The Monarchs are no longer the new guys on the Conference USA block.

By Rich Cirminiello | @RichCirminiello

Old Dominion gained an important foothold in its first season as a member of an FBS league, growing immeasurably as a program. But the next steps of the evolution will be taken without ODU’s most important player, multi-dimensional QB Taylor Heinicke, who leaves behind a gaping void.

The Monarchs impressively broke even in 2014, the product of Heinicke and a high-powered offense. However, as the quarterback reins get tuned over, likely to touted rookie Shuler Bentley, the onus falls on the defense to pick up more slack to help keep the momentum going in Norfolk.

The offense in Norfolk has been strides ahead of the D from the moment this football rebirth became a reality seven years ago. And that dynamic doesn’t figure to change in 2015. Old Dominion got bullied a year ago as if it was still an FCS member.

The overall talent is thin, and size and depth are concerns. This promises to be an ongoing process that takes a lot of time and a lot of hands-on coaching from all members of the staff.

As the defense continues its slow climb to respectability, Brian Scott’s offense still might be good enough to keep the program competitive against equivalent opponents. Sure, no team gets better by losing a quarterback of Heinicke’s ability and experience. But the Old Dominion system has quickly gained roots, and there’s enough talent, such as RB Ray Lawry and a swath of proven receivers, surrounding the new hurler to believe the Monarchs will remain among the better offenses in Conference USA.

In 2005, Old Dominion voted to resuscitate a sport that had been dormant since 1941. The Monarchs have come a long way over the past decade, but the next leg of the journey will be taken without the program’s most influential individual behind head coach Bobby Wilder.

If ODU can continue to inch forward in the right direction, while navigating life with a new quarterback, the reward could be a first bowl game after being boxed out by NCAA rules in 2014.

What you need to know about the offense: Old Dominion proved it could score plenty of points with Taylor Heinicke at the controls of the up-tempo spread. Now, the Monarchs must show it can keep rolling without No. 14 taking the snaps. Redshirt freshman Shuler Bentley and junior college transfer Joey Verhaegh are duking it out to see who joins Conference USA Freshman of the Year Ray Lawry in the backfield. Uncertainty behind center aside, ODU is actually in pretty good shape on offense. Lawry headlines a deep set of skill players that includes three of last year’s top four receivers and steady Blair Roberts who missed all of last year with a back injury. The line returns four starters, though replacing all-league C Josh Mann will take time. Plus, the team is toying with additional packages that employ a tight end, so that more blockers will be on the field to support Lawry. With so much promise and experience on this side of the ball, success this season will rest squarely on the shoulders of the quarterbacks, one of whom will have enormous shoes to fill in the huddle.

What you need to know about the defense: While the offense was Conference USA-ready in 2014, the D most certainly was not. More time, both on the practice field and in the weight room, will be required before the Monarch defense is FBS-caliber. ODU got shoved around last season, and will likely take its lumps again in 2015. While a handful of starters return, none jump out as immediate all-star candidates, or certainly next-level type defenders. The Monarchs are strongest at linebacker, where TJ Ricks and Martez Simpson are the kinds of athletes who can make plays from sideline-to-sideline. However, too many of the plays made at the second level are the result of a front wall that gets routinely enveloped at the line of scrimmage. DE Poncho Barnwell shows potential as a pass rusher, but it remains incumbent upon interior linemen Bumni Rotimi and Rashaad Coward to take another sizable step toward becoming reliable run-stuffers this fall.

What to watch for on offense: Life after Heinicke. The graduation of Taylor Heinicke means Old Dominion has no experience behind center for the first time since restarting football in 2009. The heir is likely to be redshirt freshman Shuler Bentley, the former two-time South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year. Providing competition will be Joey Verhaegh, a Fullerton (Calif.) Community College transfer who threw for 2,515 yards and 18 touchdowns as a sophomore. Both players will have an excellent security blanket in RB Ray Lawry.

What to watch for on defense: Competition right through the end of August. Sure, there are returning starters everywhere on defense. But no job will be safe when the previous D yielded 38 points per game and over six yards per play. Head coach Bobby Wilder and his staff will spend this offseason mining the best possible candidates to fill out his two-deep. And if that means promoting newcomers or backups who thrived in the weight room this past winter, so be it.

The team will be far better if… the defense makes more stands on third downs. No one in the FBS was worse than the Monarchs in third-down stops in 2014, allowing more than 52% of attempts to be converted. It was a demoralizing result that drained the energy of the D, while keeping the potent offense idle on the sideline. Although ODU won’t be making any kind of overnight transformation this year, it has to manufacture a way to force more punts than it did a season ago.

The Schedule: For the second year in a row, the Monarchs open their Conference USA schedule at the defending league champ, Oct. 3 in Huntington versus Marshall.
– The schedule is built for a fast start, opening at Eastern Michigan before playing three consecutive home games against Norfolk State, NC State and Appalachian State.
– A well-placed off week on Oct. 10 intersects the schedule, providing the Monarchs with a breather before resuming the second half of the slate.
– After nearly upsetting NC State last September, Old Dominion gets another crack at the Pack, who’ll become the first Power Five school to ever visit S.B. Ballard Stadium.
– An Oct. 17 visit from Charlotte, the newest member of Conference USA, could be the start of a compelling rivalry of Mid-Atlantic schools.
– WATCH OUT FOR … Appalachian State. The Mountaineers, which finished last season on a six-game winning streak, are bullish on 2015 with the returns of young QB Taylor Lamb and RB Marcus Cox.

Best offensive player: Sophomore RB Ray Lawry. Lawry was a revelation as a rookie in 2014, serving as a perfect complement to the passing game. Now that QB Taylor Heinicke has graduated, Lawry is about to become the focal point of the offense. And he’s up to the challenge. He operates with a workhorse mentality, encouraging news in Norfolk since the Monarchs are about to break in a green quarterback with zero snaps at this level.

Best defensive player: Junior LB TJ Ricks. This defense can use a few more defenders like Ricks, who took flight as a sophomore last season. He’s not very big, and he arrived in Norfolk without a scholarship, but he plays the game fast and with boundless passion and intensity. Ricks is a player, making his presence felt in opposing backfields and in pass coverage. And after just one season as a regular, he’s only begun to ascend as one of the centerpieces of the Monarch defense.

Key player to a successful season: Redshirt freshman QB Shuler Bentley. Old Dominion competed in its Conference USA debut in large part because of the play of the quarterback. And although no one expects Bentley to be Taylor Heinicke this soon, he will need to orchestrate an attack that returns a lot of key pieces. Bentley is an undersized playmaker, with outstanding poise and leadership. In other words, he’s a good candidate to take the baton from Heinicke and keep the ODU offense humming.

The season will be a success if … Old Dominion finishes .500 or above for the seventh year in a row. It’s admittedly asking a lot the year after the face of the program is supplanted by a rookie. But Bobby Wilder has built a winning attitude in Norfolk, and plenty of starters from last year’s 6-6 team are back. If Bentley can improve as the season progresses and the D makes even marginal strides, the Monarchs are liable to nab the bowl berth that eluded them in 2014.

Key game: Sept. 19 vs. NC State. The Monarchs put a scare into the Pack last season, in Raleigh, before losing 46-34. This fall, State must travel north to Foreman Field, where an energized home crowd will await. For ODU, this represents an enormous opportunity to make a statement at the expense of an ACC visitor. And even a competitive game in the second half will do wonders for the Monarchs’ confidence and reputation among recruits inside the Mid-Atlantic region.

2014 Fun Stats:
– Rushing yards per game: Old Dominion 149.4 – Opponents 222.5
– Third-down%: Old Dominion 42% – Opponents 53%
– Passing yards per game: Old Dominion 292.5 – Opponents 229.7

Players You Need To Know

1. RB Ray Lawry, Soph.
Lawry wasn’t even expected to play a pivotal role in the 2014 offense. One year later, he’s the face of the attack. He authored a smashing debut out of Kingsway (N.J.) Regional High School by rushing for 947 and 16 touchdowns on just 134 carries. The Conference USA Freshman of the Year hardly played in the first half of the season before ripping off 100 yards in five of the last seven games, capped by 213 yards in the finale. The 5-10, 192-pound Lawry nuances power with speed, consistently shedding tackles and exploding into the open field.

2. WR Zach Pascal, Jr.
Pascal has stepped up his game each season in Norfolk. Now, he’s being asked to lead a corps of receivers that’ll be without all-star Antonio Vaughan. Pascal earned honorable mention All-Conference USA in 2014 with 59 receptions for 743 yards and seven touchdowns. And his 6-2, 211-pound frame makes for a good target and a tough receiver to drag to the turf. Pascal hopes to support his first-time starting quarterback, while enhancing his own chances of playing on Sundays.

3. WR Blair Roberts, Sr.
Roberts is back after redshirting in 2014 to recover from a back injury. And the Monarchs are thrilled to have him back in the receiving corps. As a junior in 2013, Roberts finished third on the team with 46 receptions for 560 yards and six touchdowns, and his experience will be beneficial to whichever quarterback winds up replacing Taylor Heinicke in the lineup. At 6-2 and 195 pounds, Roberts has a sizable catch-radius, with the ability to pluck the ball high out of the air.

4. LB TJ Ricks, Jr.
A year after playing as a backup and on special teams, Ricks made a quantum leap in his development in 2014. He stood out on the outside by finishing second on the team with 80 tackles, while adding seven stops for loss, 2.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries and four forced fumbles. At 6-0 and 225 pounds, Ricks plays bigger than his size, and he harbors the speed and get-off to be an effective blitzer coming off the edge.

5. OG Tyler Fisher, Jr.
C Josh Mann was the Monarchs’ best offensive lineman a year ago. But now that Mann has exhausted his eligibility, Fisher is poised to become the new anchor of the front wall. Fisher started all but the Eastern Michigan game in 2014, gradually emerging into an honorable mention All-Conference USA performer. Fisher is a 6-3, 320-pound pile-driver, and one of the key reasons why RB Ray Lawry flourished in the second half of the year.

6. S Fellonte Misher, Sr.
Misher is one of the Monarchs’ defensive enforcers on the last line of the D, a role he enjoys playing. He’ll begin his finale as the most physical member of the secondary, patrolling the field with a chip on his shoulder. The 6-2, 207-pound knockout puncher can be out of place in coverage at times, but he compensated by stuffing the run the last two years. After leading the 2013 team in tackles, Misher made 79 stops, two picks and two fumble recoveries a year ago.

7. WR David Washington, Jr.
Washington made a successful switch from quarterback to wide receiver in 2014 for a program that desperately wanted to get his length and agility on the field in some capacity. He ensured that the move would be permanent, catching 47 passes for 599 yards and four touchdowns as a full-time starter. Washington already possesses the desired size for the position, 6-3 and 204 pounds, and should continue to improve in the finer points of the position.

8. DE Poncho Barnwell, Jr.
In his debut out of Nassau (N.Y.) Community College, Barnwell evolved into Old Dominion’s most disruptive defensive lineman. He was originally headed to Syracuse until academics became a stumbling block, allowing the Monarchs to swoop in and nab him. The 6-4, 258-pounder has the size and the motor to defend the run, but he also posted a team-high 3.5 sacks to go along with 34 tackles, 6.5 stops for loss and four quarterback hurries.

9. LB Martez Simpson, Jr.
Simpson was an immediate contributor to the Monarchs in his first year out of Pearl River (Miss.) Community College. The 6-1, 218-pounder started 10 games at ‘Rover’ in 2014, finishing fourth on the team with 75 tackles, including a pair behind the line. While Simpson’s size can become an issue versus ground-and-pound opponents, he has the range and the closing speed to hunt down ballcarriers from behind.

10. DB Rob Thompson, Soph.
The Monarchs are excited by the return of Thompson who lettered as a true freshman in 2013, but sat out all of last year with a shoulder injury. He was slated to start at safety last fall before getting hurt, but is lining up at cornerback this offseason, testament to his versatility and athleticism. The 6-1, 197-pound Thompson, who was offered by Iowa in high school, has the smarts and the physical tools to be an impact player wherever he winds up playing this season.