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Weekend review: Heinicke’s red zone woes, ODU’s new home, Admirals’ new start, Hampton U’s breakthrough

Jami Frankenberry, The Virginian-Pilot
·3 min read

Catching you up on a busy weekend in 757 sports, both locally and beyond ...

Heinicke, WFT knee’d a win

Taylor Heinicke grew up idolizing Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. On Sunday, Heinicke played his first game at storied Lambeau Field, and it went pretty well until the WFT reached the red zone.

Washington was scoreless on five trips inside the Green Bay 30-yard line, and one possession was particularly cringe-inducing. Heinicke, who starred at Old Dominion, had a touchdown overturned on a replay (yes, his knee was down, but c’mon that should’ve been a TD!) and fumbled on a subsequent goal-line plunge (yes, he fumbled, but looked to me like he grabbed the ball and stuck it over). Washington outgained Green Bay 430-304 and lost 24-10.

As for Heinicke’s Lambeau Leap? He was roasted on social media for doing that after the TD that was eventually overturned. But referees signaled touchdown, so what’s the harm in checking something off your bucket list?

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Other locals in the pros

  • Chris Taylor’s season ended Sunday with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Game 6 loss to Atlanta in the NLCS. Taylor, who starred at Cox High in Virginia Beach and at U.Va., was 1 for 4 Sunday with three strikeouts, but he finished the series with a .476 batting average. He made headlines with a three-homer performance in Game 5 on Friday.

  • The NBA career of Cam Thomas is off to a slow start. The former Oscar Smith High star and first-round pick has played only a handful of minutes, scoring two points, in the Brooklyn Nets’ first three games. The rookie’s minutes (and points) will come, though. He was a scoring star at LSU.

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Will Sun shine on ODU?

News broke late Friday that Old Dominion will leave Conference USA for the travel-friendlier Sun Belt. The Monarchs and fellow C-USA members Marshall and Southern Miss would bolt for the Sun Belt and James Madison would leave FCS and the Colonial Athletic Association for the Sun Belt and compete as an FBS program.

Let’s see: Trading road trips to North Texas, Rice and UT San Antonio — all leaving C-USA — for those to JMU and current Sun Belt members Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina? That’s what you call a no-brainer.

We should get more details this week. Stay tuned.

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Pirates flex muscles on offense, defense

Hampton University scored what coach Robert Prunty called a ‘signature win’ on Saturday at Armstrong Stadium. And who can argue? The Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak with a 30-9 victory over NC A&T — a team playing its first season in the Big South Conference after winning three straight HBCU national championships.

HU managed just 15 points in their previous two games, but the Pirates outgained the Aggies 441-364 and recorded a season-high five sacks. Hampton will try to build on that momentum in a visit Saturday to Big South foe Robert Morris.

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See Tribe run

William & Mary, meanwhile, is quietly building its resume for an FCS playoff spot. W&M has won 5 of 6 since a season-opening loss to Virginia, and on Saturday routed Towson 40-14.

Mike London’s team rolled up 322 yards on the ground. Freshman QB Darius Wilson is learning the ropes, but he’s leaning on a stable of running backs that includes Donavyn Lester, Malachi Imoh, Bronson Yoder or DreSean Kendrick.

Elsewhere in college football on Saturday:

  • Norfolk State won its fifth straight game on the road, topping Howard.

  • The “Fire Fuente” chants rattled through a stunned Lane Stadium as Syracuse knocked off Virginia Tech.

  • Brennan Armstrong turned in another stellar game — remind us again why a dude second nationally in passing yards and total yards per game isn’t mentioned as a Heisman candidate? — and Virginia survived a late-game scare from Georgia Tech.

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It’s ice to have you back, Admirals

Hockey returned to Scope, and 5,353 fans showed up for the Norfolk Admirals’ first game in 594 days.

A banner honoring late owner Blake Cullen was unveiled, and the Admirals turned in a thrilling OT victory.

Jami Frankenberry, 757-446-2376, jami.frankenberry@pilotonline.com