The Monarchists

Bowl Eliminated

The Old Dominion Monarchs lost their seventh game of the season and ninth series game to the Marshall Thundering Herd 42-35.  At 4-7, the Monarchs are eliminated from the postseason making this season not only disappointing but also the seventh losing season in a row.  Meanwhile, Marshall (8-3, 6-1 in SBC) can clinch sole possession of the East Division title with a win over JMU next Saturday.  The Herd and Monarchs are two teams heading in different directions but the game was still a good fight.

A good part of this loss could be blamed on special teams.  The Herd had two big kick returns setting up short fields for Marshall’s offense to score.  To prevent that, the Monarchs kicked high short kicks, but that did not work either.  And of course, there was a muffed punt that led to a quick touchdown.  Better special teams could have won the game, but so could have better play elsewhere.

Quarterback Colton Joseph played a pretty good game.  Joseph was 19-of-31 for 227 yards with a touchdown and an interception.  He added 158 yards rushing and two TDs on 25 carries. He scored on a 1-yard run for the Monarchs that made it 35-all with 8:23 to play before the Herd answered to take the lead.  However, the early interception led to a free three points for the Herd.

The ODU offense actually outgained Marshall 513 to 471.  But as said earlier, that is mostly because Marshall was working with short fields.  In the second half, the Monarchs offense came alive scoring a touchdown on nearly every possession.  Seniors Aaron Young, Isiah Paige, and Pat Conroy made the most of their last game at the Castle.  Young ran for 111 yards, including scoring two touchdowns. Meanwhile Conroy and Paige made seven catches for combined 185 yards.  Finally, freshman Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding (NARG?  You know, like KGB?) caught his first touchdown and made a case why he can be a future playmaker in 2025.

The defense played a pretty good first quarter, a worse second quarter, and then a pretty bad second half where they allowed 25 points.  The second half was all offense.  Both teams kept trading scores and the second half saw seven lead changes.  Ultimately, the game was won and lost by Marshall’s defense coming up with a stop and ODU’s defense just unable to do the same until it was too late.  The Monarchs just had no answer for quarterback Braylon Braxton.  Braxton threw three touchdown passes and added 140 yards rushing on 18 carries. The Shriners named Braxton this year’s Oyster Bowl MVP.

This is a very good Marshall team that is close to punching their ticket to the Sun Belt Championship Game.  A win against JMU next week and they are in.  They can even afford a loss if Georgia Southern also loses to App. State which is very possible.  Marshall’s head coach Charles Huff is likely getting an extension so ODU fans better get used to seeing him.  Huff is 4-0 against the Monarchs.

Old Dominion’s season is over.  Sure, there is a meaningless game in Arkansas next week but for all intents and purposes the 2024 football season is done and ODU disappointed.  The preseason prognosticators were right that ODU would miss a bowl game.  Vegas’ 4.5 predicted win total is directly on point.  Part of that could be blamed on the schedule.  ODU had a very tough nonconference schedule with South Carolina, Virginia Tech, East Carolina, and Bowling Green State.  No easy FCS team.  Three of those teams are bowl eligible, two are big P4 teams, and ODU went a predictable 1-3 against them.  Moreover, ODU’s conference schedule was also very tough with most teams being bowl-caliber.  But you know what they say about excuses, everyone has one and they all stink.

So is Rahne on the hot seat?  Yes and he knows that too.  In four seasons, he failed to bring a winning record and is 0-3 against rival JMU.  If brought back for 2025, he will have a lot of advantages he has lacked these past seasons.  He will have an easier schedule, more consistency with coordinators, and finally have his own developed quarterback in Colton Joseph.  But make no mistake, 2025 is his make-or-break season.  If Rahne can bring the first winning season since 2016, he can stay for 2026.  But that is the bar.  Anything short of that and…well…his seat will turn into lava.

Don’t miss the guys’ thoughts and analysis on Tuesday’s release of the Monarchists Podcast.