NORFOLK, Va. (Courtesy of ODU Athletics) – It was an entertaining football game that went down to the wire. And at times, a sellout crowd of 21,984 rocked and rolled in S.B. Ballard Stadium.
But undone by their own mistakes, and with their offense shut down for most of the second half, the Monarchs fell to James Madison, 35-32, Saturday night and thus ended ODU’s hopes of winning a Sun Belt East Division championship.
It was the third loss in a row to JMU (8-2 overall, 4-2 Sun Belt) since both teams joined the Sun Belt in 2022.
The Monarchs rallied from an early 18-7 deficit to take a 24-21 halftime lead.
But each of their first six possessions of the second half resulted in punts. Four times the defense jumped offsides, handing the Dukes a first down.
And ODU converted just 1-of-11 third down opportunities.
JMU, meanwhile, took the lead for good, 28-24, late in the third quarter when quarterback Alonza Barnett III completed a 68-yard touchdown pass to Yamir Knight.
ODU’s mistakes were no more apparent than with 5:47 left in the game when the Monarchs jumped offsides on fourth down.
JMU took advantage of the penalty to take a 35-24 lead on an eight-yard touchdown run by Barnett.
“We made too many mistakes to win a game like this,” Rahne said. “Too many correctable mistakes. The bottom line is that we didn’t really ever give ourselves a chance to win that game.”
“You’ve got to be able to consistently do your job,” added linebacker Koa Naotala. “We talk about it all the time, especially on defense, when our keys are playing fast, tough and disciplined. That was the key. We didn’t consistently do our job and we made too many mistakes.”
And yet, the Monarchs came relatively close to pulling off a miraculous rally.
With 2:30 left, and JMU leading 35-24, the Monarchs drove 12 plays on a 77-yard drive capped by Colton Joseph’s three-yard touchdown run. He then completed a two-point conversion throw to Pat Conroy to narrow the margin to 35-32 with 58 seconds left.
Kicker Ethan Sanchez than attempted an on-side kick.
“He placed the ball perfectly, right where we wanted it,” Rahne said.
It was recovered by second-string JMU tight end Logan Kyle.
“The guy just made a great play,” Rahne said.
The first half featured two high-powered offenses.
JMU opened the game with a 70-yard, nine-play touchdown drive capped by a two-yard TD run from Wayne Knight. The Monarchs responded with a 72-yard drive, in which Joseph made like a tailback, breaking a tackle after he faked a handoff and running 15 yards for the touchdown.
On its next possession, JMU had three penalties but managed to drive into the red zone and come away with three points on a 39-yard field goal from Noe Ruelas.
The Dukes held ODU on downs, and quickly scored again, as Barett faked a handoff right, ran left and sprinted 50 yards untouched for a touchdown. Gabriel Hollingsworth took a direct snap from center and ran for the 2-point conversion and the Dukes led, 18-7.
JMU then held the Monarchs on downs again, and had all of the momentum when Mario Easterly turned the momentum in ODU’s direction, blocking a Ryan Hanson punt that gave ODU a first down at the three.
Tailback Aaron Young, who ran for 116 yards and a touchdown, ran three yards for the TD and trailing 18-14, the Monarchs were back in business.
JMU briefly retook momentum when Chris Shearin intercepted a Joseph pass at the ODU 30, but the Monarch defense limited the damage, forcing Ruelas to kick a 33-yard field goal.
ODU then tied it up on its next possession, a four-play, 75-yard drive keyed by a 51-yard rush up the middle from Young. Joseph faked a pass right and ran left on his 10-yard TD run. Sanchez’s conversion kick tied it up at 21-all with 2:13 left.
Not content to head into halftime tied, the Monarchs held the Dukes on downs, and quickly drove into the red zone, with Joseph’s 45-yard pass to Isiah Paige setting up a first down at the JMU 10.
Three plays later, the Monarchs were on the six, and called on Sanchez, who kicked a 23-yard field goal to give the Monarchs a 24-21 halftime lead.
The second half opened well for the Monarchs, who recovered a surprise JMU on-side kick at the JMU 46. But in a sign of things to come, the offense gained no yardage and was forced to punt.
“At that point, we had a chance to make it a two-score game,” Rahne said. “We had lots of chances to make it a two-score game. And that could have changed the game.
“Maybe it makes them play a little different.”
But it was not to be.
ODU went to bowl games in two of the last three seasons by winning their last two games. When asked whether his team can do it again, Rahne said, of course.
“We can only win one game at a time, right?” Rahne said. “You can’t win two at a time.
“You need to focus on winning one game, one practice, winning one day. That’s the only way you can do it.”