HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—To listen to Marshall players talk about the upcoming opponent this week you’d think the Herd was preparing to face Ole Miss, not Old Dominion. While the Monarch’s football program is only in its sixth year of existence, Marshall players have nothing but respect for the up and coming team.
“Some teams get ahead of themselves and look down on teams,” said linebacker Evan McKelvey. “If you look down on a team and don’t think much of them, that’s the team that will beat you. It’s always the team you don’t of that will beat you.”
ODU head coach Bobby Wilder’s goal when he was hired to jumpstart the university’s football program, which had been defunct since 1941 when the NCAA implemented a rule no longer allowing freshmen to play. The Monarchs went 9-2 in 2009 and by 2011 reached the FCS playoffs with a 10-3 record.
In 2012, ODU led FCS in scoring offense, total offense, and passing. The Monarchs won the Colonial Athletic Association Championship and earned a four-seed in the FCS playoffs.
ODU went 8-4 last year as it began the transition to FBS and was unbeaten at home. The Monarchs are 49-15 in the six seasons since the football program was restarted.
Wilder has accomplished all of this by mostly finding and developing homegrown talent. The Monarchs feature 40 players from Virginia and Washington, D.C. It’s no surprise to Virginia native Eric Frohnapfel who has seen the talent available in the Commonwealth firsthand.
“That Virginia tidewater area is underrated in some ways. There’s a lot of talent out there,” said Marshall tight end Eric Frohnpfel who grew up in Stafford, Va. “We played some teams in high school that had a lot of speed and athletic kids. They’ve been able to pinpoint that area and get 15 to 20 guys to come play for their team. There are a lot of good guys who can play out there.”
Marshall is once again an overwhelming favorite headed into Saturday’s game but that is of no concern to Herd players. They understand the minute they allow outside influences to distract their focus is when they could see a game slip away.
“We’ve never been in a position to look past teams. We can’t forget what got us here,” reiterated McKelvey. “We want to continue to do the same thing we’ve done every game, so we’re not going to change anything up.”