Hear ye, hear ye! The royal court of Old Dominion is now in session. Winnie Pocklington presiding, tiny crown slightly crooked, salt air in my lungs and a harbor-tour microphone that I absolutely did not return at the end of summer. I'm a Norfolk girl from a Navy family, and I treat every Monarch win like a coronation. This week, I'm treating a loss like a royal inquiry. Order in the court.
Part 1: The Thursday Night Inquiry
Georgia Southern beat Old Dominion 23-15 last Thursday at S.B. Ballard Stadium, in front of 17,912 loyal subjects. We're 2-5 and 1-3 in the Sun Belt. The court accepts the verdict, though it filed a strongly worded scroll.
It began like a coronation. On our very first drive, Quinn Henicle marched us 75 yards in 11 plays and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Leon Haughton Jr. Hear ye! Seven-nothing, Monarchs.
Then the Eagles tied it, and we lost a fumble that set up the first of three Tripp Bryant field goals. He made all three, from 33, 43 and 31 yards, and Georgia Southern led 16-7 at halftime. Turner Helton hit Terrance Gibbs for an 11-yard touchdown in the third, and it was 23-7.
But the crown doesn't fall that easily. Backup Ryan Huff threw a short pass to TJ Johnson, and Johnson turned it into a 71-yard touchdown with 11:13 left. Huff then hit Haughton for the two-point conversion, and it was a one-score game. That's as close as we came.
The court notes some honors. Lucas Struck made 11 tackles. Daevon Iles and Ja'Mez Drummer had 10 each. Mario Easterly had a sack, and Javen Gibson intercepted Helton. And our defense held Georgia Southern to 3-for-12 on third down. The penalties, though, 12 of them for 100 yards, have been sentenced to extra film study.
And let us remember the week before, because royals keep records. On Oct. 10 we went to Boone and beat App State 10-3. AP reported we held the Mountaineers to 158 yards and forced three turnovers. Devin Roche ran for 101 yards. That was a coronation on a mountain, and I'm still wearing the crown.
Part 2: The Royal Voyage to Ruston
Saturday, 5 p.m. Eastern, on ESPN+, Old Dominion visits Louisiana Tech at Joe Aillet Stadium.
The court is gracious. The Bulldogs are 4-2 and 2-0 in the Sun Belt, and they beat UL Monroe 24-0 last Saturday. Blake Baker threw two touchdown passes to Brayden Bockler, and Marcus Calwise Jr. caught eight passes for 119 yards. Credit to the Bulldogs. A royal always curtsies first.
And then she reads the scroll.
The First Half That Wasn't
It was 0-0 at halftime in Monroe, against a ULM team that is 0-6. ULM sacked Baker on the second play and intercepted him soon after. The Bulldogs went 1-for-3 on field goals, with one blocked, and missed another with a second kicker. Four field goal tries, one make. Hear ye, hear ye: the royal kicking inspector has questions.
AP's preview also lists Louisiana Tech's red zone offense 118th in FBS, scoring on 76% of trips. My defense would like a word with that red zone.
The Monarch Defense, By Royal Decree
AP ranks our defense 47th in FBS in yards allowed, at 335.7 a game, and 50th against the pass. Struck leads us with 52 tackles. Gibson has five sacks. We held App State to 158 yards in its own house, and that was two weeks ago, not two decades ago.
The court admits, with a sigh, that our offense has struggled. AP has it 138th in yards. But Roche has 373 rushing yards, Johnson has three touchdown catches and Huff just showed what a quick throw can do. Louisiana Tech allows 148.5 rushing yards a game, 84th in FBS. A royal procession runs right down the middle of the road.
The Royal Archives
CollegeFootballData.com reports Old Dominion is 2-0 all time against Louisiana Tech. We won 30-27 in 2014 and 23-20 in 2021. Two meetings, two coronations. The Bulldogs have never beaten the Monarchs. By royal decree, that is the natural order of things.
And while we're in the archives: Louisiana Tech's very first football game, in 1901, was a 57-0 loss to LSU. A difficult debut, darlings. Ours came in 1930. And yes, the Monarchs paused football from 1940 to 2009. Royals take long naps. We woke up and went 9-2 in our first season back.
Also, a gentle reminder that the Bulldogs only joined the Sun Belt on July 1 of this year. Welcome to the kingdom, new subjects. Please mind the protocol, and kindly stop tripping over the long drives of the visiting court.
A Tale of Two Towns: The Harbor and the Orchard
Norfolk. Ladies and gentlemen of the court, behold my kingdom. Norfolk is home to Naval Station Norfolk, established in 1917, which Wikipedia says remains the world's largest naval base. My family has served there, and I salute every sailor who does. Our waterfront has the Nauticus maritime museum and the battleship USS Wisconsin, and the city has the Chrysler Museum of Art and the Virginia Zoo. Waterside, a festival marketplace on the harbor, opened in 1983 and was redeveloped in 2017. Norfolk had 238,005 people in 2020. On a fall Saturday, I can give you a harbor tour in the morning and a Monarch win at night, and I will narrate both.
Ruston. Now, Ruston is a charming little city of 22,166, according to the 2020 census. That's roughly one Ruston for every 10 and a half Norfolks, and I checked with the royal mathematician. It's in the Piney Hills of north Louisiana, and it's famous for its annual Peach Festival. In June. The Peach Festival is in June, darlings, and we're arriving in late October. We've missed the only royal ball on the calendar. I've been told to expect a lot of pine trees.
The Dixie Theater opened in 1928, and I respect a historic theater. But a town where the most famous building is a theater should know drama when it sees it. And their team is named for a bulldog. Ours is named for a monarch. One of us wears a crown. The other one wears a collar.
And travel? From the harbor, the royal fleet would like to sail to Ruston. Sadly, Ruston is a landlocked town in the Piney Hills, a long way from any harbor. The court will travel by land, like peasants, along Interstate 20, and arrive fashionably on time. I've packed a tiara, a rain jacket and a strongly worded letter to whoever schedules Sun Belt road trips. A Monarch should never have to change planes to reach a peach.
The Royal Decree
Here is the ruling of the court. Old Dominion has a top-50 defense, a recent road win in which it held App State to 158 yards and a 2-0 record against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs needed a half to find any points against a winless ULM, went 1-for-4 on field goals and rank 118th in the red zone. If the Monarchs protect the ball, keep the penalty flags in their pockets and let the defense rule, this voyage could end in a coronation in the Piney Hills.
Long live the Monarchs. Hear ye, hear ye: the court is adjourned.
My call: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 30, Old Dominion Monarchs 18.