ODU vs. Ga. Southern Recap: Rushing Clinic

By David Asbury

Run, run, run your GOAT! 
The Old Dominion Monarchs ran all over the Georgia Southern Eagles to a 45-10 victory.  Frankly, the game was never even that close as the Monarchs were up 45-3 late in the third quarter.  The Monarchs outgained the Eagles 551 yards to 249 yards.  In the fourth quarter, both teams put in reserves and the already small crowd began evacuating the stadium.  Southern's only touchdown came from Clay Helton's son, backup quarterback Turner Helton who threw a touchdown with 29 seconds left.  It was just pure domination by the Monarchs in every facet of the game.

Quarterback Colton Joseph had another stellar day adding to his SBC Player of the Year resume.  He accounted for two touchdowns and 329 total yards.  Joseph found tight end Jailen Butler wide-open early in the second quarter with a high lob for the lone touchdown pass.  It was Butler's first career touchdown catch. 

Joseph was 12-of-18 passing for 140 passing yards, but ran 20 times for a career-high 189 yards. He kept it for a 20-yard score late in the third quarter before leaving the game for garbage time.  Joseph now has 899 rushing yards on the year, a school record for a quarterback, passing Thomas DeMarco who had 892 yards in 2009.  He also moved into fifth in ODU’s career rushing charts, passing DeMarco with 1,546 yards.  He is five rushing touchdowns away from tying Demarco's 2009 rushing touchdown record (17).  Is his play good enough for the Sun Belt Player of the Year Award?  He has stiff competition with JMU's Alonza Barnett and Wayne Knight.  But the numbers and results are worthy.

Joseph is making a name for himself in ODU's record book. He may have solidified himself in ODU's Hall of Fame. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

The ODU offense put on a rushing clinic against the weak Ga. So. defense gaining 376 rushing yards on the day.  Running back Ke’Travion "Bull" Hargrove ran for a career-high three touchdowns while adding 40 yards on the ground.  Running backs Devin Roche and Trequan Jones added 51 and 73 rushing yards respectively.  The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage (Doumar's ice cream must be their secret weapon).  With a running game like this, there was no need to pass the ball or even try something new.  But they did anyways.

The Monarchs' offense added a new scheme to their arsenal.  A scheme I call the "Jumbo Wild Cat."  It is "Jumbo" because the receivers are replaced with big blockers such as extra linemen or blocking tight ends.  It is "Wild Cat" because it is a direct snap to the running back and the quarterback is a blocker or distraction. Likewise, Mike and Aaron called it the Wild Bull offense on the podcast. The scheme worked perfectly in the red zone because Colton Joseph deserves so much attention that he works as a great distraction.  Meanwhile, the ball was snapped directly to Bull Hargrove.  Bull used this scheme to score on multiple occasions.  Expect OC Kevin Decker to bring it back before the season is over. 

Bull Hargrove (18) has become a great playmaker for the Monarchs. This year, he scored six total touchdowns.  Expect him to get even more playing time especially during the bowl game.  Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

It is really no surprise that the Monarchs ran the ball all over the Eagles.  Southern's defense has been atrocious against the run all season and ODU rightfully took advantage.  However, Georgia Southern was supposed to have a good offense.  You would not know it by how much the Monarchs' defense dominated them, limiting them to only 249 yards.  The Monarch D limited the Eagles offense to only 49 rushing yards and limited quarterback JC French to only 147 passing yards.  It was pure domination that started from the third play of the game with Jerome Carter's interception.    Carter leads the team in interceptions with four.  The entire unit controlled the line of scrimmage.  Linebacker Jackson Forrest led the team in tackles again with five, alongside cornerback Brandon Crutchfield who also had five.  Jahleel Culbreath led the team with two tackles for a loss and had an incredibly hard (but clean) hit on a receiver to force an incompletion and stop game play.

Jahleel Culbreath (34) and Jackson Forrest have really stepped up after Jason Henderson's retirement.  ODU's linebacker unit under DC Blake Seiler has been top-tier with a lot of depth.  Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

The small crowd of Georgia Southern students were chanting "Fire Helton" in the fourth quarter.  That is not a great sign for a coach that just signed a five-year extension.  They may not have the money on hand to fire Clay Helton.  It also just may be a little premature to fire him.  They fall to 5-6 on the season but the season is not over.  They will travel to Huntington, West Virginia to face off against the Marshall Thundering Herd (5-6).  The game will be a "play-in" game where the winner will gain bowl eligibility and the loser's season is over.  If the Eagles can win it and then win a bowl game, Helton's critics may be momentarily silenced.  But regardless, he may be looking for a new defensive coordinator in the offseason because right now that unit is...well it is just really bad.  There is just no way to sugar coat that.

The Monarchs move up to 8-3 for the season and tie the all-time series against Southern 3-3.  James Madison already clinched the SBC East Division and the Monarchs are already bowl eligible. But with each win, the Monarchs increase their prestige to get an even better bowl game with higher prestige and payment.  Since losing to JMU, ODU outscored its opponents 133-37.  The Monarchs are red hot.  A ten-win season is still on the table which they have not done since winning the Bahamas Bowl in 2016.  Next week, Old Dominion heads back to the Castle to face the Georgia State Panthers (1-10) for the Oyster Bowl and Senior Day.  Win or lose, ESPN will announce ODU's bowl game on December 7th.  Bowl options and dates can be found here.

Get in the stadium early to help honor these seniors. Go Monarchs!

 
Ricky Rahne is now 28-33 at Old Dominion. He has reached a bowl game in three of his five seasons. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography