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Game 11 Preview: ODU at Florida Atlantic

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oduODU travels to Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Nov. 19 for the final road game of the 2016 season. The game will be on CampusInsiders.com with a 6 p.m. start. Fans can click here to watch the game on Campus Insiders.

• Old Dominion defeated Southern Miss 51-35 last week, while FAU is coming off of a come-from-behind 35-31 win over UTEP.

• The ODU defense tied a school record forcing five turnovers in last week’s win over Southern Miss. The Monarchs set a school record with five forced fumbles, and tied a school record with four fumble recoveries.

• Senior linebacker TJ Ricks had 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries to lead to the defense. Fellow senior backer Anthony Wilson registered a career-best 17 tackles, one off Ricks’ school record, one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

• The defense tied a school record with six sacks, led by two from Bunmi Rotimi. With the two sacks, Rotimi has a single-season school record of seven sacks. Wilson, Oshane Ximines, Miles Fox and Tim Ward all had sacks.

• Sophomore running back Jeremy Cox ran for a career-long 67-yard touchdown run, while Ray Lawry rushed 17 times for 71 yards and two touchdowns. Cox also had a three-yard run to give him 12 on the season.

Turnover Margin
A week after not forcing a turnover for the first time this season against Marshall, ODU tied a school record forcing five turnovers in the win over Southern Miss. The ODU offense did not turn the ball over to push the Monarchs’ turnover margin at +15, tied for first in FBS. ODU has recovered 13 fumbles and has nine interceptions for 21 total turnovers. The 21 turnovers gained is tied for 13th in the country.

Rank Team Margin
1. Old Dominion +15
Washington +15
Western Michigan +15
4. Ohio State +13
5. San Diego St. +12
6. Minnesota +11

Fulgham Catching Fire
Sophomore wide receiver Travis Fulgham had just one catch against Southern Miss, but it went for a 39-yard touchdown. He now has a touchdown in six-straight games.

The first three games of the season, Fulgham caught three passes for 41 yards. The last seven he has pulled in 22 receptions for 349 yards and six touchdowns.

Opponent Receptions Yards TD’s
UTSA 5 55 0
Charlotte 2 64 1
UMass 4 27 1
WKU 4 88 1
UTEP 3 44 1
Marshall 3 32 1
Southern Miss 1 39 1
7 Games 22 349 6

Six-Straight TD’s
Fulgham has a touchdown catch in six-straight games, the second longest active streak in the country.  The six touchdowns grabs are the first six of his career.

Player School Cons. Games with TD Rec.
Taywan Taylor WKU 7
Dede Westbrook Oklahoma 7
Travis Fulgham Old Dominion 6

Ricks Closing In
Old Dominion senior linebacker TJ Ricks set the ODU single-season record for tackles last season with 123. Ricks had his most active game of the season in the win over Southern Miss, notching 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He holds the ODU career record with seven fumble forced fumbles. Graduate assistant coach Craig Wilkins holds the career tackles record with 340, just 38 ahead of Ricks.

Rank Player Tackles Needed
1. Craig Wilkins (2009-12) 340 38
2. TJ Ricks (2013-Pres.) 302

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