I loved Old Dominion as an FCS team and what Bobby Wilder has accomplished
there in a very short period of time is absolutely stunning. However they do not
posess FBS talent quite yet and their undersized defense was not even good in
the CAA (especially against the run), let alone against FBS competition. The
Pirates meanwhile return a very good and well expierienced O line as well as All
C-USA RB Vintavious Cooper and JC transfer Terrell Lane who led the nation in
rushing LY. Not only will the Monarchs struggle mightily to slow down the Pirate
running game but they also have to contend with Lincoln Riley's version of the
"Air Raid" offense.
Riley brought Mike Leach's offense from Lubbock and deserves part of the credit for Graham Harrell's prolific numbers
and he did wonders with Dominique Davis as well. This will be Shane Carden's fourth year in this system (he was a RS his FR year and ran the scout squad), and though he was very efficient LY,
I expect him to show even more improvement in his junior year.
On offense Old Dominion is again undersized on the line but with their well
structured disciplined offense they should be able to put some points on the
board against a shakey ECU secondary.
If a total was offered I'd jump on the over here but as far as a side is
concerned give me the Pirates -12!