NORFOLK — Old Dominion didn’t need a late field goal, a fluke safety or a frantic go-ahead drive to achieve bowl eligibility this time.
The Monarchs can keep the miracle on ice.
Saturday’s 31-6 victory at Louisiana Monroe made ODU bowl-eligible for the first time in two years and the third time in coach Ricky Rahne’s five seasons on the sideline. The Monarchs (6-3, 3-2 Sun Belt) pulled it off with three games left in the regular season, a much less dramatic path than they’ve taken in the recent past.
Still, with a bye this week before next Thursday’s nationally televised home game against Troy, ODU plans to stay the course.
“I don’t think it changes that much,” Rahne said Monday. “I think there’s a different thing each and every week. I think the main thing is just wanting to go out there and win games.”
In 2023, needing a win in their final regular-season game against Georgia State to reach the postseason, the Monarchs trailed 24-14 with 1:37 left.
They kicked a field goal, forced a safety and finally won the game 25-24 when quarterback Grant Wilson rushed for a 2-yard touchdown as time expired.
That late-November night, Rahne called it “the wackiest win I’ve ever experienced as a coach.”
No such acts of God were necessary this time around. After blowout wins over North Carolina Central, Virginia Tech and Coastal Carolina, as well as narrower victories over Liberty and Appalachian State, ODU reached the magic six-win threshold with a fast start at ULM.
The Monarchs bolted to a 24-0 halftime lead and held the scuffling Warhawks (3-6, 1-4) to an inconsequential fourth-quarter touchdown.
A bowl bid would be ODU’s fourth since becoming an FBS program in 2015.
The Monarchs went 10-3 and defeated Eastern Michigan in the 2016 Bahamas Bowl.
In 2021, Rahne’s first season on the sideline after a canceled 2020 campaign, ODU fell to Tulsa in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. But getting there was no picnic.
The Monarchs needed a win over Charlotte — their fifth straight after a 1-6 start — on the regular season’s final day to reach the postseason.
After its improbable regular-season finale, the 2023 team fell in overtime to Western Kentucky in the Famous Toastery Bowl.
As first-place James Madison (7-1, 5-0) continues to roll this season, ODU’s shot at a Sun Belt East Division title continues to dwindle. But the Monarchs are a victory away from their first winning season since 2016.
Before any other goals are reached, Rahne plans to use his team’s second bye week of the season to heal his current players while finding new ones.
As other teams around the Sun Belt play this weekend, potential recruits will visit ODU.
Southern Mississippi (6-2, 4-0) leads the league’s West Division after a bye week, but coach Charles Huff said there’s still work to be done.
“No one’s going to be excited if this season ends up 6-6,” Huff said. “No one’s going to be excited about the meaningful games in November if we don’t go out and play really well.”
Rahne, whose “1-0” approach to each of his team’s specific tasks reigns in its ubiquity, couldn’t agree more.
After facing Troy (6-3, 4-1), the Monarchs visit Georgia Southern and face Georgia State at home in their regular-season finale.
Never mind that a major goal was crossed off the list early. Miracle or no, there’s more for the taking.
“You only get so many opportunities to win games,” Rahne said.
“It’s still going to be 1-0, and we’ve got to go win games. And we’ve got a great opportunity on a Thursday night against a really good Troy team.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com
