By Harry Minium
MIAMI - Old Dominion's offense has struggled much of the season but got untracked early on, and ODU's defense played a typically strong game, as the Monarchs claimed their first winning streak since 2018.
The Monarchs burst for 24 first-quarter points and rolled to 565 offensive yards to power past Florida International, 47-24, Saturday night at FIU Stadium in Miami.
ODU (3-6, 2-3 C-USA) broke a five-game losing streak last week with a 23-20 victory over Louisiana Tech. The Monarchs last won two in a row when they beat VMI and North Texas in November of 2018.
Their last FBS winning streak came in 2017, when they defeated Charlotte, FIU and Rice to end the season with a three-game winning streak.
Running backs Blake Watson and Elijah Davis both broke the 100-yard rushing mark and quarterback Hayden Wolff, a Venice, Florida native, completed 22 of 42 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns.
Watson rushed a career-high 28 times for 158 yards and two touchdowns. It was Watson's fourth consecutive game with 100 yards or more. Davis, who has been slowed with injuries, rushed 10 times for 114 yards and a touchdown.
Tight end Zack Kuntz caught a career-high tying nine passes for 102 yards.
The last two games have been quite a turnaround for a team that went 1-11 in 2019, did not play last season because of the pandemic and suffered heartbreaking losses to Buffalo, UTEP and Marshall earlier this season.
The Monarchs have played hard and well in most of their games and are finally seeing the fruits of their toil
Florida native Hayden Wolff threw for 283 yards and 2 TDs.
"After not having a season last year, we're coming back," Watson said. "We're doing what I knew we could do.
"And I'm loving it right now."
ODU's defense, the strongest in school history, sacked quarterback Max Bortenschlager five times and scored a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Monarchs some breathing room in what had been a two-score game.
"We knew he was a tough kid who can stand in the pocket but we also knew he wasn't going to move from the pocket very much," coach 'Ricky Rahne said. "I thought we had an opportunity to hit the quarterback and we did. We created pressure really from everywhere."
Rahne got a Gatorade bath in a joyous ODU locker room and said that it's good to see his team celebrate.
"It was a big win for us," Rahne said. "I was wondering how we would respond to success. And I thought we responded very well."
ODU came into the game averaging 23 points per game but surpassed that number with 27 seconds left in the first quarter, when Watson capped a 49-yard drive with a 3-yard run to give the Monarchs a 24-7 lead.
ODU's defense came up big the rest of the game, holding FIU on downs after two turnovers, and coming up with a huge touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Defensive end Deeve Harris, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Minnesota, intercepted a Bortchenslager pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. He then turned into a running back, twice breaking against the grain of Panthers to return the INT for a 33-yard touchdown.
Nick Rice's point after touchdown gave ODU a 37-17 lead and breathing room.
Deeve Harris returning an INT for a touchdown
ODU scored quickly on its first drive, with Wolff completing 3 of 4 passes for 58 yards on a 6-play drive. Wolff passed 20 yards to Kuntz to make it 7-0 four minutes into the first quarter.
Miami native Ryan Henry, a senior playing his first college football game in his hometown, forced a fumble on FIU's next possession. Rice, another Florida native, made it 10-0 when he kicked a career-long 50-yard field goal a minute later.
FIU trimmed the lead to 10-7 when Bortchenslager passed 43 yards for a touchdown with 8:22 left in the first quarter, in which an ODU defensive back fell down.
Davis then burst for a 61-yard TD to make it 17-7. ODU led 24-10 at the half.
The teams exchanged 63-yard TD passes in the third quarter. Wide receiver Darius Savedge, who had been sidelined with an injury, caught a Wolff pass for the ODU touchdown. Bortenschslager then passed 63 yards for Bryce Singleton to make it 30-17.
Harris then gave ODU breathing room with his interception.
The Monarchs host Florida Atlantic Saturday at 3:30 p.m. FAU (5-4, 4-2) lost at Marshall, 28-13, on Saturday.
Darius Savedge on his 63-yard TD catch
ODU could become bowl eligible by winning its last three games, and asked if his team could make a run in those late games, Rahne said all he'll be thinking about is FAU, which has claimed blowout victories over ODU the last three times the teams met.
"Like we always do, we're going to try to go 1-0," Rahne said. "We're going to celebrate this 1-0 tonight. We're going to be very excited about our hard work tonight and the fact that we're able to celebrate together..
"Then we'll come back tomorrow and get ready for FAU. If we start thinking about anything other than that, that would be against our entire mindset of our entire program."
NOTES: For the first time since ODU's 47-7 victory over Hampton on Sept. 11, ODU scored on its first possession … Kris Caine recorded the first sack of his career in the first quarter … Elijah Davis' 61-yard first quarter touchdown run was ODU's longest play from scrimmage this season, and the longest run of Davis' career … ODU's 24 first quarter points ties the most in a quarter for the Monarchs this season … Davis ran for 103 yards in the first half … Wolff's 63-yard touchdown pass to Savedge is the longest offensive play of the year for ODU, surpassing Davis' 61-yarder earlier in the game … The 63-yarder by Savedge was the first touchdown of his career and the longest catch in his ODU tenure … Deeve Harris' pick 6 in the fourth quarter was ODU's first interception returned for a touchdown since Justin Noye returned an INT 37 yards against VMI in 2018 … Davis had a career-high 114 yards rushing … Kuntz tied his career-high with nine catches.
ODU Rolls to 565 yards, defeats FIU, 47-24, to Claim Second Consecutive Victory
