ODU's Defense Stands Tall as Monarch football team knocks off Georgia State, 21-14

By Harry Minium

ATLANTA – Redshirt freshman quarterback Colton Joseph came alive in the second half, and Old Dominion's stalwart defense forced two critical turnovers in the final minutes, to help lead the Monarchs to a football victory they desperately needed.

The Monarchs took a 14-point lead late in the second half and held on to claim a 21-14 Sun Belt Conference victory over Georgia State at Center Parc Stadium. It is the second win in the last three games for ODU (2-4 overall, 1-1 Sun Belt).

"That's our goal, to win the Sun Belt championship," said Angelo Rankin Jr., who had a key second half interception that ended a Georgia State scoring threat. 

"It was a big win," added defensive back Mario Easterly, who had seven tackles and a pass breakup in his first career start.

"It was our first conference victory and that was big," he said. "Losing is tough. Winning is a whole different feeling. Now, we just want to keep on going."

The victory ends a three-game road trip for the Monarchs, who host Texas State Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in their annual homecoming game.

It will be ODU’s first home game in five weeks – the Monarchs haven't played at home since Sept. 14 when the they hosted Virginia Tech.

ODU took a 21-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, but then had to hold off a furious Georgia State rally.

Panthers' quarterback Zach Gibson tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Brock with 2:19 left as Georgia State trimmed the lead to seven. 

Then, Georgia State tried an on-side kick, which the Panthers recovered.

It was a curious kick that went six yards, then twirled in circles, before going 10 yards and into the waiting hands of the Panthers. 

"It was one of the more incredible onside kicks I've ever seen," ODU Head Coach Ricky Rahne said. "I mean, it stopped at six yards, and then the hand of God pushed it forward."

Georgia State had a second down at the 28 with 1:28 left. But Gibson was sacked by Kris Trinidad, whose jarring tackle forced the ball out of Gibon's hands. The fumble was recovered by Mario Thompson.

Following the on-sides kick, Rahne had a simple message for his team.

"Go out and win the game," he said. "And that's what our guys did."

Joseph, the 6-foot-2 Newport Beach, California native, had an up-and-down first half but recovered to play much better in the second.

He completed 11 of 23 passes for 141 yards with one touchdown and an interception. He also rushed 11 times for 98 yards.

"I've been saying for a while that every single play he gets is something that he probably hasn't seen before," Rahne said. "He's growing up as a player and he's growing up as a young man.

"He's going to make mistakes, and we've got to coach him through those."

ODU was without Aaron Young, its leading rusher, but the Monarchs won this game partially on the ground as they rushed 45 times for 202 yards. Tariq Sims had a career-high 55 yards and rushed for a touchdown.

ODU's defense was stellar throughout most of the game -- the Monarchs limited Georgia State to 314 offensive yards.

The score was tied, 7-7, after a lethargic first half for both offenses when ODU’s defense made a huge play that blunted a Georgia State drive.

Georgia State had driven from its 18 to the ODU 40. On fourth down and one, the Panthers went for it and Kyle Lowe was stacked up short of the first down by defensive back Will Jones II, with an assist from Jahron Manning.

Joseph, who had thrown an interception on ODU’s previous possession, then helped engineer a 59-yard drive that gave the Monarchs their 14-7 lead.

Joseph completed three passes for 25 yards and ran twice for eight yards. Sims finished off the drive with a six-yard TD run with 2:38 left in the third quarter.

ODU’s defense then forced the Panthers to punt without a first down and the Monarch offense kept on moving.

Joseph ran for 13 yards on first down and five times for 54 yards in all and capped off another scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Demariyon Houston, the transfer from Missouri, with 13:42 left.

The first half was a defensive struggle marked by many missed offensive opportunities from both teams.

Georgia State appeared to get a huge break late in the first quarter when defensive back Kenyatta Watson II picked off a poorly-thrown pass from Joseph and returned it 44 yards to the ODU 26.

However, Georgia State was penalized for holding and ODU got the ball back at its own 49.

From there, the Monarch offense briefly caught fire, as Joseph ran for eight yards on first down and threw a 13-yard pass to Isiah Paige on the second play.

Sims and Devin Roche carried three times, accounting for 31 yards, including Roche’s 4-yard TD run with 1:17 left in the first quarter. Ethan Sanchez’s PAT made it 7-0.

At that point, ODU had outgained Georgia State, 91-8.

After Georgia State ended a fourth consecutive drive with a punt, Panthers’ quarterback Christian Veilleux finally got untracked. He completed six of nine passes, including his last four in a row, to lead the Panthers on a 75-yard scoring drive.

Ted Hurst, a 6-foot-3 transfer from Valdosta State who is fifth in the Sun Belt in receiving yards, went high over a defender to bring in a 20-yard TD pass with 10:29 left in the half.

Georgia State appeared set to score in the final seconds of the half but as it would do throughout the game, ODU's defense stood tall.

Jones sacked Veilleux and pushed the Panthers back to the 21. Two plays later, Georgia State’s Liam Rickman attempted a 34-yard field goal that sailed wide left.

"(Defensive coordinator) Blake Seiler called a great game," Rahne said. "And our guys played hard. 

"I wouldn't say it was a pretty game on offense. We didn't execute the way we need to over long stretches.

"But when we really needed to make plays, we did."

Notes
Safety Mario Easterly made his first career start … Easterly had a career-high seven tackles and a pass breakup… Pat Conroy had a career-high seven catches … Tariq Sims rushed for a career-high 55 yards on 14 carries and scored his second touchdown of the season … Devin Roche scored his second TD of the season in his second career start … Demariyon Houston scored his first touchdown since 2022, when he played at Missouri … Colton Joseph completed 14-of-23 passes for 141 yards, a TD and INT, and rushed for a career-high 98 yards on 11 carries … Angelo Rankin Jr. had seven tackles for the third-straight week, and an interception … The win is ODU’s eighth-straight victory by one score … ODU had a season-high six pass breakups … ODU rushed for more than 200 yards for the third time this season.