NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Ricky Rahne preaches the 1-0 mentality. That's focusing on where your feet are and winning the next task in front of you. The head coach, however, understands that some of his players may be thinking about playing beyond the regular season.
Old Dominion enters the week 4-6, two wins shy of bowl eligibility. The Monarchs wrap up their schedule Saturday at Georgia Southern and next week at home against Georgia State, meaning it will take victories in both contests to earn a spot in a postseason contest.
"Every college team wants to go to a bowl game," junior cornerback LaMareon James said. "We've got seniors where it might be their last game if we lose, so we're not trying to make them go out sad like that. We feel we've got to get it right for them so they can have 20 more days with the team."
James and some of his teammates have faced a similar situation before. 2021 saw ODU begin its season 1-6, only to rattle of five straight wins to end its schedule and earn a trip to the Myrtle Beach Bowl. That experience taught those who were part of that team lessons they can apply in 2023.
"You can't win two before you win one," Rahne said. "That's probably the biggest lesson from two years ago is you truly have to go 1-0 in order to make that happen."
"We've been there before," added James. "We've got a lot of guys that was there during that year, so they know how it feels. We're just going to be ready to play. We're not going to look at it as pressure, though."
Old Dominion has reached a bowl game on two previous occasions in program history. The Monarchs topped Eastern Michigan in the 2016 Bahamas Bowl, signifying the silver and blue's first bowl game, and fell to Tulsa in the 2021 Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Georgia Southern enters Saturday with a 6-4 record, 5-0 on its home field. Last year saw the Eagles nip Old Dominion in Norfolk, 28-23. Quarterback Davis Brin ranks No. 10 in the nation in passing yards and has a handful of receiving weapons to which he can distribute the ball. A chance to pick up a key victory and hand GSU its first defeat at home has the Monarchs licking their chops.
"When we played JMU and Liberty, we knew they were ranked so we had big opportunities to knock down two ranked teams," James noted. "This is not the same thing, but they are 5-0 at home so we feel like we can make something happen against them and that would be big for the program."
Kickoff Saturday is set for 6:00 PM.
