NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Old Dominion went its entire 2025 campaign without losing three games in a row. In fact, the Monarchs only fell in three games total. 2026 has been a different story early in the campaign.
ODU enters Saturday's match-up at Georgia State with a 1-3 record and has suffered three consecutive defeats, most recently a 46-20 setback at the hands of James Madison this past weekend. Head coach Ricky Rahne cites penalties and turnovers, but also pointed out his team's tendency to push for big plays as opposed to letting those plays come to his players.
"We've got to stop trying to make plays," Rahne said. "We've got to put ourselves in position to, over and over and over again, put ourselves in the right position and those big plays will happen. That's one of the main things we're focusing on."
"We can either mope around, let the season go to waste or we can stand firm and turn it around," added Monarch senior linebacker Koa Naotala. "I think we're definitely on the latter side. I think we have a strong team. I think we're all ready to just win."
The silver and blue may get a boost heading to Atlanta. Quarterback Quinn Henicle, who missed this past Saturday's contest with an undisclosed injury, could return as soon as this week, according to Rahne. The head coach chose not to specify what's been ailing the redshirt sophomore signal caller, but did confirm his absence from the field was not due to disciplinary or performance reasons.
"He's a tough kid and he's going to do everything he can to get back in there," Rahne said. "It could be as early as this week. We're still evaluating that. It's one of those situations where it's kind of a day-to-day thing."
Ryan Huff made his first career start in Henicle's place on Saturday. Huff completed 20 of his 39 pass attempts for 261 yards, throwing a touchdown pass to Leon Haughton Jr., as well as a late-game interception.
After a 1-11 showing in 2025, Georgia State has looked like a completely different team so far this season. The Panthers are 3-1 and lead the Sun Belt in total offense at 468 yards per game. Conversely, ODU's 287 yards per outing bring up the rear of the conference leaderboard. GSU has only allowed two total sacks in four games, while its defense has come up with 12 sacks of opposing quarterbacks.
Old Dominion and Georgia State kick off at 3:30 p.m. this Saturday.
Click here to see how we use AI at WTKR News 3.
