2018 Old Dominion Monarchs football team

The 2018 Old Dominion Monarchs football team represented Old Dominion University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Monarchs played their home games at the Foreman Field in Norfolk, Virginia as members of the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by tenth-year head coach Bobby Wilder. They finished the season 4–8, 2–6 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for sixth place in the East Division. ODU's streak of home sell-outs (59 total games) ended with the FIU game. ODU had sold out every home game since they restarted the football program in 2009.

2018 Old Dominion Monarchs football
Conference	Conference USA
Division	East Division
Record	4–8 (2–6 C-USA)
Head coach	Bobby Wilder (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Scott (10th season)
Offensive scheme	Hurry-up spread option
Defensive coordinator	Rich Nagy (6th season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Foreman Field
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Middle Tennessee x		7	–	1					8	–	6
Marshall		6	–	2					9	–	4
FIU		6	–	2					9	–	4
Charlotte		4	–	4					5	–	7
Florida Atlantic		3	–	5					5	–	7
Old Dominion		2	–	6					4	–	8
Western Kentucky		2	–	6					3	–	9
West Division
UAB x$		7	–	1					11	–	3
North Texas		5	–	3					9	–	4
Louisiana Tech		5	–	3					8	–	5
Southern Miss		5	–	3					6	–	5
UTSA		2	–	6					3	–	9
UTEP		1	–	7					1	–	11
Rice		1	–	7					2	–	11
Championship: UAB 27, Middle Tennessee 25
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Rimington Trophy[1]	Nick Clarke	C	SR
Chuck Bednarik Award[2]	Oshane Ximines	DE	SR
Doak Walker Award[3]	Jeremy Cox	RB	SR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[4]	Oshane Ximines	DE	SR
Ray Guy Award[5]	Bailey Cate	P	JR
Paul Hornung Award[6]	Isaiah Harper	WR/KR	SR
Wuerffel Trophy[7]	Oshane Ximines	DE	SR
Ted Hendricks Award[8]	Oshane Ximines	DE	SR

Preseason All-CUSA team

Conference USA released their preseason all-CUSA team on July 16, 2018, with the Monarchs having three players selected.^[9]

Defense

• Oshane Ximines – DL

Special teams

• Isaiah Harper – KR
• Darrell Brown – PR

Preseason media poll

Conference USA released their preseason media poll on July 17, 2018, with the Monarchs predicted to finish in sixth place in the East Division.^[10]

East Division
Predicted finish	Team
1	Florida Atlantic
2	Marshall
3	Middle Tennessee
4	FIU
5	Western Kentucky
6	Old Dominion
7	Charlotte

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	at Liberty*	Williams Stadium Lynchburg, VA	ESPN3	L 10–52	20,425
September 8	7:30 p.m.	FIU	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	beIN	L 20–28	19,243
September 13[a]	4:00 p.m.	at Charlotte	Jerry Richardson Stadium Charlotte, NC	ESPN3	L 25–28	8,204
September 22	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Virginia Tech*	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA[b]	CBSSN	W 49–35	20,532
September 29	3:30 p.m.	at East Carolina*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN3	L 35–37	35,047
October 6	5:00 p.m.	at Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	Stadium	L 33–52	18,204
October 13	3:30 p.m.	Marshall	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	Stadium	L 20–42	20,118
October 20	7:30 p.m.	at Western Kentucky	Houchens–Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	ESPN+	W 37–34	13,269
October 27	3:30 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	ESPN+	L 17–51	19,725
November 10	3:30 p.m.	North Texas	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	ESPN3	W 34–31	18,062
November 17	2:00 p.m.	VMI*	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	ESPN+	W 77–14	20,118
November 24	1:00 p.m.	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN+	L 13–27	18,083
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

1. This game was originally scheduled for September 15. It was moved up two days in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.
2. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Blacksburg, but inclement weather pushed it to Norfolk.

Game summaries

At Liberty

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	3	7	0	0	10
Flames	14	0	10	28	52

See also: 2018 Liberty Flames football team

FIU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	14	14	0	28
Monarchs	7	13	0	0	20

See also: 2018 FIU Panthers football team

At Charlotte

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	6	6	6	7	25
49ers	7	6	8	7	28

See also: 2018 Charlotte 49ers football team

Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Hokies	7	7	14	7	35
Monarchs	7	7	7	28	49

See also: 2018 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

This marked Old Dominion's first win over a Power Five program in their FBS history.^[11]

At East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	14	6	7	8	35
Pirates	14	7	7	9	37

See also: 2018 East Carolina Pirates football team

At Florida Atlantic

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	0	7	14	12	33
Owls	6	20	6	20	52

See also: 2018 Florida Atlantic Owls football team

Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	0	14	7	21	42
Monarchs	0	3	7	10	20

See also: 2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

At Western Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	14	3	2	18	37
Hilltoppers	7	17	3	7	34

See also: 2018 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Raiders	17	14	14	6	51
Monarchs	7	3	7	0	17

See also: 2018 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

North Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mean Green	14	14	3	0	31
Monarchs	0	10	14	10	34

See also: 2018 North Texas Mean Green football team

VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	0	0	14	0	14
Monarchs	21	28	14	14	77

See also: 2018 VMI Keydets football team

At Rice

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	3	3	7	0	13
Owls	6	7	7	7	27

See also: 2018 Rice Owls football team

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2019 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
3	95	Oshane Ximines	DE	New York Giants
6	184	Travis Fulgham	WR	Detroit Lions