football

It’s week 2 for the Monarchs. Last week, they escaped with a victory at home while hosting the VA Tech Hokies. Offensively, ODU had its struggles and it was evident. Their defense helped them out tremendously and ultimately won the game for them. This past weekend, they went on the road to face East Carolina. In this game, they lost 39-21 as they failed to find answers defensively. This game reminded me of a second date. Have you ever met the girl or guy of your dreams? Perhaps it was love at first sight. The first date succeeded. But then, the second date comes around and it’s like the person is a completely different person and the second date ultimately resulted in a bad one. This was the Monarchs. It is still early in the season. Last week, the offense struggled vs. VA Tech. What we saw from the Monarchs last week defensively may have made people wonder if this team should be ranked. This week, it was a completely different story as the offense looked like its usual self from last season and the defense didn’t look like anything from what we saw last week. While Hayden Wolff got back to his old self and looked great again, the Monarchs struggled to convert on 3rd down only getting 1-8 of them. On the flip side, East Carolina gained 30 1st downs in this game. They simply were able to move the chains at ease vs. the Monarch defense. The real eye-popper in this game was the fact that the Pirates nearly doubled the total yards gained in this game. The real damage was done on the ground as ECU outran the Monarchs 261-15.

The game of football has become extremely pass-happy over the years. However, those great teams that are winning Super Bowls despite having a great QB still manage to run the ball a bit. Look at Tom Brady and the Bucs. Leonard Fournette was and still is a very key reason for success. The Monarchs only attempted to run the ball 14 times compared to The Pirates’ 47. You have to keep the defense guessing. While Hayden Wolff has gotten on track, expect the Monarchs to focus on getting the ground game going next week vs. UVA as well as their defense as well. They will want to keep the ball away from UVA QB Brennan Armstrong as much as they can if they wish to seek a victory vs. the Cavaliers.