First C-USA road trip turns into adventure
NORFOLK — When Old Dominion visits Marshall on Saturday, it will mark the Monarchs’ second straight Conference USA road game.
ODU’s players and coaches hope this week’s trip home goes better than the first.
After last weekend’s 28-21 loss at Texas El Paso, the Monarchs (1-4, 0-1 C-USA) spent nearly three hours waiting on a West Texas tarmac while mechanics worked on the team’s charter plane.
Some players downloaded and watched movies from Netflix as they waited. Others tried to steal some postgame sleep, with at least one sore player reclining in the aisle.
It was what they didn’t do that made the wait tolerable.
“I didn’t hear anybody panicking,” coach Ricky Rahne said. “I’m not all the way back there with the guys, but there was nobody clutching their rosary or anything while they were getting on the plane, so I felt good about that. The guys, they were fine.”
Sophomore receiver Ali Jennings, who caught his first touchdown pass of the season at UTEP, downloaded the entire first season of the Netflix drama “Squid Game,” but it wasn’t enough to pass the time.
“The season ended before the plane took off,” Jennings said.
Jennings then attempted to sleep in his seat, but his body was too sore from the game. So he took to the floor to keep from cramping up.
Rahne, a former assistant at Penn State and Kansas State who is no stranger to travel hurdles, just wanted the plane to be functional.
“Anybody who’s flown a lot, there are mechanical issues on planes,” Rahne said. “That’s just the way it is. I personally want them to solve all mechanical issues before we take off.
“Ifyoutellmethatyouthinksomething is fixed, I would like you to be surethatit’sfixedbeforewetakeoff.”
The Monarchs ultimately arrived back in Norfolk on Sunday about 8 a.m., squeezing in some sleep at home before an evening meeting and practice.
Jennings, who transferred from West Virginia, was glad to be back.
“It’s definitely nerve-wracking to hear that the plane you’re about to take off in is having issues,” Jennings said. “You just try not to think about it and hope they fix everything before we take off.”
Back on the road
Rahne seemed displeased about having to travel again a week after experiencing the league’s longest road trip.
The nearly 2,000-mile journey to El Paso is among the longest in-conference treks for any team in the country.
But upon further review, including consideration of the fact that ODU’s 2020 season was canceled
altogether over COVID-19 concerns, Rahne was fine with it.
“You know what? No one cares,” he said. “And I don’t care because I’d rather play 12 road games than not get to play a season again. I told our guys we can play on the moon. We’ll play in the Sea of Tranquility if they make us. I just want to play the games, and I just want our guys to have an opportunity to go out there and play.”
The Monarchs have played at home just twice this season, splitting non-conference games with Hampton and Buffalo.
Making progress?
Rahne’s youthful team has certainly grown since the season started, but he stopped short of calling his players mature.
ODU has rallied from deficits after slow starts in both of its past two games, only to fall one play short.
In a 35-34 loss to Buffalo on Sept. 25, a 35-yard PAT attempt after an untimely penalty narrowly missed with 19 seconds left.
“I think maturity sometimes is a very abstract thing,” said Rahne, a Colorado native. “I’m 41 years old,
and there’s some things I do that are extremely immature, I’m sure my wife would say.
“When somebody slips on ice, I laugh. So when I’m 61, 62 years old, I’m pretty sure I’m still going to be laughing at that. Is that a sign that I’m not mature? I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a sign that I’m human.”
Slow starters
Against UTEP, the Monarchs dug a 17-0 hole before roaring back in the second half.
D.J. Mack’s fourth-and-17 pass attempt from the Miners 38-yard line fell incomplete with 26 seconds left, and the threat was over.
Like in the Buffalo loss, in which ODU trailed 35-7 midway through the third quarter, the comeback gave the Monarchs hope.
“We’re very close to turning everything around — very close,” said junior defensive tackle Tyre Bibby. “We’ve just got to put everything together from the jump.”
ODU has been outscored 108-68 in the first half this season.