By Harry Minium
CONWAY, S.C. – Picked by coaches to finish last in the Sun Belt Conference's powerful East Division, Old Dominion's football team nonetheless sits atop the East standings at the midpoint of the season.
Facing one of the nation's hottest football teams on its home field, ODU responded with its best and most complete game of the season and rolled to a runaway, upset victory on national television.
ODU's offense exploded for 35 points in the second half and blew past previously unbeaten Coastal Carolina, 49-21 in front of a stunned homecoming crowd of 16,814 at Brooks Stadium.
Coastal and James Madison had been tied for the Sun Belt lead, each at 3-0 in league play. But ODU (3-3 overall, 2-0 Sun Belt) moved into first place after Georgia Southern upset JMU, 45-38, Saturday night.
ODU hosts Georgia Southern this Saturday at 3:30 in its homecoming game.
ODU coach Ricky Rahne downplays all preseason rankings and shrugged when asked about being picked last.
"They have to pick somebody to be last," he said, quickly steering the conversation toward Coastal Carolina.
"That's a good football team and has been a good football team for a long time. They know how to win games.
"This is what you're going to see in our conference. It's a league full of good teams. We've got to be ready every week."
Coastal (3-1, 6-1) had won 28 of its last 31 games and was unbeaten in six games this season.
Running back Blake Watson was ODU's offensive hero. The 5-foot-9, redshirt junior from Queens, New York, set the school record previously held by Thomas DeMarco by rushing for 256 yards on 18 carries. He also scored three touchdowns. His 14.2 yards per carry is also an ODU record.
It was the second signature victory for ODU televised on ESPNU. The Monarchs upset Virginia Tech, 20-17, in their home opener.
The victory ended a nine-game Coastal winning streak.
Coming off a bye week, the Monarchs solved whatever ailed their offense and rolled to a season-high 525 yards. Each time Coastal pulled within striking distance, the Monarch offense would retaliate.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Reihner added some wrinkles to his offense, including subbing in backup quarterback D.J. Mack several times, and that appeared to catch the Chanticleers off guard.
Mack rushed 20 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter and then passed 21 yards to tight end Isaiah Spencer eight minutes later.
ODU led, 14-7 at the half before blowing open the game in the second half.
Rahne said the Monarchs set the tone for the game on the opening drive, when they drove 73 yards in eight plays capped by Watson's 25-yard touchdown run.
Rahne praised Reihner, his first-year, 30-year-old coordinator, for wrinkles he made to ODU's offense.
"He's a very talented coach who as he gets more experience is going to keep getting better and better and better," Rahne said. "I'm so proud of how he and the rest of the offensive coaches responded, that they were able to tolerate me daily in the meeting room and were still able to execute on a daily basis."
The soft-spoken Watson said the single-game rushing record isn't his.
"A record like that is about all of the people around me," he said. "I mean, I can't break any records without the offensive line blocking for me, without the receivers out there blocking for me.
"It's a blessing, but I didn't do this by myself."
As if to punctuate that point, on Watson's final touchdown of the game, a 67-yard rush with 10:16 left that gave ODU a 21-point lead, wide receiver Javon Harvey hustled down the field and used his body to shade Watson from two defenders as he ran the last 10 yards.
The first TD of the second half was set up by a fumble caused and recovered by Tre Hawkins, which led to a 69-yard drive capped by Mack's 20-yard TD run.
Then came a fourth-down stand by ODU's defense that seemed to knock the life out of Coastal. On fourth and one from the ODU 49, Coastal Carolina went for the first down. But defensive end Marcus Haynes sacked quarterback Grayson McCall for a 10-yard loss.
ODU then drove 41 yards in 54 seconds, with Isiah Paige catching a 22-yard TD pass from quarterback Hayden Wolff that gave ODU a 28-7 lead.
Wolff also played well, completing 12 of 16 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Coastal twice cut the lead to 14, but each time, the Monarchs responded, with Watson's running for 67-yard touchdown run all but sealing the victory.
Asked if it was ODU's best and most complete game since he came to ODU, Rahne said it might be.
"It's certainly up there," he said. "I mean, I'd have to go through the tape and look at everything before I could say that."
He said having both the offense and defense firing on all cylinders was certainly a main factor in Saturday's victory. ODU's offense has struggled to score most of the season.
"I thought that was key because we hadn't necessarily done that this year," he said. "I thought we responded in a really, really good way
"I was proud of how our defense responded after we gave up a big play. I thought we just played really well from the beginning of the game. That was a pretty special performance really by all three phases of the game."
ODU's regular-season finale against JMU on Nov. 12 is already a sellout. Tickets for Saturday's game against Georgia Southern and the Nov. 5 game against Marshall are also selling well.
Facing one of the nation's hottest football teams on its home field, ODU responded with its best and most complete game of the season and rolled to a runaway, upset victory on national television.
ODU's offense exploded for 35 points in the second half and blew past previously unbeaten Coastal Carolina, 49-21 in front of a stunned homecoming crowd of 16,814 at Brooks Stadium.
Coastal and James Madison had been tied for the Sun Belt lead, each at 3-0 in league play. But ODU (3-3 overall, 2-0 Sun Belt) moved into first place after Georgia Southern upset JMU, 45-38, Saturday night.
ODU hosts Georgia Southern this Saturday at 3:30 in its homecoming game.
ODU coach Ricky Rahne downplays all preseason rankings and shrugged when asked about being picked last.
"They have to pick somebody to be last," he said, quickly steering the conversation toward Coastal Carolina.
"That's a good football team and has been a good football team for a long time. They know how to win games.
"This is what you're going to see in our conference. It's a league full of good teams. We've got to be ready every week."
Coastal (3-1, 6-1) had won 28 of its last 31 games and was unbeaten in six games this season.
Running back Blake Watson was ODU's offensive hero. The 5-foot-9, redshirt junior from Queens, New York, set the school record previously held by Thomas DeMarco by rushing for 256 yards on 18 carries. He also scored three touchdowns. His 14.2 yards per carry is also an ODU record.
It was the second signature victory for ODU televised on ESPNU. The Monarchs upset Virginia Tech, 20-17, in their home opener.
The victory ended a nine-game Coastal winning streak.
Coming off a bye week, the Monarchs solved whatever ailed their offense and rolled to a season-high 525 yards. Each time Coastal pulled within striking distance, the Monarch offense would retaliate.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Reihner added some wrinkles to his offense, including subbing in backup quarterback D.J. Mack several times, and that appeared to catch the Chanticleers off guard.
Mack rushed 20 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter and then passed 21 yards to tight end Isaiah Spencer eight minutes later.
ODU led, 14-7 at the half before blowing open the game in the second half.
Rahne said the Monarchs set the tone for the game on the opening drive, when they drove 73 yards in eight plays capped by Watson's 25-yard touchdown run.
Rahne praised Reihner, his first-year, 30-year-old coordinator, for wrinkles he made to ODU's offense.
"He's a very talented coach who as he gets more experience is going to keep getting better and better and better," Rahne said. "I'm so proud of how he and the rest of the offensive coaches responded, that they were able to tolerate me daily in the meeting room and were still able to execute on a daily basis."
The soft-spoken Watson said the single-game rushing record isn't his.
"A record like that is about all of the people around me," he said. "I mean, I can't break any records without the offensive line blocking for me, without the receivers out there blocking for me.
"It's a blessing, but I didn't do this by myself."
As if to punctuate that point, on Watson's final touchdown of the game, a 67-yard rush with 10:16 left that gave ODU a 21-point lead, wide receiver Javon Harvey hustled down the field and used his body to shade Watson from two defenders as he ran the last 10 yards.
The first TD of the second half was set up by a fumble caused and recovered by Tre Hawkins, which led to a 69-yard drive capped by Mack's 20-yard TD run.
Then came a fourth-down stand by ODU's defense that seemed to knock the life out of Coastal. On fourth and one from the ODU 49, Coastal Carolina went for the first down. But defensive end Marcus Haynes sacked quarterback Grayson McCall for a 10-yard loss.
ODU then drove 41 yards in 54 seconds, with Isiah Paige catching a 22-yard TD pass from quarterback Hayden Wolff that gave ODU a 28-7 lead.
Wolff also played well, completing 12 of 16 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Coastal twice cut the lead to 14, but each time, the Monarchs responded, with Watson's running for 67-yard touchdown run all but sealing the victory.
Asked if it was ODU's best and most complete game since he came to ODU, Rahne said it might be.
"It's certainly up there," he said. "I mean, I'd have to go through the tape and look at everything before I could say that."
He said having both the offense and defense firing on all cylinders was certainly a main factor in Saturday's victory. ODU's offense has struggled to score most of the season.
"I thought that was key because we hadn't necessarily done that this year," he said. "I thought we responded in a really, really good way
"I was proud of how our defense responded after we gave up a big play. I thought we just played really well from the beginning of the game. That was a pretty special performance really by all three phases of the game."
ODU's regular-season finale against JMU on Nov. 12 is already a sellout. Tickets for Saturday's game against Georgia Southern and the Nov. 5 game against Marshall are also selling well.
For tickets, CLICK HERE
NOTES: ODU scored first for the first time this season. Watson's third TD of the game, his 67-yard run, gave him the school record. It was the first time he rushed for 100 yards or mores this season and the seventh time in his career … His 14.2 yards per carry is also a school record … ODU's 324 rushing yards are the most against an FBS team in program history … Tre Hawkins recorded forced and recovered a fumble on Coastal's opening drive of the third quarter, his second forced fumble and recovery of his career … DJ Mack's third quarter touchdown run was his first of the season and seventh of his ODU career … Mack's third quarter TD pass was his first since October 2, 2021 at UTEP … Isiah Paige's third quarter touchdown grab was his first of the season and second of his career … The 22-yard touchdown is Paige's longest catch of the season … Tre Hawkins recorded a career-best 10 tackles … ODU scored a season-high 49 points … With his 100-yard rushing day, Watson passed Colby Goodwyn for third on ODU's career rushing charts. He has 1,739 career yards … Watson's three touchdowns was also a career-high … Ali Jennings Caught six passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. Jennings has now scored a touchdown in five-straight games … For the second time this season ODU record seven sacks in a game, the second most in school history. ODU also notched seven sacks against Virginia Tech … Deeve Harris and Denzel Lowry had two sacks apiece … Shawn Asbury started his first career game at safety.