Game week is finally here! I’m sure the team will be happy to stop going against one another in practice and have a new opponent to line up against, this week being the Old Dominion Monarchs. The ODU Monarchs are accustomed to going up against a power conference foe early in their season; just last year they kicked their season off against South Carolina and about pulled the upset. Curt Cignetti was dialed in during his Monday morning press conference and will not be taking this season opener lightly. So, who specifically on ODU should we have an eye out for?
This week’s matchup to watch will be Old Dominion’s quarterback Colton Joseph versus Indiana’s run defense. Both units had extremely strong 2024 campaigns.
Including only those players that are returning from last season, Colton Joseph was actually the Monarch’s leading passer and rusher, amassing over 1600 yards through the air and over 600 on the ground. He led the Sun Belt in total yardage, despite only playing in nine of their games.
“Offensively, it all begins with the structure and the design of the offense,” said Cignetti. “They’re going to spread you out, force you to defend the whole field. The quarterback can beat you with legs and his arm. He didn’t take over as a starter until maybe Game 4 and missed a game or so. Him and the backup together rushed for about 900 and threw for about 2,000. Touchdown/interception ratio was good.”
The Monarchs struggled to convert this strong quarterback play into wins, but they certainly did not go down without a fight.
“All but one of Old Dominion’s losses last year were by one score or less,” continued Cignetti. “Like I’ve told you in the past, they’ve beaten Virginia Tech twice in recent history, we’ve got to be ready to go.”
Colton Joseph will have a formidable defense to go up against, however, if the Hoosiers can produce like they did last season. Indiana finished the 2024 season as the first ranked rush defense nationally, allowing just 80.23 rushing yards per game. Indiana has a history of struggling with mobile quarterbacks at times though, and we saw that even in their most recent game in the playoff loss against Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard. The Hoosiers defensive front will need to be able to hold their rush contain and force Joseph to complete passes on what was last season’s 9th ranked passing defense nationally.
“I like where we’re at coming out of camp in terms of how we practice, how we compete, and the identity is sort of established throughout the season once you begin playing the games,” added Cignetti. “We’ve got a lot of nice pieces. We’ve got a lot of new guys that will be playing their first football for us. So, I’m anxious to see how we respond and react, but it’s my job to get us to play the way we’re supposed to play.”
The Hoosiers kick off against the Monarchs Saturday on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium at 2:30 EST.