Ryan Huff, filling in at quarterback with Quinn Henicle ruled out by an undisclosed injury, threw for 261 yards against James Madison on Saturday night, and spent the rest of the evening on the ground. Huff was sacked nine times behind a line that surrendered 12 tackles for loss, and the Monarchs finished with minus-14 net rushing yards on 28 carries. Devin Roche and Maurki James combined for 13 non-sack carries and 31 yards.
Henicle won the job in camp and should get it back when he is healthy, but that would not have changed much Saturday. The blocking is what travels to Atlanta, not the name under center.
The matchup that should worry you
Old Dominion plays at Georgia State on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+. The simulations give the Monarchs a 33% chance to win. That makes Old Dominion a road underdog in a series it has historically controlled.
The reason the number sits there is simple. Georgia State recorded six sacks in its win over Northern Illinois, and Old Dominion allowed nine sacks in its loss to James Madison.
So the thing to watch on the first few third downs is dull and decisive. Does the pocket last long enough for anyone to throw? First-year coordinator Kody Cook, promoted from receivers coach to run this offense and coach the quarterbacks, has said it would look much like the 2025 version. That version had Colton Joseph, the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year who threw for 2,624 yards and ran for 1,007 before transferring to Wisconsin. Cook does not have that kind of quarterback this season. A quarterback who gets to his third read once or twice, and a Roche carry that gains six instead of losing two, would be the first real evidence this season that the rebuild is functional.
The rest of the ledger
The defense was supposed to hold things together while the offense grew up, and Blake Seiler is still running it after a 2025 season that finished in the national top 20 in scoring defense. It did not hold Saturday. Old Dominion allowed 46 points, with Mario Easterly and Lucas Struck each finishing with 11 tackles and Brandon Crutchfield taking the Monarchs' only interception. The unit had squeezed East Carolina into 276 yards a week earlier. It has alternated good weeks and bad weeks all season, which is the problem. There is no version of this team that survives both units having a bad one on the same Saturday.
Then there is the self-inflicted layer. Ricky Rahne's postgame summary was blunt, JMU "beat us in every phase," he said, and Old Dominion "was undisciplined and we lacked detail", and 13 penalties backed him up. Old Dominion is now 1-3 and 0-1, playing a division opponent it has beaten in six of seven all-time meetings, including 27-10 last November.
Georgia State was picked last in the East. That is the weight of this one. Beat the pass rush and you get your September back in some form; lose it and the rest of the schedule gets very steep very quickly.
Full breakdown at the Week 5 guide, and the methodology explains where the numbers come from.