By David Asbury
Just win baby!
The Old Dominion Monarchs obliterated the Troy Trojans 33-0 on national television. The Monarchs dominated on offense gaining 503 yards, running all over the Trojans' defense. The Monarchs dominated on defense allowing only 138 yards, with a solid push up front. This was a statement win improving Old Dominion's all-time record against the Sun Belt West to 7-1. But more importantly it improves this season's record to 7-3. The seventh win clinches their first winning season since 2016, where the Monarchs went 10-3 and won the Bahamas Bowl. Can the Monarchs match that success by winning the next two regular season games and then a bowl game? They can if they just keep playing like this.
Quarterback Colton Joseph had another solid performance throwing for 147 yards and a touchdown while adding 90 rushing yards and two more touchdowns. He now has 31 total touchdowns for the season which ties Heisman candidate Fernando Mendoza. Joseph now has eleven rushing touchdowns for the year. He is only six away from the single season school record (17) set by Thomas DeMarco in 2009. Colton Joseph is having a season worthy of the Sun Belt Player of the Year Award. But there is still some room for improvement. Against Troy, Joseph only completed 10 of 20 passes, having a pretty low 50% completion rate. His accuracy can be pretty off at times. But still, his passing was good enough this week to get Tre Brown five catches for 112 yards and hit Ja’Cory Thomas with a 19-yard touchdown grab. Best of all, Joseph took care of the football with no turnovers. It was one of his many stellar performances.
Colton Joseph reminds Troy's Kaleno Levine how he just ran through him and the rest of the Trojan defense to score. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography
The Old Dominion offense controlled the game from the very start. The offensive line had a great push upfront on the Trojan's defensive line, opening large lanes for big gains. Five different ODU rushers combined for 351 yards on 47 carries, with three touchdowns. Devin Roche gave the unit a hot start and gained a team-high 145 yards rushing. Trequan Jones added 96 yards and a score. Indeed, Jones went untouched up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown to cap the scoring in the fourth. Credit the running backs and offensive coordinator Kevin Decker, but the offensive line deserves a ton of credit! Troy is a solid defense with a talented front seven. And despite that, the big guys up front manhandled them all night.
It was not just the offensive line doing some manhandling. The Monarchs' defense had their best game of the season and arguably put on the best defensive performance in Old Dominion history, setting a bunch of records. The end result was ODU earning the first shutout since the Monarchs defeated Charlotte 6-0 in 2017 and just the second in Old Dominion football history. It's also the first time Troy has been shutout in a game since 2014 (when they lost to UGA) and the first time they have been shutout in a Sun Belt Conference game. They've been members of the league since 2005.
The defense limited Troy to only 138 yards of offense, the best performance of the season and setting an ODU record for fewest yards allowed. Troy only crossed midfield three times the entire game. The stout front seven stuffed the run all night allowing a season-best 26 rushing yards. Linebacker Jackson Forrest led the team in tackles with ten. His performance as a true freshman follows in the footsteps of other recent knockout performances by ODU linebackers as true freshman, Jason Henderson and Mario Thompson.
The ODU defense led by LeDarrion Menter (97) swarm Troy QB Goose Crowder. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.
Troy also struggled to pass the ball gaining only 112 yards through the air. The Trojans played both of their top two guys at quarterback. But whether they played Tucker Kilcrease or Goose Crowder, an ODU defender was in their face all night. ODU racked up nine sacks with a plethora of defenders. Those 9 sacks represent another team record set by this group on the night. The Troy offensive line could not give their quarterback any time and whiffed on many defenders who were stunting. Defensive end Kris Trinidad led the way with 2 sacks, but nine defenders gained at least a half-sack.
Troy must be licking its wounds after such a beating on national television. At 6-4, the team is bowl eligible with the opportunity to have a successful winning season. However, this was their second conference loss, putting them a game behind Southern Miss on a week that USM left the door open for a tie in the West and a potential clear path to a West title for Troy in USM's loss to Texas State. Next week, the Trojans should beat the downtrodden Georgia State Panthers. But then they will have to face division leader Southern Mississippi. They could tie USM for the West with a win. However, since Troy lost to Arkansas State and USM beat Arkansas State, if they manage to beat Southern Miss we could be looking at a 3-way tie in the West. Had they beat ODU, they'd be the clear winners of the west and avoid all tie breaking scenarios.
For the Old Dominion, the Monarchs are winners again, baby! This win cements head coach Ricky Rahne's best season since ODU hired him in December 2019. Back then, AD Wood Selig said he was looking for nothing short of a “miracle worker” to rebuild the football program. It was a very high bar considering the Monarchs had a disastrous 1-11 2019 season and then cancelled the 2020 season. Rahne started building slowly. It was not always pretty. His teams faced a lot of adversity with very tough schedules and transitioning into the Sun Belt Conference in 2022. His 27-33 overall record is not the most impressive as it could be. But he slowly built this team into a competitor in the Sun Belt and one of the best teams in the tougher East division. Expect Rahne to enter negotiations for an extension, he's earned it.
Next, the Monarchs will travel to face Georgia Southern and then finish the regular season at home against Georgia State. Both teams are not having their best seasons and Old Dominion will be favored to win both games. Unfortunately, the loss to rival James Madison eliminated the Monarchs from competing in the Sun Belt Championship. No matter, the Monarchs will find out which bowl game they play in on December 7, 2025. Be on the lookout so you can start making your travel plans as Rahne leads this team to success. Reign on!
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Gameday Central: Troy @ ODU