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Post-Game Press Conference:
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NORFOLK, Va. - The #8/6 Football Monarchs scored 47 second half points as Taylor Heinicke threw for a school record 492 yards and tossed four touchdowns to lead the Monarchs to a 57-23 victory over Duquesne in front of a sold out crowd Saturday night at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
The Dukes took a 20-10 advantage at halftime but ODU stormed out of the locker room to open the second half with 17-straight points.
Angus Harper capped a 12-play, 69-yard drive with a two-yard score to cut the Duquesne lead to 20-17.
Jarod Brown tied the score with a 31-yard field goal and Nick Mayers gave ODU the lead for good with an 11-yard pass from Heinicke.
Charlie Leventry kicked an 18-yard field goal to cut the ODU lead to 27-23 but the Monarchs got a 75-yard catch and run touchdown from Heinicke to Mayers and two Tyree Lee touchdown runs to put the game away.
Defensively, the Monarchs were led by Erik Saylor with six tackles (1 solo, 5 assisted). Saylor also had a blocked PAT midway through the second quarter for the Monarchs' 24th blocked kick in its four-year history. Chris Burnette and Devon Simmons each had five stops in the win.
The Football Monarchs return to action on Saturday, September 8th at Hampton. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
MONARCH MOMENTS:
GAME CAPTAIN:
Alex Arain
OPENING WITH A BANG - AND TYING A RECORD:
Old Dominion scored on its opening drive for the 17th time in the school's 36-game history. Jarod Brown tied his career-mark with a 51-yard field goal to put the Monarchs up 3-0 with 7:25 remaining in the first quarter. He also had a 51-yarder at Georgia State last season back on Sept. 10th, 2011.
BLOCK THAT KICK:
The Old Dominion "All-Star Team" made its 24th block in school history with Erik Saylor blocking Duquesne's PAT after their second touchdown with 7:59 left in the second quarter. It was Saylor's second blocked PAT. He also blocked Georgia Southern's Adrian Mora's extra point attempt in last year's second round playoff game, a block that snapped Mora's FCS record streak of 151 made PAT's.
UPDATE THE NUMBERS:
- Redshirt sophomore Antonio Vaughan had his sixth career touchdown scoring the first TD of the 2012 season.
- Redshirt sophomore Angus Harper captured his first receiving touchdown to cut the ODU deficit to three, 20-17, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Harper had 23 catches for 182 yards last year, but no touchdown receptions. He did have a team-leading 10 rushing scores last year.
- Redshirt senior Nick Mayers posted his 15th career touchdown that gave the Monarchs back the lead, 27-20, with 1:35 left in the third quarter. He captured No 16 with his second score of the night giving ODU a 34-23 lead with 11:22 left in the game.
- Sophomore Tyree Lee punched in his third career touchdown that gave ODU a 41-23 edge with 9:40 left in the game and then his fourth with 6:04 left in the game to give the Monarchs a 50-23 advantage.
- Redshirt junior T.J. Cowart hauled in his second career interception, andr redshirt sophomore Rodney Hunter made his first career interception.
- Redshirt junior Jarod Brown improved to 27-36 all-time in field goals, making 51-yard and 31-yard attempts while missing a 31-yard attempt. Brown also improved to 103-107 in PATs.
- Freshman Harvey Taylor ran in his first career touchdown on ODU's final score of the night.
PASS ATTEMPTS:
Taylor Heinicke put his name all over the game passing records on Saturday.
- Heinicke's 492 yards passes the previous high of 407 yards by Thomas DeMarco at Monmouth on September 25, 2010 and his previous high of 373 against Richmond back on November 5, 2011.
- Heinicke's 41 completions passes the previous high of 34 which he had set against Richmond on November 5, 2011.
- Heinicke's 63 attempts replaces the previous high of 57 attempts made by Thomas DeMarco against Cal Poly in 2010 and his own previous high of 47 against Richmond on November 5, 2011.
LIKE TOTALLY:
ODU's 723 yards of total offense (231 rush, 492 pass) against Duquesne smashes the previous record of 587 (214 rush, 373 pass)against Richmond on November 5, 2011
PUTTING UP THE POINTS:
The 57 points scored by the Monarchs against Duquesne ties the record for most points in a game along with the Monarchs' 57-9 victory over Savannah State on November 6, 2010.
MONARCHS MAKING A DEBUT:
Those making their ODU debut included: Redshirt Freshmen - Brandon Bacchus, Akil Jones, Rob Mahan, Connor Mewbourne, Kirk Spellman, and Caleb Taylor; True Freshman - Troy Butler, Galen Evans, Andrew Everett, Anderson Miller, and Harvey Taylor; Redshirt Sophomore Transfer - Andre Simmons
FOREMAN FIELD NUMBERS:
The 19,818 on hand Saturday night marked the 23rd straight sellout for the Football Monarchs at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium. ODU now owns a 17-5 all-time record on their home turf.
IN OPENERS:
ODU improved to 3-1 all-time in season openers.
STREAKING:
The Football Monarchs have won six of their last seven games and are currently riding a four-game home win streak. Saturday's game also marked the first of nine games played in the Commonwealth of Virginia.