The Monarchists

Does defense actually win championships?  Asking for a friend.

Bear Bryant once said, “offense wins games, but defense wins championships.”  Well, the ODU Defense just won a hell of a game in Atlanta. The Monarchs defeated Georgia State 21-14, limiting the Panthers to only 317 yards of offense.  In fact, the Panthers scored a late touchdown to bring the game within a score and then recovered an awkward onside kick.  But the ODU Defense came up big again.  Kris Trinidad made the play of the game by sacking the GSU quarterback and causing a game-winning fumble.  Raise up for Trinidad!

The offense deserves some credit too.  Quarterback Colton Joseph received his second true start and had a pretty good day, completing 14 of 23 passes (60.8%), one touchdown and only one interception (it would have been two interceptions if he weren’t bailed out by a penalty).  He also ran for 98 yards to lead the team in rushing.  He was not as flashy as he was against Coastal Carolina the week before.  But still, such performances are all that are required if the defense plays this well.

The rest of the offense played okay, but needs to do better on third downs, converting only 6 of 15.  The running game was there in large part due to Joseph but the running backs played well despite Aaron Young’s injury.  Devin Roche, Tariq Sims, and Bryce Duke split the carries and the three totaled 117 rushing yards.  The Monarchs had a second game in a row where the running game gained over 200 yards and it allowed the team to control the time of possession.  Roche and Sims both scored a touchdown a piece.  The running game could have actually been better as Sims and Roche both averaged fewer than four yards per carry, but they certainly did enough to win the game.

Passing the ball had mixed results.  Mizzou-transfer Peanut Houston caught his first touchdown as a Monarch and first since 2022.  Tight end Pat Conroy is also proving to be a safety blanket for Joseph making a career high seven receptions for 61 yards.  The offensive line is also getting better in pass protection, allowing only one sack.  Part of that is simply Joseph’s ability to extend plays.  Overall, the offense is better than it was at the beginning of the season and is getting good chunk plays.  It has a lot of potential moving forward.  But it still needs to work on its consistency and it should have scored more points in this game despite the victory.

But back to the real stars of the game, the Defense.  When the Panthers did try to run the ball, they ran into a brick wall.  GSU only ran for 57 yards averaging 2.0 yards per carry.  This is insane stat and the defensive line deserves a lot of the credit.  The linebackers may make the tackles but the D-line is what stuffs the holes and creates the lanes for the linebackers to crash in and make a play.  Mario Thompson and Jahleel Culbreath played very well with five tackles each.  And we cannot leave out Kris Trinidad’s day with two tackles, a sack, a forced game-winning fumble and a pass deflected.

The secondary had good moments and bad moments.  Mario Easterly, Angelo Rankin Jr., and Jahron Manning had good days and were the top three tacklers.  Rankin also had his second interception of the season late in the fourth quarter.  However, the Monarch defense did allow 260 passing yards and when GSU’s starting quarterback was benched, the second string Zach Gibson came in and completed all six of his passes including one for a touchdown.  Still, the defensive performance deserves a lot of recognition.  It is proving to be one of the best in the Sun Belt East.

Georgia State drops to 2-3 and 1-1 in conference play.  Most expect the Panthers to miss a bowl game with how tough the remaining schedule is.  The Panthers will have to bounce back fast as they travel to the Marshall Thundering Herd on Thursday.  Then they must travel to App. State, JMU, Texas State and UConn, but will host Arkansas State and Coastal Carolina.  With so many road games against tough conference opponents, finding four wins to go to a bowl will be a challenge for the Panthers.

ODU may be facing the same challenge.  In fact, they face many of the same tough conference opponents and are seeking at least four more wins to reach a bowl game.  But defeating Georgia State provides hope.  2-4 is a lot more manageable than 1-5 would have been.  The Monarchs must win four of the last six games.  If they can just take each game one at a time, they can do it.  Do not miss the guys’ analysis on the pod.

Now the three game road trip is over and it’s time for the Monarchs to come home for a proper homecoming against Texas State.