By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – On a night when Old Dominion's offense came alive, and quarterback Hayden Wolff showed off both his running and passing skills, the Monarchs beat themselves with mistakes.
Liberty scored late in the third quarter and on a 99-yard drive in the fourth quarter, kept alive by two key ODU penalties, to claim a 38-24 victory over the Monarchs Saturday night.
It was a game in which ODU often shot itself in the foot, but never quit.
Trailing, 38-24, with less four minutes left, ODU had a goal-line stand and then watched Liberty miss a field goal. The Monarchs drove from their 20 to the Liberty 16 with 28 seconds left.
However, Wolff attempted to pass, while being hit by a Liberty defender, and it was ruled a fumble that Liberty recovered.
Wolff completed 27 of 46 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns. ODU's offense, which has struggled much of the season, had a season-high 419 yards and the run game, which had really struggled, produced 118 yards. That number would have been higher if you subtracted four Liberty sacks.
Wolff breathed life into ODU's offense not just with his passing arm but also his feet. After Liberty took the 14-0 lead, he led ODU on a 75-yard drive, and scored when he faked a handoff to the left and ran eight yards for the TD around the right end.
Wolff kept a brilliant drive alive in the third quarter in which he scrambled three times for 20 yards and connected with Blake Watson on a 16-yard touchdown pass, which knotted the score at 24-all. Wolff was hammered several times by Liberty defenders but only once did he appear shaken up, and only briefly.
Wolff's hometown of Englewood, Florida was hit directly by by Hurricane Ian, with the eye passing just two miles south. He said what his family and friends went through inspired him to put his head down and run more than usual. The home of his mother, Lori Emery, suffered little damage but she has no water.
She returns to Florida Monday and expects she may be without water for weeks or more.
"I have friends and family who lost their homes, lost their cars, lost their boats, lost everything they spent their lives working for," Wolff said.
"My family is safe, my friends are safe. But it definitely changed my mindset. If those people can through what they went through, then I can get through a college football game."
Ricky Rahne, ODU's Thurmond Family Head Coach, praised Wolff profusely.
"Hayden is a kid who continues to develop," Rahne said. "Some things he did tonight were evidence of his continued development.
"I'm really proud of how he was able to keep his composure throughout that game with everything his family and friends are going through.
'I thought he did did some really impressive things tonight. I'm happy with the way he's competing."
ODU (2-3 overall) ends the non-conference portion of its schedule having beaten expectations, but having come so close to much more. Liberty (4-1), an independent, lost only to Wake Forest when a Flames' two-point conversion failed.
ODU, which defeated Arkansas State, 29-26 in its first Sun Belt game last week, finishes out the season with games against seven more Sun Belt opponents.
The Monarchs were underdogs in four of their first give games and won two, including the season opener, a 20-17 upset victory over Virginia Tech.
But they fell at Virginia, 16-14, on a last-second field goal, and could have won against Liberty, too.
Asked if his team is close to turning the corner, Rahne agreed.
"We're right there," he said. "We've all got to keep working at it.
"We know nothing magical is going to happen. We've just got to keep working."
The Monarchs set up two Liberty touchdowns in a bizarre first quarter when two passes bounced off their hands.
One came on what looked like a sure interception that bounced into the hands of Liberty receiver CJ Yarbrough, who then scampered the final 10 yards of a 41-yard touchdown pass.
'Sometimes you make your own luck," Rahne said, who praised Yarbrough for continuing to run toward the ball even thought it was wildly overthrown.
Another came with a pass from Wolff bounced off a receiver's hands and was intercepted by Robert Rahimi, which set up a 34-yard, acrobatic one-handed touchdown grab by Jaivian Lofton on the next play, which gave Liberty a 7-0 lead.
ODU trailed, 31-24, early in the fourth quarter, and appeared certain to get the ball back in great field position after a Liberty pass fell incomplete on third down at the Flames' four.
But ODU was called for holding, which kept the drive alive. The Flames ended up driving 99 yards and bleeding four minutes off the clock to take a 38-24 lead.
On its next possession, Wolff completed a 24-yard pass to Javon Harvey on fourth and 23 that would have given ODU a first down at its 48. But it was negated by a holding penalty. Rushed by Liberty defenders, Wolff's pass on the next play was incomplete.
ODU had 14 penalties for 120 yards. Although several penalties appeared to be controversial, and the crowd of 18,368 often booed the referees, Rahne called the penalties 'self-inflicted wounds."
"What I saw is that we did not use enough techniques and fundamentals and we put ourselves in a position to get penalties called," he said.
ODU was without standout tight end Zack Kuntz, who went out early with an injury that officials hope is not serious. Rahne does not comment on injuries.
ODU is off next week and next plays at Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 15. The Monarchs then return home on Saturday, Oct. 22, when they host Georgia Southern for ODU's annual homecoming game.
Wolff's continued improvement bodes well for ODU down the stretch.
"I think that over his career, Hayden's been a little undervalued," Rahne said. "He's played some really good football games at Old Dominion.
"He's not as fiery as some quarterbacks, but he's no less a competitor and no less tough."
NOTES: Wolff's eight-yard touchdown run was the first of his career … Freshman Peter Kikwata's first quarter catch was the first of his career …. Blake Watson's 30-yard run in the second quarter is his longest of the season so far … Ali Jennings III caught a touchdown pass for the fourth consecutive game … Jennings caught eight passes for 129 yards and a touchdown … Ethan Sanchez's 34-yard field in the second quarter is his career long … Javon Harvey's 27-yard reception in the first half is his longest of the season … Marquez Bell caught his first career pass in the first half. It went for a gain of 10 yards … Alonzo Ford recorded his first career multi-sack game … Watson had a career-high six catches and ran for a season-high 80 yards … Jason Henderson recorded his fifth-straight double-digit tackle game, notching 15 stops … Tre Hawkins had his first career interception … Robert Kennedy III had his first career INT.
