NORFOLK, VA (WAVY) — Old Dominion football is venturing into uncharted territory this weekend when the Monarchs head to Columbia, South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks of the SEC.

The matchup, expected to take place before more than 77,000 fans, will take place at 4:15 Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium, and it will be the Monarchs’ opening game of the 2024 season.

“Our team is excited,” said ODU coach Ricky Rahne. “We’re working on a bunch of crowd noise in practice. I think our guys are ready to go.”

This will be the Monarchs first game against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference since they lost to Vanderbilt in 2014.

South Carolina didn’t average the most attendance in the SEC last year, in fact they were ranked eighth in the conference. Regardless of that, an average of more than 77,000 fans watched the Gamecocks every week at Williams Brice Stadium.

Rahne has been on the sidelines at the Power Five level at Kansas State, Vanderbilt and Penn State. All he wants is for his players to let this game resonate before going on the field to try and take the win back to Norfolk.

“The one thing I want them all to do is to soak it in for a second,” Rahne said. “This is why you play college football — these types of environments.”

This game has some big developments on both sides of the ball too. On offense, quarterback Grant Wilson will become the first Monarch QB since Taylor Heinicke in 2014 to start consecutive season-opening games.

On defense, two-time All-American linebacker Jason Henderson will be 100% ‘all-systems go’ for the Monarchs opening game of the 2024 campaign just nine months removed from a lower leg injury.