Game Notes: ODU Football closes 2022 season at South Alabama on Saturday

ODU opened the 2022 season with a stunning upset win over Virginia Tech, battled UVA to the final play in a narrow loss in Charlottesville, dominated Coastal Carolina, which is currently 9-1 on the season.

But the Monarchs haven’t won since beating the Chanticleers on Oct. 15, dropping five in a row, and on Saturday, they will close out what has to be considered a disappointing campaign on the road at South Alabama.

ODU Notes

• Linebacker Jason Henderson leads the country with 168 tackles and holds a 35-tackle lead over No. 2 tackler Jackson Mitchell of UConn, who has 133. Henderson has broken ODU and Sun Belt Conference single-season record for tackles.
• Redshirt junior running back Blake Watson had 10 carries for 69 yards at App State, the most yards by Watson since he rushed for 65 yards at Georgia State. Watson caught a career-high seven passes for 73 yards at App State. For the season, Watson has 139 attempts for 803 yards and five touchdowns. Watson also has 31 receptions for 226 yards and a touchdown.
• Offensive lineman Nick Saldiverihas accepted an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Saldiveri becomes the third Monarch and first offensive lineman to participate in the Senior Bowl. The Senior Bowl is played on Feb. 4, 2023 at South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile. The game is broadcast on the NFL Network.

South Alabama Notes

• Carter Bradley tossed a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to help South Alabama rally back and pick up a 27-20 Sun Belt Conference road victory at Southern Miss on Saturday. The Jags (9-2, 6-1 SBC) trailed 17-14 heading into the final period of play, but rallied back and then held off Southern Miss (5-6, 3-4 SBC) last as Devin Voisin recovered an on-side kick with 10 seconds to go to seal the win.
• With the win South Alabama remains tied in the SBC West Division standings with one game remaining in the regular season. The six conference victories are also a new high mark for the program, eclipsing the 2014 squad which went 5-3 in league play
• Bradley threw for 238 yards as he connected on 15 of his 22 pass attempts to go along with his three touchdown passes. Vosin was the leading receiver for South as he hauled in six receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown.
• Freshman running back Braylon McReynolds had a career night as he posted 189 all-purpose yards, which included his first career 100-yard game (100), three receptions for 66 yards and 23 kick off return yards.