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Old Dominion Monarchs Host North Carolina Tar Heels: Preview, TV Schedule, Predictions

The Monarchs host a Power 5 opponent for the second time in school history this Saturday when the North Carolina Tar Heels come to town

By Satchel Ziffer
NCAA Football: Old Dominion at Florida International Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Where: Foreman Field, Norfolk, VA

When: September 16th, 2017 3:30 PM

Where to watch: STAD or TWTR

Line: Old Dominion (+10)

The Old Dominion Monarchs host their second ever Power 5 conference school, the North Carolina Tar Heels in a rematch of a game-to-forget from 2013 when the Tar Heels trounced the Monarchs 80-20.

Team Breakdowns:

  • Points Per Game: ODU (24.0), UNC (32.5)
  • Points Allowed per game: ODU (41.0), UNC (12.0)
  • Total Yard per game: ODU (325.5), UNC (420.5)
  • Passing Yards per game: ODU (178.0), UNC (302.5)
  • Rushing Yards: ODU (118.0), UNC (147.5)
  • Yards Allowed: ODU (303.5), UNC (587.0)
  • Passing Yards: ODU (206.5), UNC (378.0)
  • Rushing Yards: ODU (97.0), UNC (209.0)

UNC Breakdown:

  • Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  • Conference: ACC
  • Record: 0-2 (vs Cal 30-35, vs Louisville 35-47)

Players to watch:

  • QB: Chazz Surratt 30-42 (329 yards, 3 touchdowns)
  • RB: Michael Carter 19 rushes (109 yards, 3 touchdowns)
  • WR: Austin Proehl 12 receptions (178 yards, 0 touchdowns)
  • LB: Andre Smith 21 total tackles (1 INT 73 yard return)

Outlook

For only the second time in program history, the Old Dominion Monarchs are hosting a power five team. The North Carolina Tar Heels are coming into town after losing two very close games to talented football teams. Both games this season, the Tar Heels were leading heading into the fourth quarter before seemingly falling apart in the Cal game and just being out-played by reigning Heisman Trophy winner and freak of nature, Lamar Jackson and Louisville.

So, while the Tar Heels are 0-2, they could’ve easily been 2-0 and probably been close to, if not in, the top 25 coming to Norfolk. The biggest story to watch for the Tar Heels will be the quarterback play. The Tar Heels have played two quarterbacks who haven’t played terrible, but haven’t solidified themselves as the starter. Chazz Surratt (r-Fr) got his first start last week and did a great job of taking care of the ball. The downside on him is that he seems to get flustered when the pocket collapses and ends up getting sacked rather than escape the pocket and run for it. This could mean we could see more of LSU grad-transfer, Brandon Harris controlling the offense since Fedora will bring his team in with the knowledge of how strong ODU’s defensive rush is. However, I think they are leaning more towards Surratt seeing as he is the QB of the future for the Tar Heels so I believe he will start the game and it’ll all depend on how he handles the pressure.

For Old Dominion, it has been an interesting start to the season for the QB’s as well. Blake Larussa (r-SO) was named the started with JUCO transfer, Jordan Hoy right at his heels. Now it seems that Wilder has flipped roles, giving the more athletic Hoy the chance to take over the offense while throwing Blake in to create a strong passing option. It will be interesting to see how this continues to play out. I foresee Hoy taking over most of this game since the offensive line has been struggling and the Monarchs most reliable receiver, Jonathan Duhart, out for the season. Hoy can extend plays with his legs which allows for the Wide outs to break free and find gaps in the coverage. I see this day being on the offensive line needs to wake up for, I am not 100% why they haven’t been performing how we’ve been expecting them to perform, but outside of Nick Clarke (C), they have seemed out of tune. I expect them to bounce back and have a great game this week. With Chad Hendrix out, it will be a key to see how the line changes up to make up for that loss.

Predictions

Overall, I think it could be a very fun game to watch. I expect to see a well-fought game with the Monarch’s defense proving far tougher than UNC could imagine. It will all come down to ODU’s offense and if they can capitalize on miscues by the Tar Heel defense and minimize the mistakes. I originally thought this game could get ugly fast, but the more I’ve studied UNC and looked at how they played these teams, I think it’s a rather competitive game that looks out of reach at half, but the fourth quarter slouch continues for UNC and ODU brings it back within 7, 31-24 UNC.

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