Old Dominion Shock Coastal Carolina in Conway

Blake Watson totaled 256 yards and three touchdowns in a landmark day for Old Dominion. Watson’s rushing yardage total was good enough to break his school’s single-game record of 224 yards set by Thomas DeMarco back in 2009. ODU totaled 324 rushing yards in this contest and averaged 10.5 yards per carry.

The Monarchs improved to 2-0 in Sun Belt play and 3-3 overall with a 49-21 victory against league leaders Coastal Carolina on Saturday. The Chanticleers fall to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in league play.

“They were way better than us. We didn’t do a good job of being ready to go. They took it to us,” CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell said postgame as the Monarchs spoiled his team’s homecoming game.

Old Dominion never trailed in this game that included a 21-point third quarter by the Monarchs. D.J. Mack Jr. added a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown in that quarter, spelling starting quarterback Hayden Wolff. Wolff also had two passing touchdowns and 180 passing yards on 12 completions.

For the Chanticleers, quarterback Grayson McCall finished 26 of 34 through the air with 358 passing yards and three touchdowns. As the Chanticleers continued to pass the ball frequently while playing from behind, the Monarch pass rush totaled seven sacks on the day. That included two each for ODU’s Denzel Lowry and Deeve Harris. The Monarchs held CCU to just 88 total rushing yards on Saturday.

Coastal ran 80 plays compared to ODU’s 48, but averaged 5.68 yards per play compared to ODU’s 10.94. The Chants also won the time of possession battle 36:58 to 23:02, but it made little difference as ODU had four scoring drives of four plays or less.

Old Dominion continue their season next Saturday when they welcome Georgia Southern to Norfolk for the Monarchs’ homecoming game. Coastal Carolina will be idle next week before heading to Marshall on October 29.