ODU vs. JMU Recap

By David Asbury

Second Half Meltdown
The James Madison Dukes thrashed the Old Dominion Monarchs 63-27.  After starting the season with a very strong 4-1 record and gaining playoff buzz, the Monarchs are now on a two game losing streak with ugly losses to Marshall and JMU to drop to 4-3.  Ricky Rahne is now 0-9 against those two teams.  Monarch fans have a right to be mad about that.

This game was a tale of two halves. The ODU offense showed up very well in the first half, easily marching down the field on the strong JMU defense and scoring with ease.  But in the second half the offense sputtered and defense was never there all day.  James Madison outscored Old Dominion 35-0 in the second half, turning a close game into a rout in which the Dukes piled up 624 yards of offense, tied for the most ever given up by an ODU team. Those 63 points are the second-most ever surrendered by Old Dominion.  

Quarterback Colton Joseph had a great first half. In the first quarter, Joseph threw a mid-range pass to Tre Brown III, who caught the ball at his own 20 and raced the next 80 yards mostly untouched to finish off a school-record 98-yard passing touchdown. That 98 yard play also happens to be the longest play in FBS this season. Joseph finished the first half with three touchdown passes, on 12 of 13 passes for 204 yards and the Monarchs trailed 28-27. But the second half had the Monarchs O do absolutely nothing but throw two interceptions and lose the turnover battle.  Those interceptions contribute to the most turnovers in FBS (18).  Joseph finished with 209 yards passing with three TDs in the first half and two interceptions in the second half.

There were some good offensive plays in the first half with Tre Brown III catching two touchdowns and Dawson Johnson catching his first career touchdown.  But the offense was atrocious in the second half.  In the third quarter they gained only one yard (not a typo).  The downfall started on the very first play of the second half where JMU defensive end Amar Thomas pummeled Joseph as he was releasing the ball that landed in a Dukes defenders hands.   JMU did the same tactic that Marshall did. They loaded the box and played man on the sides.  The Dukes' commitment to stop the run worked and Joseph barely had any time to have any of his receivers beat man coverage.  The second half was just awful.

But at least the offense played well for a half.  The defense did not.  They were regularly busted by the JMU offense.  It was reminiscent of a Bobby Wilder defense.  Quarterback Alonza Barnett ate ODU's lunch scoring six touchdowns, passing 295 yards and rushing for 143 yards.  It was terrible against the pass and run allowing 313 passing yards and 311 rushing yards.  Jerome Carter and Jeremy Mack made some plays racking up a combined 21 tackles, but the defensive unit struggled to contain Barnett through the air and on the ground. At times, the team was able to create pressure but couldn't finish the play, allowing Barnett to routinely escape the pocket to extend plays. Imagine that, a running QB having his way against the Monarchs.

Defensive Coordinator Blake Seiler needs to go back to the drawing board because that was an inexcusable performance.

This game had huge implications and ODU blew it.  With JMU's win they proceed to 6-1 and 4-0 in the Sun Belt.  Their chances of winning the East are now 76%.  They have the talent to win out and may even be college playoff contenders after Memphis' ugly loss.  Gross.  In turn, the loss is a huge sting for Old Dominion.  Their chances of winning the East plummeted to a meager 2%.  Essentially, they would need to win out and finish 6-2 in conference and JMU to lose three of their last four conference games to finish 5-3.  They would also need Coastal to lose another game and Marshall to lose two more games.  That is very very unlikely.  The conference is practically out of reach.

In two weeks, ODU went from CFP buzz to clamoring for mere bowl eligibility.  The Monarchs drop to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Sun Belt.  They must win two of the last five games to get to a bowl.  Three wins and they cement their first winning season since 2016.  The rest of the schedule has its ups and downs but the Monarchs should be able to win at least two games.  The remaining schedule is:  App. State (4-3), ULM (3-4), Bye week, Troy (5-2), Georgia Southern (3-4), Georgia State (1-6).  Outside of potentially Troy on Thursday Night Football, the Monarchs should be favored to win the remaining games.

But before looking ahead, ODU just needs to focus on their issues and win a damn game.  It would be a great time for a bye week to reset but will not have one for another two weeks.  They need to refocus now.  As Rahne said, "You have two options. You can splinter into two factions, which we love to do in this country, and you see how successful that's been, right?  Or you come together to fight adversity together knowing it's going to be difficult, knowing it's going to be uncomfortable. All growth is painful and we've got to all come together. Each and every player has to make that choice."

Old Dominion has some work to do.