The Monarchists

Georgia Southern v. Old Dominion Recap: Monarchs Take First Place

David Asbury

If you’re not first, you’re last. 

The preseason prognosticators were so low on Old Dominion predicting a sixth place finish and only 4.5 season wins.  Those people are eating their words after watching Colton Joseph and the Monarchs dominated on national television last Thursday.  The Monarchs bulldozed the Georgia Southern Eagles 47-19 and the game was never even as close as the final score. With this victory, the Monarchs are now in first place in the SBC East and in the driver’s seat to win the conference.

There is no argument about the game MVP.  Redshirt freshman Colton Joseph took control of the game from the very start.  Joseph threw four touchdown passes in the first half and completed 20 of 26 passes for 304 yards.  In the second half he added a 30-yard touchdown run.  He played lights out and spread the ball well, throwing touchdowns to Devin Roche, Pat Conroy, and two to Peanut Houston. If Joseph continues to play like this he will be in the running for SBC Player of the Year.

The passing offense is finally using the middle of the field well after struggling to do so in the beginning of the season.  The Monarchs exploited that part of the field and surprisingly, the Eagles never adjusted.  They kept letting receivers wide open while playing cover 2 or cover zero.  Tight end Pat Conroy caught a huge 56-yard catch in the middle as well as Isiah Paige who caught seven catches for 100 yards. This is the best ODU’s passing offense has looked all season.

Tight End Pat Conroy making a big play in the middle of the field. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

But the rushing game also found success. The offensive line got a great push up front and deserve a lot of credit.  Running back Aaron Young led the pack carrying 14 times for 77 yards and broke a million tackles to score a touchdown for the Monarchs. But the running back room is deep as Bryce Duke, Devin Roche, and Tariq Sims all got carries. The Monarchs rushed for 256 yards and now average 185.6 rushing yards per game (3rd in SBC).  In fact, Old Dominion finished with 560 yards of total offense. The best the offense has done in a long, long time.  This was Offensive Coordinator Kevin Decker’s magnum opus as everything just seemed to work.

Running Back Aaron Young making a play. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

This was a complete game as the defense played very well holding the Eagles to 416 total yards, many of which were in garbage time with the game out of reach for them.  The Monarchs defense stuffed the run allowing only 113 rushing yards.  The Eagles were able to pass for over 300 yards.  But the defense made up for it with takeaways.  Will Jones II turned into a ball hawk with an interception and recovered a fumble caused by Angelo Rankin Jr.  ODU scored on both subsequent drives. With the exception of the game against Coastal Carolina, the defense has been strong all season.  The D is really keeping the Monarchs in games and a big reason why they are now 3-1 in the conference.

The Monarchs’ defense stuffing the Eagles. Photo Courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

With this loss, Georgia Southern drops to 5-3 and 3-1 in the conference.  Eagles fans are nervous and they should be if they saw what happened the past two seasons.  Head Coach Clay Helton’s previous two seasons started and ended the same way.  His team started strong in the first half of the season and then melted down in the second half, finishing both seasons 6-7.  Thursday night’s loss could be the start of another end-of-season meltdown.  With four games left, they should win at least one more game and go bowling, but with their soft defense, it is doubtful they can compete with ODU for the SBC East title now.

That’s right, the Monarchs are in FIRST PLACE in the SBC East with four games left in the season (App. State, JMU, Marshall, Ark. State).  ODU needs only two wins to reach bowl eligibility.  If they defeat App. State in Boone on Saturday, that would set the stage to clinch bowl eligibility against archrival James Madison back at the Castle.

However, the Monarchs are not just trying to reach a bowl game!  They want a Sun Belt Championship!  The Monarchs control their own destiny. If they win all four games, they would make it to the SBC Championship Game.  Even winning three of the four games might clinch the East along with ODU’s first winning season since 2016.  But there is still strong competition.  Marshall is looking very good at 2-1 with SBC Player of the Year candidate running back AJ Turner.  Coastal Carolina would have the tie-breaker against the Monarchs if they start winning more conference games.  And of course, the Vassals are very much still alive with a 2-2 record and just clinched bowl eligibility (without suing this time).  THE RACE IS ON!  Regardless, this is a very fun part of the season!

If you want more about the big win and the race for the SBC East, check out the fella’s analysis on the pod!