The Monarchs return 15 starters from a team that went 10-3 in 2016. Their season included a 24-20 win over Eastern Michigan in the Bahamas Bowl. ODU returns their all-time leading rusher Ray Lawry (3,338 career yards). In 2016 they averaged 430.8 yards/game and 35.1 points/game that was good for #50 and #31 in the nation respectively. Against Albany new QB Blake LaRussa went 14-20 161 yards and 1 TD. He did throw 2 INT's.
On defense the Monarchs were solid in 2016. They were #2 in the C-USA in scoring defense (27.2 points/game). They have two of the top DE's in the Group of Five conferences: Bunmi Rotimi and Oshane Ximines. The two combined for 14.5 sacks in 2016. They had three sacks and 3.5 TFL against Albany last week. Old Dominion held UMass to 16 points last year in what was probably Andrew Ford's poorest game. He'll probably see a lot of pressure from the Monarchs defensive line again Saturday.
UMass does have a chance to catch the Monarchs looking ahead as their next two opponents after the Minutemen are North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
Old Dominion is just a solid Group-of-Five team. Defense is probably their strong point. The Monarchs held nine 2016 opponents to 28 points or less. They held Albany to 17 points and 275 yards of total offense last Saturday. The Monarchs had 9.0 TFL against the Great Danes.
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Connor Ryan of MassLive says UMass looks to rebound.
Matty Vautour says Old Dominion expects an improved UMass team.
Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Monarchs-Minutemen game.
SB Nation picks UMass to beat the point spread.
The Enterprise-News predicts UMass over Old Dominion 28-24.
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Good news starved UMass fans got some encouraging news yesterday when UMass A.D. Ryan Bamford received a contract extension through 2022.
Matty Vautour has a post on Bamford's contract.
UMass' announcement of Bamford's extension.
Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Bamford's extension.
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Conference USA turned down Liberty's bid to join the conference, but the Flames are looking to have the last laugh.
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