ATLANTA – Old Dominion University Football scored first, but Georgia State scored 42-straight points on its way to a 42-10 win over the Monarchs on Saturday afternoon at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta.
On Georgia State’s second play of the game, Koa Naotala forced a fumble that Ja’Mez Drummer recovered at the Panthers’ 40-yard line. The Monarchs drove to the GSU three but settled for a 21-yard Nathanial Eichner field goal. A 10-yard Henicle completion to JJ Harrell and 18-yards rushing by Devin Roche pushed ODU to the three.
After a pair of three and outs, GSU took the lead on a six play, 57-yard drive capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass from Cameran Brown to Dennis Murray Jr to put GSU on top, 7-3.
ODU got one first down on its next drive but was forced to punt, and on the first play of the next drive, Brown found Derrick Avery for an 80-yard touchdown pass to give the Panthers a 14-3 lead.
Isaiah Stone gave Georgia State a 21-3 lead early in a rainy second quarter on a 29-yard touchdown reception from Brown. The play capped a six play, 69-yard drive.
On its next drive, Brown connected with Rodshaun Dorsey for a 28-yard touchdown pass to give GSU a 28-3 lead with 5:41 left in the second quarter.
ODU was held to a three and out to open the third quarter and the Panthers pushed their lead to 35-3 on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Owen Dupree.
Brown added his sixth touchdown pass of the day, and second to Dorsey, to make the score 42-3 early in the third quarter.
Later in the quarter, the Monarchs got a stop on defense, and Devin Roche returned the punt 78 yards for a touchdown, the longest punt return in ODU history, to make the score 42-10.
Roche had nine carries for 38 yards, while Josh Rodriguez caught three passes for 22 yards. Henicle completed 8-of-15 passes for 49 yards.
Notes: Defensive tackle Ahmaad Foster recorded his first career start … Devin Roche passed Taylor Heinicke for seventh on the all-time rushing charts. Roche now has 1,336 career yards … Roche’s 78-yard punt return for a touchdown was the longest punt return in school history, and the first since Isaiah Harper’s 74-yard touchdown return against VMI in 2018.