NCCU Eagles falls to ODU

DURHAM, N.C. -- In its final game playing as an independent, the Monarchs downed North Carolina Central at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium, 33-21, to close out the 2010 season.

The win was ODU's fifth straight since its loss against #14/16 Cal Poly that dropped the Monarchs to 3-3 on the season. The Monarchs conclude the season at 8-3 and bring its two-year total to 17-5 overall and head into the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) next year.

Redshirt junior Thomas DeMarco passed for 286 yards and a touchdown before being sidelined in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. Redshirt sophomore Reid Evans led the receiving corps with 111 yards on eight catches, while Mario Crawford, who last week become the second Monarch to surpass the 1,000 yard career rushing mark, ran the ball 15 times for 55 yards.



ODU closes second season with 33-21 win at NC Central

DURHAM, N.C. —  Old Dominion got only a bit more than a half from quarterback Thomas DeMarco but that's all the Monarchs needed to beat North Carolina Central 33-21 on Saturday at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in the season finale for both teams.

DeMarco led Old Dominion to a 30-14 halftime lead as he passed for 281 yards in the first half. He added five more on his lone completion of the second half before leaving the game with an injured shoulder after the first series of the third quarter following a long interception. He finished 22 of 32 for 286 yards and a touchdown.

ATTENDANCE: 4107

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SSU falls behind fast and furious in loss

NORFOLK, Va. - Savannah State's stumbling, bumbling, fumbling ways continued Saturday afternoon as the Tigers lost their 11th straight, falling 57-9, this time to Old Dominion on a crisp Saturday afternoon at Foreman Field.

Doom found the Tigers (0-9) immediately when the Monarchs converted a pooch kickoff recovery and were in the end zone four plays later. The afternoon just seemed to worsen as the sun went down.



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ODU's just too much for Savannah State 57-9

NORFOLK, VA - It was a day of firsts for Old Dominion's football team. First kickoff returned for a touchdown. First interception returned for a touchdown. First ridiculous, one-sided blowout.

The Monarchs, in the last stages of prepping for entry into the Colonial Athletic Association, dismantled struggling Savannah State 57-9 on a brisk Saturday afternoon at Foreman Field. ODU's 57 points were the most scored by the Monarchs in a game, surpassing a 49-point output last season against Division II Virginia Union. The school record for points against a Division I program is 44, set earlier this year against Campbell.

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ATTENDANCE: 19,782

Old Dominion Monarchs plunder Hampton Pirates

Hampton, VA - The Monarch special teams unit blocked two punts and rushed Pirate punter Jordan Stoval to start a drive on Hampton's own one-yard line all by halftime in ODU's 28-14 win in its 15-mile road trip to Hampton Saturday afternoon. The win ups ODU's overall mark to 5-3 overall and 6-1 all-time on the road. The Pirates meanwhile drop to 5-3 on the season.

Quarterback Thomas DeMarco (Palm Desert, Calif.) passed for 182 yards and ran for a pair of touchdowns, while Prentice Gill (Los Angles, Calif.) led the receiving corps with 67 yards, seven receptions, and a score.

ODU wins Round 1 of start-up rivalry with Hampton

Hampton's offense had just put together its first cohesive drive to pull within two scores with an entire fourth quarter to play, and Ricardo Silva's interception gave it the ball right back for what could be a game-changing possession. "I thought so," Silva said. "But it didn't happen."

Three straight incompletions forced the Pirates' ninth punt and personified their continuing offensive struggles in a 28-14 loss to Old Dominion in the first meeting of a home-and-away series between the nearby rivals on Saturday in front of 8,605 fans at Armstrong Stadium.

ODU victory will help it win recruiting battles

HAMPTON, VA - Old Dominion won a football game Saturday afternoon at Hampton University. But in addition to prevailing over its cross-the-water neighbors, the Monarchs also won a recruiting battle. That's one of the reasons Bobby Wilder characterized his team's 28-14 victory as "a very big win for our program." For now and the immediate future.

Winning the favor of impressionable, fickle high school athletes is how a successful football program is established and maintained. Now, when dealing with recruits from the Peninsula who are on the radar of both ODU and Hampton, the Monarchs should have a leg up.

Attendance: 8,605

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Already battling for recruits, ODU-HU set to battle on the field

Hampton University was first. But Old Dominion was shinier. Colby Goodwyn rushed for 1,869 yards and 29 touchdowns in a senior season at Phoebus High that culminated in the 2009 Group AAA Division 5 state title. The Pirates took notice early on, making Goodwyn his first scholarship offer during the season.

The Monarchs, in their second season of FCS play, came later, with a phone call during a celebratory post-championship dinner. Goodwyn excused the tardiness. “I was thinking, ‘I want to see what else might come open,’ ” he said. “The facilities are real nice (at ODU), and the teaching and all that stuff. Everything’s brand-new here. I like it a lot.”

Hampton, Old Dominion launch new rivalry Saturday

Just down the road at Hampton University's Armstrong Stadium on Saturday afternoon, they'll stage a football game that doubles as a socially competitive exercise. Or vice versa. Hampton U. and Old Dominion meet at 1 p.m. in a game with no tradition and little bearing on the big-picture aspirations of both programs, yet is widely anticipated in both camps.

In the football offices at Hampton U. and on Norfolk's Powhatan Avenue, they're calling this a big game. Not in the "Every game is a big game" or "It's a big game because it's the next game on our schedule" coaches' mantra that provokes reflexive eye-rolls among non-believers.

Hampton-Old Dominion: The preview, our prediction

HAMPTON (5-2, 4-1 MEAC) vs. OLD DOMINION (4-3)
WHEN: 1 p.m.
WHERE: Armstrong Stadium
TV/RADIO: 88.1 FM

THE BUZZ: The Pirates play host to ODU in the first game of a home-and-away series with the second-year Monarchs. Hampton's defense ranks 13th in the country, allowing opponents less than 290 yards per game, but its offense has scored just 14 points in its last two games. ODU averages 29.4 points, but gives up 23.9.

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Hampton Pirates Football Set To Take On Old Dominion

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University football team will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, when they return to Armstrong Stadium to take on Old Dominion at 1 p.m.

The Pirates (5-2) had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 10-7 loss on the road to South Carolina State this past Saturday, while the second-year Monarchs (4-3), under the direction of head coach Bobby Wilder, have won three of their last four after a 34-20 Homecoming win over Georgia State.

Saturday’s game will be the first-ever meeting between Hampton and Old Dominion; the Monarchs are in just their second year of competition after going nearly 70 years without a football team. After a 9-2 debut in 2009, ODU now holds the mark for the most wins ever for an FCS program in its first season.

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Saint Augustine's men's basketball coach takes job at ODU‎

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Saint Augustine’s College men’s basketball coach Lonnie Blow Jr., has accepted an assistant coaching job at Old Dominion University and has left the Falcons’ program after two seasons. Blow, who this season guided the Falcons to its first CIAA conference tournament title since 1997, received an offer this week and decided to join head coach Blaine Taylor’s staff.

Lonnie Blow, Jr., previously coached for 11 seasons at Maury H.S., led Granby H.S. to a state title and served as an assistant coach at Norfolk State and Hampton University. Last season, he led the Saint Augustine's Falcons to a 27-5 record in his second year and was named CIAA Coach of the Year. The Falcons also compiled the highest GPA in the CIAA.

“I can confirm that,” Old Dominion senior associate athletic director Debbie White said in phone interview on Thursday. St. Aug’s athletics director George Williams said he learned earlier in the week that Blow had an offer and tried to make a counter-offer. He said he certainly tried to keep one of the best basketball coaches to lead their NCAA Division II program. “I try to bring the best people in and put the best package together for them,” he said. “But D-I, financially, we can’t handle those guys.”

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ODU adds Lonnie Blow to men's basketball staff‎

Hampton Pirates adds Old Dominion, Central Michigan to 2010 Football Schedule

Hampton University Pirates second year head football coach Donovan Rose faces new opponents Old Dominion and Central Michigan in 2010.

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University football team, under second-year head coach Donovan Rose, will play an exciting schedule of games next fall that will include four marquee home games and two new opponents. HU officials released the school’s 2010 football schedule on Saturday, noting that the school has entered into a two-year contract to play Old Dominion University of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and a one-year pact with Central Michigan University of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

“This will be a challenging and exciting schedule for Hampton,” said HU athletics director Lonza Hardy Jr. “Playing ODU fits in well with our goal of playing more NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams in our region. Our vision is to play more CAA teams as well as forging relationships with other conferences, such as the Ivy League, the Atlantic 10 and the Big South. Adding Central Michigan gives our team the chance to step into the Bowl Subdivision arena and showcase our program.”

The Pirates will open the season on Sept. 2, when they head to Mount Pleasant, Mich. to face Central Michigan. From there, Hampton will head to Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11 to take on Howard in its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game of the year. Hampton’s first home game of the season will come on Sept. 18, when the Pirates take on North Carolina A&T at Armstrong Stadium at 6 p.m. as part of Parents’ Weekend, Alumni Day and Military Appreciation Day.

The Pirates will have a bye on Sept. 25. After a trip to Dover, Del. on Oct. 2 to face Delaware State, the Pirates will head to Durham, N.C. for a non-conference game against North Carolina Central. The Pirates will then return to Armstrong Stadium for the annual Battle of the Bay Classic, held Oct. 16 against Norfolk State at 1 p.m. From there, the Pirates head to Orangeburg, S.C. on Oct. 23 to face defending MEAC champion South Carolina State.

The Pirates will close out October with its second annual Hall of Fame Game, which will be Oct. 30 against second-year program Old Dominion. Kick-off will be 2 p.m. at Armstrong Stadium. Hampton’s home schedule will conclude on Nov. 6, when the Pirates face Bethune-Cookman for homecoming at 1 p.m. Hampton will close out the season with a pair of road games -- Nov. 13 at Florida A&M and Nov. 20 at Morgan State.

“I think playing Central Michigan is a great opportunity for us to not only play a Bowl Subdivision team, but it also gives us added incentives to work out hard this spring,” said Rose. “It’ll also help us to see where we are as a program and to see how to measure ourselves. The guys and the staff are all excited. “Playing ODU will be great in that it’ll bring the whole community together,” added Rose. “ODU did a great job of getting its program started back last season. Playing teams like this outside the conference, in addition to our conference opponents, will hopefully help us in taking our program where we want it to be.”

Hampton finished last season at 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the MEAC and qualified for the I-AA/FCS play-offs five times in its history, including a three-year run in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Hampton University Pirates 2010 Schedule

9/2 at Central Michigan, Mt. Pleasant, MI
9/11 at Howard University, Washington, D.C.
9/18 North Carolina A&T, Hampton, VA
9/25 OPEN
10/2 at Delaware State, Dover, DE
10/9 at North Carolina Central, Durham, N.C.
10/16 Norfolk State, Hampton, VA
10/23 at South Carolina State, Orangeburg, S.C.
10/30 Old Dominion, Hampton, VA
11/6 Bethune-Cookman, Hampton, VA (Homecoming)
11/13 at Florida A&M, Tallahassee, FL
11/20 at Morgan State, Baltimore, MD
11/28 NCAA FCS Division I Playoffs

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