NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Old Dominion head coach Ricky Rahne isn't about looking ahead. He always seems to be where his feet are, with his 1-0 mentality serving as the guideline to the Monarchs' approach.
So it's no surprise that, with his team on the cusp of bowl eligibility, his mind is solely on ODU's match-up with Louisiana-Monroe this Saturday. The postseason spot that would come with that sixth victory is merely an afterthought.
"That just gave me heart palpitations because it means I'm closer to Christmas, which means I'm closer to my wife asking for a dog," Rahne said of the bowl eligibility question during his weekly media availability Monday. "I'm not worried about bowl eligibility. I'm worried about this week. We've got a lot of things to take care of before we get to the end of the year."
He and his team can take care of the bowl berth with a win Saturday in their first ever meeting with ULM. A handful of Monarchs have experienced a bowl game and, while they're focused on what's directly in front of them, getting that extra game, extra practice time and extra minutes together as teammates is an opportunity of which the players would love to take advantage.
"I've been to one bowl game since I've been here," added redshirt junior safety Mario Easterly. "I'm definitely trying to go to another one. Another chance to play football would be a great opportunity so yeah, we're definitely trying to do that."
Old Dominion (5-3, 2-2 in the Sun Belt) will meet a ULM team (3-5, 1-3) that has lost four in a row, but don't be fooled by the Warhawks' record. They gave Southern Mississippi fits at times last week and their running game is starting to come into form. ULM also boasts a defense that allows just 370 yards per game.
"They run a lot of offense, meaning they have a variety of plays, formations, they'll run two quarterback stuff, they'll run quite a few exotic plays," Rahne noted. "The defensive line and linebackers are a real strength for them. Their secondary, they cover well, but those defensive lineman, they're going to get after you pretty good."
ODU got back on track this past Saturday with a 24-21 win over Appalachian State. Explosive plays have become part of the Monarchs' identity, which include seven touchdown plays of 70 yards or more. Their 7.1 yards per play rank them in the top ten in the country and they'll look to keep that trend going this Saturday.
"It's a little bit of the nature of how we play, "the head coach said of his team's explosive plays. "We'd like to be a little more consistent on some things, but we're going to look for those opportunities to get a big play, as well, and when we have them, we're going to take advantage of them and we're going to try and get them going."
Old Dominion and Louisiana-Monroe kick off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
