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Bowl breakdown: Monday’s lone game not exactly a scintillating matchup

Mike Hugueninby:Mike Huguenin•12/19/21•

MikeHuguenin

HaydenWolffODU
Old Dominion hits its offensive stride once Hayden Wolff became the starting quarterback midway through the season. (Courtesy of Old Dominion Athletics)

The postseason continues Monday afternoon with the ninth bowl thus far, though it’s far from a marquee matchup.

Indeed, the Myrtle Beach Bowl with Old Dominion playing Tulsa is one of five bowls that matches two 6-6 (or worse) teams. Still, it’s college football on a Monday afternoon five days before Christmas, so, by default, it’s watchable.

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And ODU is a good story. Technically, this is Ricky Rahne’s (pronounced “Ronnie”) second year as coach, but ODU opted out of the 2020 season, so this is the first season Rahne has led his team on the field. ODU went 1-11 in 2019, then hired Rahne away from Penn State, where he had been offensive coordinator. And ODU started this season 1-6 before righting itself and getting the requisite six wins to become bowl-eligible. ODU is just the third team since 1936 (the beginning of the poll era) to start 1-6 or worse and win six games; the other two are North Texas this season and Miami (Ohio) in 2016.

Myrtle Beach Bowl

Old Dominion vs. Tulsa

Time/TV: 2:30 p.m., ESPN (Kevin Brown play-by-play, Hutson Mason analyst; Ryan McGee and Marty Smith will be sideline reporters)
Venue: Brooks Stadium, in Conway, S.C. (capacity of 21,000)
On3 bowl ranking: 41st (of 42)
Team records: ODU 6-6; Tulsa 6-6
Records vs. bowl teams: ODU 1-5; Tulsa 2-4
All-time bowl records: ODU 1-0; Tulsa 10-12
Key stats: ODU is 27th nationally in rush defense, allowing 125.0 yards per game; the Monarchs give up 3.52 per carry, which is tied for 22th nationally. In its past four games, including a matchup with No. 4 Cincinnati, Tulsa’s defense has allowed opponents to convert just 26.3 percent of their third-down attempts (15 of 57).
The line: Tulsa by 9
The buzz: Tulsa has done some good things offensively at times this season, rolling up 501 yards against Ohio State and 457 against Cincinnati. But the Golden Hurricane has a minus-8 turnover margin, thanks to a nation’s-leading 16 picks thrown by Davis Brin (he also has thrown 16 TD passes). Tulsa WR Josh Johnson will cause problems for ODU’s secondary; he has five 100-yard games this season. RBs Shamari Brooks and Anthony Watkins have combined for 1,501 yards and 10 TDs. ODU carries a five-game winning streak into the postseason, and a revitalized passing attack has played a significant role. Redshirt freshman QB Hayden Wolff has started the past six games, and he’s thrown for 1,617 yards (269.5 yards per game) and nine TDs in those contests. TE Zack Kuntz, a Penn State transfer, has 71 receptions (second-most nationally among tight ends), and WR Ali Jennings, a West Virginia transfer, is a legit deep threat.