DURHAM — Preparing for a team that plays at a tempo faster than their own offense is something new for most of the players and coaches on the University of New Hampshire football team.

John Lyons is an exception.

For Lyons, the team's defensive coordinator, this almost seems like a trip down memory lane. He was, after all, the head coach at Dartmouth when UNH was developing and perfecting its own speedball offense.

Lyons said it was hard to prepare his team when the Big Green were playing the Wildcats a decade ago because not many teams were spreading the field, going no huddle and passing the ball the way UNH did.

“It was really hard to simulate that speed in which they went because a lot of people weren't doing it at that time,” Lyons said. “We had the ability to do it, but not at the pace they were doing it.”

The Big Green never had much success against the Wildcats in those years, and the inability to prepare properly for an offense it rarely saw was certainly a hindrance.

That's not quite the case today when the 18th-ranked Wildcats (2-1) travel to Norfolk, Va., to play No. 5 Old Dominion University (3-0) for the first and last time as members of the Colonial Athletic Association.

Old Dominion is moving from the FCS (Division I-AA) to the FBS (I-A) next year and looks like it will make its short two-year stay in the CAA a memorable one.

The Monarchs have run roughshod over three non-conference opponents, racking up 172 points and averaging 618.3 yards in offense. They play at a dizzying pace, threatening to reel off 100 plays or more on offense as they wear down opposing defenses with a non-stop attack that revolves around sophomore quarterback Taylor Heinicke and a corps of receivers that may be unmatched in the CAA.

Heinicke goes into the game averaging almost 400 yards passing a game — well over 150 yards more per game than anyone else in the conference – and has thrown 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions while completing 82 of 124 passes. He broke his own school record last week when he tossed seven touchdown passes in a 70-14 win over Campbell.

UNH coach Sean McDonnell compares him to a former UNH great.

“He's got a lot of Ricky Santos in him,” McDonnell said. “He'll scramble around, throw off the back foot. He'll put an old schoolyard fake on somebody. He can run, he's good size — he's 6-1, 195 pounds (and) he's got a knack for making plays. He's probably got as good an arm as anyone we'll see this year.”