Thomas DeMarco rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two more as Old Dominion won its sixth straight game, beating Virginia Military Institute 42-35 on Saturday to complete its first season of football.

When: 3 p.m. Radio: WREJ (1540)  Tickets: $22 sideline, $17 end zone
  Records: Towson 1-6 CAA, 2-8;
James Madison 3-4, 5-5
  Players to watch: Towson—LB Danzel White, 105 tackles, RB Tremayne Dameron, 153 carries, 521 yards, 6 TDs; JMU—QB Justin Thorpe, 138-622 yards rushing, 5 TDs, 68-124 passing, 1,001 yards, 6 int., 3 TDs, WR Rockeed McCarter, 28 catches, 545 yards, 3 TDs, DE Arthur Moats, 83 tackles, 23.5 for a loss.

THE BASICS: 5-11 senior guard
Wright, an elegant scorer who is particularly effective in transition, led the ACC with a 20.5-point scoring average in 2009. She piled up 696 points, a U.Va. single-season record. The ACC’s preseason player of the year will flourish if the Cavaliers can create and sustain a fast-flowing tempo.
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VIRGINIA   Key players: G Monica Wright, Sr., 20.5 ppg, 3.1 apg; F Chelsea Shine, So., 5.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg
  Notable: Optimism is running high in Charlottesville. But is it justified? The Cavaliers must replace Lyndra Littles and Aisha Mohammed, who combined for 32 points and 17 rebounds. Opposing defenses will gang up on Wright unless someone—Shine? Paulisha Kellum? China Crosby?—emerges quickly as a consistent source of double-dight offense.

Kingston, R.I.
  When: 1 p.m.
  Radio: WTOX (1480), 12:30
  Records: William and Mary 3-1 CAA, 6-1;
Rhode Island 0-4, 1-6
  Players to watch: W &M—RB Jonathan Grimes, 110.5 yards per CAA game, WR D.J. McAulay, 33 catches, 423 yards, 3 TDs, DE Ravi Pradhanang, 3 sacks in last 4 games. URI—QB Chris Paul-Etienne, 133 yards per game, P Tim Edger, 41.6 average punt, DE Steve Weedon, 6 forced fumbles in 7 games this year.

Lexington
  When: 1:30 p.m.
  Radio: WLEE (990), 12:30
  Tickets: $20 reserved, $17 general
admission, $10 youth/student
  Records: Stony Brook 1-0 Big South, 2-4; VMI 0-2, 1-4
  Facts: VMI senior quarterback Kyle Hughes had a nightmare game in last Saturday’s 20-6 loss at Coastal Carolina. He completed 4 of 15 passes for 75 yards and two interceptions. For the season, he is completing 47.3 percent of his passes and has as many touchdowns (four) as interceptions. Stony Brook, which is on Long Island, N.Y., is in its second year as a football-only member of the Big South. The Seawolves beat VMI 40-26 last year and are coming off a 31-24 loss at North Dakota.

When: 1 p.m.
  Radio: WTOX (1480), 12:30 p.m.
  Records: No. 8 William and Mary 1-1 CAA, 4-1; Northeastern 0-2, 0-5
  Players to watch: W&M—WR D.J. McAulay, leads team with 25 catches for 328 yards and 3 TDs, LB Jake Trantin, leads team with 33 tackles, TE Rob Varno, at least four catches in each of the last three games. NU—Coach Rocky Hager, 17-44 career record, WR Jordan Batts, 104 yards receiving last week, QB Matt Carroll, two career starts—filling in for injured Alex Dulski

T ODAY’S STATE GAMES (cap. 15,500), Harrisonburg
  When: 6 p.m.
  Radio: WLEE (990), WREJ (1540)
  T ickets: Sold out R ecords: VMI 1-0, JMU 0-1 Players to watch: VMI - QB Tim Maypray 14 carries, 73 yards, 1 TD; RB Howard Abegesah 17-106; LB Eric Church 13 tackles in first game; JMU - QB Drew Dudzik 14 carries, 112 yards, 1 TD rushing, 9-15, 141 yards, 2 TDs passing; RB Jamal Sullivan 19-87, TD; CB/KR Scotty McGee 88 all-purpose yards.

NORFOLK—The voracious appetite for Old Dominion football was evident yesterday in the blue-and-silver body paint spelling out “O-D-U” on the chests of freshmen Aden Weeks, Kyle Golden and Michael Mazzacane. And in the “ODU” marked on the forehead of 6-year-old Gunner White, who was walking hand-in-hand with his father along the fence to get a closer look at the Monarchs’ bench. “A future quarterback,“ Brad White said.

Old Dominion beats Chowan 36-21

There will be no talk this year of returning stars or veteran leadership at Old Dominion. That’s what happens when your record in the last 69 years is 0-0. Instead, a group of mostly freshmen and sophomores will dive into the unknown, ready to find out just how they stack up against college competition. Coach Bobby Wilder told all his recruits they’d be given the opportunity to show what they could do, a promise that has resulted in spirited practices in Norfolk.

Old Dominion recently retained Carr Sports Associates to assess its athletic department, a precursor to the school officially beginning its search for a new athletic director. Jim Jarrett, the school’s athletic director since 1970, will retire in June. ODU’s goal is to have a successor named before Jarrett leaves. UR Athletic Director Jim Miller is a Norfolk native who played basketball and baseball at ODU, and was an assistant basketball coach for the Monarchs.

Player  School
  Danielle ChellewOld Dominion
Kelsey CutchinsJames Madison
Anna DavisWilliam and Mary
Kim DeckerOld Dominion
Marina DiGiacomoOld Dominion
Janelle EngleOld Dominion
Kathy FosinaOld Dominion
Leah GeibDelaware
Maaike HilbrandOld Dominion
Kelli JamesOld Dominion

NORFOLK—As the 88 players who will resurrect Old Dominion football headed into their new locker room at Foreman Field, some yells and shouts turned into a cheer as they saw slate blue jerseys laid out with their names on the back. Minutes later the excited chatter came to a stop as they got their first glimpse of the stadium itself, knocking them speechless.

University of Richmond Athletic Director Jim Miller is a Norfolk native who graduated from Old Dominion University, played two sports there and coached there. So might the coming vacancy in the ODU athletic director’s office interest him? “The opportunity, if it ever developed, to go back to your alma mater is something that everyone has to think about,“ Miller said yesterday.