ODU coach says Monarchs will continue to play duo at QB as App State makes a visit
NORFOLK — Halfway through its season, Old Dominion continues to deal with one of football’s age-old issues.
The Monarchs have two quarterbacks, meaning they still don’t have one.
ODU coach Ricky Rahne, who has started both junior Grant Wilson and sophomore Jack Shields at varying times this season, would not name a starter at the position for Saturday’s home game against Appalachian State when asked Monday during his weekly news conference.
The visit from the Mountaineers follows the Monarchs’ bye week.
“We’re going to continue to evaluate where we’re going with that position,” Rahne said. “We certainly got some good evaluation in the off week. I thought they both played well. I thought they both threw the ball with a lot of conviction in the bye week, which was great. But yes, if we need to, we’re going to play both, just like we would at any position.”
Wilson, a 6-foot-3, 217-pound transfer from Fordham, won the job late in fall camp. But he was benched in favor of the 6-1, 198-pound Shields after the offense sputtered during a 10-9 victory over Texas A&M University-Commerce on Sept. 23.
Shields got all the snaps in a loss at Marshall the following week, and Wilson came off the bench in a 17-13 win at Southern Miss on Oct. 7.
Both players have shown flashes of capably running the offense. Neither has flashed that ability long enough for Rahne.
“Do I want a guy to go and absolutely grab that?” Rahne said. “Absolutely, and I think that that will come with the overall consistency of the entire offense working with that.”
Wilson has completed 50 of 99 passes (50.5%) for 838 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Shields has completed 25 of 47 (53.2%) for 353 yards, two scores and three picks.
The Monarchs (3-3, 2-1 Sun Belt) are 13th in the 14-team league with 198.5 passing yards per game and 12th with 23.5 points per game.
Rahne hopes the ongoing battle proves helpful in the big picture.
“Obviously, this is not ideal. I’m not going to sit here and act like it is,” he said. “But I do think that maybe this adversity and that sort of thing can help them handle key situations in the games. And when you’ve looked at our late-game situations, our guys have handled that pretty well. So hopefully, we can continue that.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com.
