HOUSTON, Texas - Travis Fulgham's two-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter tied the score but Juma Otoviano rushed for touchdowns of 80 and 62-yards to lift Rice to a 27-13 win over Old Dominion Saturday afternoon in Houston.
Trailing 13-6 midway through the third quarter ODU drove 86-yards in nine plays capped by a Blake LaRussa to Fulgham two-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 13.
Rice (2-11, 1-7 C-USA) came back with two touchdown runs by Ottoviano and late drives by the Monarchs fell short.
Old Dominion (4-8, 2-6 C-USA) took the first lead of the day on a 34-yard field goal by Nick Rice. The big play of the drive was a 39-yard Blake LaRussa to Travis Fulgham completion.
Giovanni Gentosi rumbled in from six-yards out to give Rice a 6-3 lead late in the first quarter. The Owls failed on the conversion attempt.
Nick Rice knocked in his second field goal of the game to tie the score at six early in the second quarter. LaRussa hit Donta Anthony for a 23-yard gain to pick up a third and nine.
Rice took advantage of an ODU football and took the lead on a 10-yard touchdown run by Wiley Green to take a 13-6 lead and take it into halftime.
LaRussa finished the day 33-of-54 for 312-yards a touchdown and two interceptions. Isaiah Harper and Jeremy Cox each had career-highs with eight catches, while Fulgham had six catches for 88-yards and Jonathan Duhart had seven catches for 95-yards. Lawrence Garner had a game-high 14 tackles.
Notes: Travis Fulgham and Jonathan Duhart were game captains along with Isaiah Harper and Oshane Ximines … Travis Fulgham’s 39-yard first quarter catch put him over 1,000 yards on the year … Nick Rice made his 10th-straight field goal with his 34-yarder in the first quarter … Rice made his 11th-straight field goal in the second quarter … Kane Miskel notched his first career sack in the second quarter … Jonathan Duhart’s 30-yard third quarter catch put him over 1,000 for the season … Travis Fulgham has a touchdown catch in nine-straight games, the longest streak in the FBS this season … Duhart and Fulgham are the first ODU teammates to record a 1,000-yard receiving season in the same year … Jeremy Cox set a new career-high with eight catches ... With the 312 passing yards, LaRussa surpassed 3,000 yards for the year ... Lawrence Garner's 14 tackles put him at 100 on the season in just eight games.