The National Guard howitzer cannon, which has become a beloved tradition at Old Dominion home football games, will fire again S.B. Ballard Stadium Saturday night when the Monarchs host East Carolina.
The howitzer has been a mainstay at ODU games dating back to the first season in 2009, and with the exception of the period of federal sequestration, has fired at nearly every home game.
The howitzer was missing when ODU played its first game against Norfolk State on Aug. 31. The stadium had just undergone a $67.5 million renovation and wasn’t fully turned over to ODU until the day before the game, so there wasn’t time to see if the howitzer would fit given that the footprint of the stadium changed.