• January 26th, 2012
• by nswope
• 0 Comments

Old Dominion’s Taylor Heinicke Makes Waves As Freshman QB

Most freshman athletes spend their first year on campus getting acclimated to college life, the balancing of studying as well as transitioning to college level of play on the field. Imagine doing this while learning one of the most difficult positions in sports, the quarterback position.

Old Dominion freshman Taylor Heinicke has done just this, shining in his first season as an ODU quarterback. In a movie type story, Heinicke started his first season as the backup to more experienced senior Thomas DeMarco, learning the system and preparing to take over the reigns for his redshirt freshman campaign next season.

After DeMarco went down with an injury in the fifth game of the season against Massachusetts plans changed and Monarch coaches turned the offense over to Heinicke.

“I initially got really nervous, but I knew I just had to go out there and play football,” Heinicke said. “Going from redshirting to starting quarterback was unreal.”

Heinicke shined in his new role, throwing two fourth quarter touchdowns against UMass and leading the Monarchs to a 48-33 victory.

“The system here at ODU is put together very well,” said Heinicke. “They brought me in during the summer so I could get two classes done and get a taste of what the workload would be like. I give the credit to the
coaches who really laid it out for me in order to help me be successful.”

The freshman took his new role and exploded, leading Old Dominion, who was picked preseason tenth in the CAA, to ten wins and a birth in the second round of the FCS Playoffs. Heinicke who basically only played about two-thirds of a season finished with 25 touchdowns, 2,385 yards passing and only one interception, a hail mary pass at the end of ODU’s game with Towson and piloted ODU’s conference leading offense that averaged 36.7 points per game. If the Atlanta, Ga. native would have played in the minimum 75% of games played to qualify, he would have rated 18th nationally in passing yards per game (265.0) and fifth in the country with a 160.2 pass efficiency rating.

Heinicke is part of Old Dominion’s football movement, as witnessed this past season by nearly taking home a CAA crown in its first year in the league and finishing the season ranked 10th nationally in The Sports Network Fathead.com poll. Heinicke is now the clear cut starter and leader of the offense as he transitions to his sophomore season and is looking forward to bigger success in 2012.

“The ring we almost had is on everyone’s mind right now, being just one game away really makes us hungry to get it next year. This season has opened our eyes and we know we can be a great team.”

The Monarch quarterback also will now be focusing on making improvements to his own game, specifically mechanics.

“Looking at the film, footwork is one thing I am going to be working hard at during the offseason as well as growing to be more mature, staying in the pocket and making the right reads,” said Heinicke.

If Heinicke improves on those aspects, the possibilities are endless for the rising sophomore and Monarch football over the next few years.