CONWAY, South Carolina (Courtesy of ODU Athletics) – Stymied by its own mistakes and a series of second-half injuries, the Old Dominion football team fell to Coastal Carolina, 45-37, Saturday night at Brooks Stadium.

ODU led 17-7 with 2:15 left in the first half but watched in frustration as Coastal Carolina reeled off 28 unanswered points, and then held off a late Monarch rally.

The Monarchs had a chance in the final seconds. ODU drove 75 yards and scored on a one-yard Colton Joseph touchdown run with 29 seconds left to trim the margin to eight. However, Coastal recovered an Ethan Sanchez on-sides kick and ran out the clock.

Joseph, the redshirt freshman quarterback from Newport Beach, California, played well in place of the injured Grant Wilson. He completed 22-of-40 passes for 262 yards, the most this season for the Monarchs, and three touchdowns.

He also rushed 11 times for 68 yards and a TD, and impressed not only with his passing arm, but with his speed and quickness. He eluded half a dozen sacks and often turned scrambles into long runs.

But, as you might expect from a young player making just his second start, he made mistakes – his second quarter fumble led to a Coastal touchdown and he also tossed an interception.

ODU Head Coach Ricky Rahne said the Monarchs didn’t lose because of a lack of effort – his Monarchs played hard if not always well.

“It was all about execution, our lack of execution,” he said. “There was some coaching mistakes as well.”

Rahne said that Joseph will only get better in time. He played in two series against Virginia Tech and in the second half in last week’s victory at Bowling Green.

“He continues to grow each and every time he gets on the field,” Rahne said. “Every rep he gets, whether he gets them in practice or a game, it’s a rep he hasn’t had before. He’s going to continue to grow. He made some mistakes but most of them are correctable. He played with poise throughout and with great effort.

“Obviously, the turnover at the end of the first half hurt. But he gave us a chance at the end to try the on-sides kick.”

The loss, which came in the first of eight consecutive Sun Belt games for the Monarchs, dropped the Monarchs to 1-4 overall. The Monarchs are at Georgia State next Saturday and then host Texas State on Octtober 19 for Homecoming.

The Chanticleers (4-1 overall, 1-0 Sun Belt) had lost only to Virginia of the ACC. Coastal has now won 24 of its last 29 home games

ODU led by 10 late in a first half in which the Monarch offense played well.

Joseph completed six passes for 44 yards on ODU’s first drive, including his last four in a row, then ran for 19 yards after being rushed out of the pocket to give ODU a first down at the 10.

He passed 10 yards to Bryce Duke for the touchdown on the next play and ODU led, 7-0,

Coastal quickly responded. Facing third and 21 at the ODU 41 after a holding penalty drove them out of field goal range, Ethan Vasko found a wide-open Cameron Wright for 32 yards. Vasko then passed eight yards to Cane Berrong for the touchdown on the next play.

ODU then scored 10 consecutive points.  Sanchez nailed a 26-yard field goal with 9:58 left to give ODU a 10-7 lead. Then, with 4:26 left, Joseph threw a 55-yard strike to Isiah Paige for a touchdown that put the Monarchs up, 17-7.

Coastal only needed two plays to narrow the lead to three. Christian Washington ran 68 yards on the first play from scrimmage, and then Vasko tossed a 12-yard TD pass to Cameron Wright.

Then, with 1:48 left, and ODU deep in its own territory, Joseph was rushed from the pocket and under pressure, was hit and fumbled while attempting to pass. Jerome Powell scooped the ball up and ran 23 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-17.

Coastal opened up the second half with an 80-yard drive capped by a Braydon Bennett 9-yard touchdown that gave the Chanticleers a 28-17 lead.

The teams then exchanged turnovers on back-to-back possessions before Coastal scored again to make it 35-17.

Facing third and 26 at the ODU 35, Vasko tossed 30 yards Kendell Carr, who caught the ball at the 15 and then fumbled inside the 10. The ball was recovered by Coastal’s Dwayne Griffin at the 4.

Bennett then ran four yards for the TD and the Chanticleers held a commanding 35-17 lead.

ODU had to score on its next drive to keep hope alive and the Monarchs did, with Joseph throwing a 40-yard touchdown pass to Diante Vines to trim the lead to 35-24.

After holding the Chants on downs, the Monarch offense had a touchdown and a pitch-and-catch to the one nullified by penalties. Undaunted, Joseph passed 30 yards to Myles Alston to the one, and Devin Roche carried it over from there for his first career TD as a Monarch.

The two-point conversion failed.

Coastal followed with a score, with tailback Braydon Bennett catching a 37-yard TD pass from that made it 42-30. The Chanticleers tacked on a field goal that made it 45-30

Offensively, it was ODU’s best performance this season by far. The Monarchs had 462 offensive yards – the most this season. Roche, the freshman from Baltimore, led the Monarchs with 86 yards rushing on 12 carries.

But the 45 points were the most ODU surrendered since 2018 against Middle Tennessee.

The defense and offensive line were especially hard-hit by injuries – both of ODU’s starting safeties were out much of the second half.

Rahne said that in spite of the loss, ODU “is still right in there” in the Sun Belt race.

“Every team can beat any other team in the league,” he said. “I’d be shocked if anyone goes 8-0 in the league this year and if they do, they belong in the College Football Playoff.”

Linebacker Jahleel Culbreath said the injuries were no excuse.

“Injuries didn’t affect us,” he said. “We always know when somebody goes down, it’s the next man up.”

Culbreath said Rahne’s post-game message to the Monarchs was simple.

“Coach told us if we don’t make mistakes and do our jobs, we are one of the best teams in the Sun Belt,” he said. “We are going to continue to strive and work on our mistakes.

“We’ll be back.”