Old Dominion regained its early-season form Saturday and clinched bowl eligibility in the process, beating Louisiana Monroe 31-6 as Colton Joseph accumulated 303 yards of total offense and three rushing touchdowns.
ODU (6-3, 3-2 Sun Belt) qualified for a bowl on the earliest date in school history. The Monarchs figure to play in their fourth bowl.
ODU next plays against Troy at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at S.B. Ballard Stadium. ESPN “SportsCenter” will be broadcast from 2-3 p.m. from Kaufman Mall that afternoon.
“That’s an awesome opportunity to show people nationally what Old Dominion is all about and we’re excited about that,” coach Ricky Rahne said on odusports.com.
Some Monarchs were chanting “bowl game” as they left the field. Linebacker Jahleel Culbreath, a junior from Virginia Beach, said becoming bowl-eligible “means everything to us. Everybody wants to go to a bowl game. We earned another game with our brothers and that’s awesome. But obviously, we want more,” he added on odusports.com.
Joseph passed for 231 yards and rushed for 16 times for 72 yards. He lost a fumble early in the second half for ODU’s only turnover, giving the Warhawks a first-and-goal. However, safety Mario Easterly forced a ULM fumble that was recovered by cornerback Jorian Haynes five minutes into the second half.
Playing in Louisiana for the first time in program history, the Monarchs held ULM (3-6, 1-4) to 293 yards and might have had a shutout if not for a blocked punt that led to a first-and-goal at the 3.
The Monarchs sacked ULM’s Aidan Armenta five times and moved ahead 24-0 by early in the second quarter.
Old Dominion’s Ke’Travion Hargrove lunges to score on a 12-yard run during a game against ULM on Saturday. (Courtesy ODU Athletics)
Ke’Travion Hargrove of Ruston, Louisiana, scored on a 12-yard run, and Joseph’s 7-yard TD run made it 14-0 11 minutes into the game. Nathanial Eichner, a walk-on who transferred from Alabama State, kicked a 30-yard field goal for a 17-0 edge.
Joseph’s 14-yard scramble made it 24-0 with 9:09 left in the second half.
“If you take out the band, I think we had more than 50 percent of the fans here,” Rahne said on odusports.com. “That was awesome. We have some pretty faithful fans. It was great to have this much support this far away from home.”
Hargrove rushed nine times for 38 yards and a TD and caught a pass for 21 yards. Ja’Cory Thomas, a wide receiver from Denham Springs, Louisiana, had two receptions for 65 yards.
Being bowl-eligible “is not my ultimate goal, but it’s always a goal coming into every single season,” Rahne said on odusports.com. “It allows us to have more practices, and that allows some of our young guys to develop.
“It always gives us more time together, more time to share with your teammates, and I know everyone on this team loves to be around their teammates.”
