ODU vs. ULM: Recap

By David Asbury

BOWL ELIGIBLE

The Old Dominion Monarchs dominated the UL-Monroe Warhawks 31-6 in Monroe.  Or at least it was dominant first half with ODU outscoring the Warhawks 24-0.  The Monarchs continued their third quarter slumps and they only outscored the beaten up Warhawks 7-6 in the second half.  Still, the Monarchs improve to 6-3 and are bowl eligible for the third time in Ricky Rahne's tenure!  It is time to celebrate!

"Cowboy" Colton Joseph did it again.  He gained 303 yards total offense with three rushing touchdowns.  He passed for 231 yards and rushed for 72 for the Monarchs.  There is some room for improvement as he missed some open receivers and completed just 12 of his 22 passes.  He also lost a fumble which contributes to his league leading turnover numbers.  But his performance is still good enough to be game MVP, and still in the running for SBC Player of the Year.  He leads the conference in passing yards (2,231), passing touchdowns (19), yards per attempt (9.6) and QB rushing yards (620).  His eight rushing touchdowns are right behind JMU's Alonzo Barnett (10).  Joseph would be running away with the award right now if it were not for turnovers.  He can still do it and be the first SBC Player of the Year ODU has ever had. 

Hop on the campaign to have "Cowboy" Colton become Player of the Year.  Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

And he could not have done it without his supporting cast.  A huge shoutout to the offensive line that deserves more credit than they get.  Zach Barlev and the rest of the veteran offensive line created huge holes for Joseph to run through.  There were other playmakers  Tre Brown caught five passes for 83 yards and Bull Hargrove ran for 38 yards and touchdown.  The offense in total had a really good day although they let up in the second half and did leave a lot of points on the board.

The defense played fantastic, limiting the Warhawks offense to only 293 yards.  The ODU D stuffed them on many of their fourth down attempts.  The Warhawks converted only twice of seven fourth down attempts.  The ODU defense caused five turnovers on downs, an interception and a recovered fumble.  Jahleel Culbreath had himself a game with seven tackles, a sack and tackle for a loss.  Zion Frink caught the interception and added three tackles.  Mario Easterly had six tackles and his first career forced fumble.  The defense had a dominant day allowing only one touchdown in garbage time and a season-high five sacks.  One of their best performances of the entire season. 

The linebacker room has so much depth. Culbreath is stepping up along with Seth Naotala. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

Special teams was a sore spot again.  The special teams unit has been rough all season.  Here, starting kicker Riley Callaghan missed another field goal.  He is now only 8 of 15 attempts.  The staff pulled him for Nathaniel Eichner who kicked a 30-yard field goal and four extra points.  Eichner made his first field goal since 2022 where he played for Alabama State.  The punting unit also had their punt blocked late in the game.  The special teams unit needs a lot more attention.  It is too late into the season to be making those mistakes.  Special teams coach Kevin Smith needs his guys to play better.

ULM drops to 3-6 and are technically still alive for a bowl game.  With South Alabama, UL, and Texas State, their schedule actually looks easier as those teams are a combined 8-18.  However, they may be an underdog in each of those games and it is more likely than not that they lose at least one of them to be eliminated from bowl eligibility.  It looks like the thirteenth year in a row without a bowl game for the Warhawks.

The Monarchs on the other hand clinched bowl eligibility!  "That means everything to us," Jahleel Culbreath said. "Everybody wants to go to a bowl game. We earned another game with our brothers and that's awesome.  But obviously, we want more."  It will be the third bowl game in Rahne's fifth season.  Start looking up plane tickets to Myrtle Beach, Orlando, Boca Raton, Mobile, Birmingham, New Orleans, and more! 

Courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

Rahne is having the stellar season he needed and his hot seat has cooled considerably.  One more win and the Monarchs will have their first winning season since 2016.   He could do it on national television for the Thursday night matchup against a good Troy team.  His teams are usually great after a bye week with the extra time to prepare.  But he laments having to do a SportsCenter interview on Kaufman Mall before the game.  He appreciates having the campus broadcasted on national television but wishes it did not take time away from him and the team to prepare for the game.  Regardless, that Thursday Night Game will be HUGE.