ORLANDO, Fla. — Don’t offer Devin Roche warm bread with butter and jam.

If he’s around, don’t raise a glass and wish the bride and groom well at a wedding.

And certainly don’t bring up the last time he and his Old Dominion teammates played in the postseason.

In 2023, the Monarchs held a four-touchdown lead over Western Kentucky early in the Famous Toastery Bowl, a one-off replacement game in Charlotte.

The Hilltoppers stormed back to tie it with 19 seconds left in regulation before winning 38-35 in overtime.

Instead of a championship ring, ODU’s players were left with memories that haunt them to this day.

“Every time I think of the word ‘toast,’ it scars me,” said Roche, now a redshirt sophomore running back. “And that’s a big reason of why we’re approaching this week the way we are. None of us want to feel that feeling ever again.”

This week brings a shot at redemption and a chance for the team’s first ring-fitting since 2016.

When the Monarchs (9-3) take on South Florida in Wednesday’s StaffDNA Cure Bowl at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, they’ll do so with their full attention turned toward an American Conference opponent with an identically impressive record. But ODU will still remember what might’ve been in Charlotte.

With the game tied 35-35, the Monarchs had a field-goal attempt blocked to end their first possession of overtime.

WKU responded with a 29-yard walk-off kick, and ODU, playing in a bowl game for just the third time in program history, could only sulk off the field.

The Monarchs had led 35-14 as late as the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

This time, ODU sits a victory shy of its first 10-win season since 2016, when it finished 10-3 and beat Eastern Michigan in the Bahamas Bowl. Until now, the Monarchs hadn’t won more than six games since.

The dual missions are clear.

“Man, double-digit wins, that’d be great,” ODU offensive coordinator Kevin Decker said. “Plus, I want to be able to wear the bowl gear and have good memories of what happened. I’ve still got that Toastery Bowl stuff, and every time I see a little toast logo, I think about being up 28-(0) and losing that game. So I don’t wear it that much. So hopefully, that doesn’t happen again.”

The Famous Toastery Bowl, which was sponsored by a regional chain for breakfast and lunch, stood in as a temporary replacement for the Bahamas Bowl because of stadium renovations at the time.

The Cure Bowl, which is dedicated to raising funds for cancer research, is one of the few postseason games with a purpose that is chiefly philanthropic.

The Monarchs see it most immediately as a chance to add to their nine-win total.

“That’s a big accomplishment for any college football team,” said safety Mario Easterly. “But 10 wins and bowl ring? That would be a great accomplishment for this team.

“We went to the Toastery Bowl and we didn’t come out on top, so obviously we didn’t get a ring.”

Wednesday’s game, which kicks off at 5 p.m., will mark ODU’s third bowl appearance under sixth-year coach Ricky Rahne.

The 2020 season, which would’ve been Rahne’s first on the sideline since joining the program from Penn State, was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Monarchs, picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt East Division in a preseason poll, played current No. 1 Indiana tough in the season opener before bolting to a 4-1 start.

Lopsided losses at Marshall and James Madison quieted any national discussion of ODU, but the Monarchs have won five straight since.

The reflections — toast and all — since that 2023 game have been mixed, but they could get better.

“This is a team that I’m going to remember for a very long time,” Rahne said Monday at a well-attended press conference in a hotel ballroom near SeaWorld. “So I’d love to have a piece of jewelry that I will never wear, but I would like to have a piece of jewelry to be able to put in something that I can look at and have a fond memory.”

David Hall, david.hall@pilotonlline.com.

https://www.dailypress.com/2025/12/15/after-toastery-disaster-odu-seeks-better-bowl-memories/