ODU Football Rallies to Defeat South Florida, 24-10, to Claim 10th Victory in StaffDNA Cure Bowl

By Harry Minium

ORLANDO, Fla. – Old Dominion finished off one of the finest football seasons in school history with one of ODU’s biggest victories ever as the Monarchs rallied to defeat South Florida, 24-10, in the 11^th annual StaffDNA Cure Bowl Wednesday night at Camping World Stadium.

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ODU finished with 10 victories for the first time since 2016, and it was quite an accomplishment given that the Monarchs tackled a rugged schedule that included two Power 4 schools, including No. 1 Indiana.

The Monarchs (10-3) earned the right to be called one of the best teams in school history. ODU finished with a six-game winning streak, and earlier claimed one of the University’s most memorable road victories, a 45-26 triumph at Virginia Tech.

It was televised nationally by ESPN and bled into prime time.

Both teams dearly wanted to win and the game was physical and chippy. Both quarterbacks, ODU’s Quinn Henicle and USF’s Gaston Moore, were knocked out of the game on hard tackles. Henicle returned. Moore did not.

Henicle, who played sparingly this season, made just his second career start and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. He rushed 24 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yard TD run with 2:57 left that clinched the victory.

“He didn’t have anywhere near his best game,” ODU Head Coach Ricky Rahne said. “But he was still able to will the team to a win. In the fourth quarter, on our four-minute drive, he kept his legs going and just kept dragging people. He has so much competitiveness and fight in him.”

South Florida had defeated nationally ranked Florida and Boise State and was just four points away from playing in the American Conference championship game.

But on this day, the Monarchs had the better team.

ODU outgained the Bulls, 382-333, and the Monarch defense, which stood tall the second half of the season, forced five turnovers.

It was the first bowl game victory for Rahne in three tries and came just days after he signed a new, four-year contract.

He was in tears when he accepted the Cure Bowl trophy from game officials. He immediately passed it to fifth-year defensive tackle Kris Trinidad.

“We had so many fifth-year guys, guys like Kris Trinidad, who stuck around,” Rahne said. “And that’s a rare thing in college athletics. 

"I'm so glad for these guys that they were able to win a championship, to be able to hoist up a bowl game trophy. They've earned rings and those rings will remind them for the rest of the lives of their teammates, and the very special team they played for this season."

Both teams came into the game with high-scoring offenses led by prolific quarterbacks. But ODU’s Colton Joseph and Byrum Brown elected not to play. Henicle had started just one game and Moore had never started.

Their lack of experience showed as both offenses struggled early-on.

Henicle got off to a shaky start. Midway through the first quarter, the Bulls stripped the ball from Henicle, who fumbled at the USF 22. It was recovered at the 37 by safety Fred Gaskin and returned 22 yards to the ODU 41.

That led to a 28-yard Nico Gramatica field goal and a 3-0 USF lead nine minutes into the first quarter.

But then ODU’s offense, especially Henicle, settled down.

Henicle orchestrated a near perfect drive, completing all four passes he attempted for 48 yards. Henicle then finished off the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run, and ODU took a 7-3 lead with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.

USF then retook the lead, 10-7, on a drive that began with a flea flicker for a 25-yard pass from Moore to Jeremiah Koger.

Moore then rushed his team back to the line of scrimmage, and he tossed 31 yards for a touchdown to Koger with 7:32 left in the first half.

USF threatened again in the waning minutes of the second quarter, but Brandon Crutchfield intercepted at the 20.

On USF’s first possession of the second half, Jerome Carter gave the Monarchs good field position with his fifth interception of the season, which tied a school record. He would break that record in the fourth quarter with another interception.

He returned it 26 yards to the USF 25. On third down, Trequan Jones rushed 22 yards for a touchdown – he was untouched on a handoff up the middle -- and the Monarchs led, 14-10, five minutes into the second half.

After Gramatica missed a 39-yard field goal, running back Devin Roche reeled off 35 yards and the Monarchs were in business. Roche finished with 100 yards rushing on 19 carries. 

Then came one of the game’s critical plays. As Henicle was running at the USF 18, he was pummeled with a head-first tackle by USF’s De’Shawn Rucker. Henicle fumbled and the Bulls recovered.

Although no flag was thrown, the replay crew took about five minutes to review the play, and assessed Rucker for targeting. He was ejected from the game and ODU had a first and goal at the 9.

Henicle lost his helmet and appeared shaken but after freshman Ryan Huff threw an incomplete pass, he returned to the game.

"I didn't think it was that hard of a hit," he said. "It was just football. When you get hit like that, you get up and you get back into the game.

"I wasn't going to allow them to take me out of the game."

Rahne said that he had his training staff check Henicle out three times to make sure there was no concussion.

"His Mom," Rahne said of Jen Henicle, with a laugh, "is an awesome Mom. But she's a quarterback's Mom and feisty and I'm afraid of quarterback Moms. We made sure he was OK."

The Monachs were forced to settle for a 24-yard Nathanial Eichner field goal, and ODU led 17-10, with 3:27 left in the third quarter.

By then, USF was without Moore, who had been knocked out of the game by ODU linebacker Jeremy Mack with a clean but hard hit on the previous Bulls’ possession.  

USF never again got close to scoring.

Monarch Nation showed up in big numbers. Nearly 2,000 ODU faithful were in the stands and more than 500 participated in a pregame tailgate sponsored by the ODU Alumni Association.

At times, Camping World Stadium resembled ODU's home field, as Monarch fans were more engaged than those from USF.

"I love and appreciate our fans," Rahne said. "They not only showed up in big numbers, they were loud. I appreciate each and every one of them for being here.

"This bowl victory was all about our players. This team plays hard for each other, and they way the game is supposed to be played."

USF Interim Head Coach Kevin Patrick, who has known Rahne for decades, praised Monarchs. 

“With the culture coach Rahne has built, that’s a tough group,” he said. "They've got a lot of talent and played so hard. They’re a class act and they did a hell of a job. They should be very proud.”

Notes –  Daevon Iles made his first career start at safety … Henicle’s six-yard touchdown run was his first of the season and fourth of his career … Jerome Carter tied the ODU single season record with his fifth interception, tying Eriq Lewis who had five picks in 2011 … Trequan Jones registered his sixth touchdown of the season … In two career starts, Henicle has rushed for a combined 313 yards and four touchdowns. He had 19 carries for 206 yards and two touchdowns against Arkansas State in his lone start last season … For Roche, it was his third 100-yard rushing game in the last four … It was the second straight game ODU had a pair of 100-yard rushers … Jerome Carter intercepted two passes to give him the single season program record, passing Eriq Lewis’ five interceptions in 2011 … Daevon Iles recorded his first career interception to seal the game … Jeremy Mack tied his career high with 11 tackles and added a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram

To see past stories from Minium, CLICK HERE

The ODU Bowl Season is presented by Miller’s Home Comfort. For over 40 years, Miller’s has remained a powerful presence in the Hampton Roads community. From our initial start as a simple oil company to our growth as one of the area’s leading heating, cooling, IAQ and plumbing businesses, we've thrived because our customers trust our knowledge, honesty, reliability and professionalism.

Old Dominion Head Coach Ricky Rahne, CB Jerome Carter, QB Quinn Henicle

Opening statement:

Coach Rahne: “It was a game where you are going to have to manage emotions, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that. I talked to them about how you win games, how you win Bowl games. It is techniques, fundamentals, avoiding pre-snap and post-snap penalties — that’s a huge one. Really, it is just managing the emotions and for the most part, I thought the guys did a great job, because when I say managing the emotions, you still have to play with emotion, and I think our guys, obviously, did that. I will take questions and I will let Jerome just sit here and soak up the fact that he had an unbelievable game, and then you guys can ask him the real stuff.”

On the StaffDNA Cure Bowl victory and earning 10 wins:
Coach Rahne: “Yeah, it's very significant. I mean, having a 10th win is awesome and having a Bowl win is important, but I think just what it signifies. I thought our team prepared like champions all year, and now to be able to have a trophy that they can look at, have a ring that they can look at, and be able to remember this team, is important. I think that is why Bowls are so important. And I don't want to say — listen, this isn't the NFL. This is college, right? “These guys deserve a chance to finish as a champion and for people, who don't think that is a good thing, I challenge you to watch our post-game celebration. I challenge you to watch our locker room, and even our sideline when the plays were made to decide this game. Bowls are incredibly important, because these are memories that these men are going to have forever. They're going to remember games and plays, and Jerome’s obviously going to remember his two interceptions, which were huge, but I think he is also going to remember some of the times he was able to have with these guys on this whole trip, and how much fun he had with them, and something stupid that one of our d-linemen probably said. That's something that's going to stay with us for a long time.”

On the best thing about Quinn’s performance and played the way he did:
Coach Rahne: “The best part about Quinn’s performance is he didn't play anywhere near his best game, and he was still able to will the team to a win. To me, it was that run in the four-minute drive, where he kept going. He kept his legs going, kept just dragging people -- the competitiveness, the fight and the effort that he had right there. Then, you just watched not only how the offensive players responded, but also the defensive players on the sideline. That’s what he brings to the table, and it's something that you love to watch, and as a coach, it's fun to coach that — that type of emotion, fight, and will.”

On how proud you are in the defense and being able to battle through a tough game:
Jerome Carter: “I think it just shows how we compete and how we prepared during practice.

That's really what we harp on, being the most physical team on the field at the time. I just feel like that's how we change things. That is how we play differently by being more physical. We have to out-physical the other team.”

Coach Rahne: “Yeah, I think that with that, I don't know how many games this is this year, but I know at one point we had four games, where we had more than 300 yards of rushing than the other team. We had more than 200 yards rushing in these guys today. I think that says a lot about everybody on our team, right? I mean, the offensive, the defensive -- everyone wants to point at the O-line, D-line, but there's a lot of other people doing that. 

On the guys in the locker room ending the season with a bowl win:
Jerome Carter: I think it's resilience and the brotherhood that we’ve got in the locker room. We would run through a brick wall for each other. I believe that's what you’ve got to have with a team in order to be successful, you know what I'm saying? Like my buddy right here to the side of me (points at QB Quinn Henicle), I’d run through a wall for him, and that's what you need with a team.”

On the how the team rallied a finished strong after a tough stretch in the middle of the season:
Coach Rahne “I mean, in today's game where the setup is made a little bit for a mercenary mentality, I think our guys invested in each other. They invested in our culture, they invested in each other, they invested in the coaching staff — and I think our coaches did that too. That's notalways easy, right? I mean, the reality of it is, when guys are going to leave, and all of that sort of stuff, it is easy to not invest in developing those relationships with each other. I mean, that's what's safe, right? Because you can get hurt the other way. You can't get hurt if you don't invest. But when you invest in somebody, yeah, you can get hurt, but the reality of it is that is the only way to feel joy, and the only way to feel love. I think our guys have done that, and that's what we were able to do when we lost those two (conference) games. But hey, listen, our team was crushed. I'm not going to sit here and act like they didn't care, because they did. I mean, they did, because a team that is playing in the playoffs right now, we know we had them on the ropes, we had a chance to beat them, and we played our worst half of football that we played all year. They didn't sulk about that.

On how special was it to have your mom in the stands watching you in your first Bowl win:
Coach Rahne: “Yeah, there's a 0% chance that my mom was going to miss this. I mean, there was no chance. It was awesome. My nephew was here too, and to have my best friend from college here and one of my best friends in the world, who I have met, since I have been in Norfolk, that was great. It is great to have people invest in you and your journey, right? “My brother-in-law is here, my mother-in-law, my dad, my stepmom, and it was a great deal. My sister would have been here, too. She is still ticked off, because she is a principal, so she couldn’t miss her last day of school. They would probably get on you for that. She was hoping the game would be a little bit later. I really appreciate the people who invest in me. I don't communicate well enough during the season, and probably ever, but I will just use the season as an excuse right now, but they know how much I love and appreciate everything they give.”

On the turnout and all the fans that were able to come down to Orlando:
Coach Rahne: “It is awesome. They were loud, too, man, they were loud, right? I thought, obviously, their fans don't have far to go. We had a little bit farther to go. We usually have good winter weather, but this year we have not. As these guys know, because I have just been making them practice in the coldest weather we have had in Virginia in who knows how long, snow and all those sorts of things, and just acting like it wasn't existing, but the whole time I am freezing right there with them. Those fans that came down here, it meant a lot. I know, especially to these guys, and it certainly means a lot to me as well.”