Minium: ODU Football confident it can still earn a bowl bid and compete for Sun Belt title
ODU quarterback Colton Joseph played well against Coastal Carolina.
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion’s football team is 1-4 after five games, which leaves the Monarchs with a tough path to a bowl game. They must win five of their remaining seven games to become bowl eligible.
But ODU has been there before. In fact, the Monarchs were 1-6 in 2021, their last season in Conference USA and Ricky Rahne’s first season as the head coach, and won their final five games to earn a trip to the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Of course, the Monarchs now play in the Sun Belt Conference, the nation’s best Group of 5 league, and that will make winning five of seven a difficult task.
Take Georgia State (2-2 overall, 0-1 Sun Belt), for instance, whom ODU plays this weekend in Atlanta.
Surely, you’ve heard that Vanderbilt upset No. 1 Alabama this past week. And three weeks ago, Georgia State upset Vandy, 36-32, in Atlanta’s Center Parc Stadium, where ODU and the Panthers meet this week.
Linebacker Mario Thompson said the Monarchs are confident that they can turn things around.
“We know we have a great shot to still make it to a bowl game,” said the Virginia Beach native. “We know we can still win the Sun Belt.
“We’re all coming together. We’re just trying to piece everything together so that we can be the team we know we can be.”
The Monarchs are coming off their finest offensive performance of the season in a 45-37 loss at Coastal Carolina, which was their Sun Belt opener. One major reason the offense clicked was the presence of redshirt freshman quarterback Colton Joseph.
Joseph, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound, Newport Beach, California native, completed 22 of 40 passes for 262 yards. He impressed with his passing arm, especially on deep throws, and with his legs. He was under pressure much of the game but was sacked just once and rushed for 68 yards and a TD.
It was the first time he played a complete game. He had played sparingly in ODU’s two previous outings, including a 30-27 victory at Bowling Green, in which he helped engineer a Monarch comeback in the final minutes.
His performance at Coastal Carolina was far from perfect. Joseph didn’t throw well on several short passes and had a critical fumble in the final seconds of the first half that led to a scoop-and-score touchdown that turned momentum in favor of Coastal Carolina.
He also threw an interception, although it did not result in any Coastal points.
Rahne said in spite of those mistakes, he was pleased with Joseph.
“I thought he played well, but I know he can play better,” Rahne said. “You know, if you take away the last two minutes of the first half, he probably played really well.
“He was able to create some things with his legs, get out of some sacks. We were able to push the ball down the field but also able to get the ball out of his hands quickly.
“We’ve got to continue to work on his ball placement on some of those shorter passes. But overall, I was pleased with where he was and especially in his second game.
“If he can continue to progress like he did from his first game to the second, you know, I think that’s going to be critical.”
Will he start at Georgia State? Rahne would not say and also would not comment on the status of Grant Wilson, who was the starter before being injured against East Carolina.
He returned to play the following week at Bowling Green two weeks ago before exiting shortly after halftime. But he did not play this past weekend.
“We will start the quarterback who gives us the best chance of winning,” Rahne said.
Senior wide receiver Isiah Paige said the team has a ton of confidence in Joseph.
“We call him cowboy,” he said. “We love Colton. He’s got a different kind of confidence, a different swag to him.
“You know that Colton is going to give you everything he’s got. When you see him giving his all, your quarterback going that hard, it pushes all of us do a different level.”
ODU rolled to 462 offensive yards, its most this season, and there was more to it than just a new quarterback. Devin Roche, the redshirt freshman tailback from Baltimore who had played sparingly this season, rushed 12 times for 86 yards, tying a career high.
He also scored his first career touchdown and caught two passes for 27 yards. He speed and quickness was a welcome addition to ODU's backfield.
Paige had eight catches for 81 yards, including a 55-yard TD reception in the second quarter.
Diante Vines added four receptions for 73 yards and a TD at Coastal Carolina.
Georgia State lost at home to Georgia Southern, 38-21, on Sept. 28 and is coming off a bye week. It’s the second consecutive week the Monarchs face a team coming off a bye, and the time off was critical for Coastal Carolina, which got several banged up players ready for ODU in their two weeks off.
Georgia State is led by quarterback Christian Veilleux, a transfer from Pitt who also played at Penn State. He has completed 94 of 158 passes for 1,073 yards and eight touchdowns, including a game-winning TD pass in the final seconds against Vanderbilt.
He threw three interceptions in the loss to Georgia Southern, but played well in a loss at Georgia Tech, in which the game was close most of the way.
Ted Hurst, a 6-2, wide receiver and a transfer from Valdosta State, is fifth in the Sun Belt with 87.3 yards per game. Rahne said Georgia State’s offensive line is massive.
“They do a lot more than just pass,” Rahne said. “They’re also very effective at running the ball.
“This will be a difficult challenge.”
ODU NOTES: This is the final game of a three-game road trip for ODU. The Monarchs return home to face West Division favorite Texas State on Oct. 19. It will be ODU’s homecoming and the game will start at 3:30 p.m. ... For fans planning to travel to ODU’s road game at App State on Nov. 2, put your plans on hold. Because of the massive damage caused by Hurricane Helene, App officials told the Greensboro Record this past weekend that they are considering moving some home games to Wake Forest and/or UNC Charlotte. The 49ers play at home on Nov. 2 but Wake Forest does not. Stayed tuned to odusports.com for further updates ... The loss to Coastal Carolina was ODU’s 16th one-score game in the last 19 outings. The Monarchs played a Division I record 11 one-score games last season, winning six. ODU is 1-3 so far in one-score games this season . . . Paige moved up to 10th among ODU’s all-time receivers. He has 105 receptions for 1,038 yards and six touchdowns. He is 10th among Sun Belt pass receivers with an average of 53.3 yards per game . . . ODU has three of the Sun Belt’s top tacklers. Linebacker Koa Naotala, a former walk-on, is tied for second with 45, defensive back Jahron Manning is tied for fourth with 44 tackles. Thompson is tied for eighth with 41.
Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram