The Monarchs (3-4, 2-1 Sun Belt) narrowed what had been a 21-10 lead to five, 28-23, on Blake Watson’s 2-yard touchdown run with 5:19 left, but the D wasn’t able to get the ball back until the final minute.
ODU outgained Georgia Southern (5-3, 3-2 Sun Belt), 461-415, but the Eagles made the tough plays when they were needed.
“We just didn’t have enough energy,” ODU coach Ricky Rahne said. “We were doing our assignments, but we just didn’t do it with passion and that’s on me. I talked about discipline throughout the week, self-discipline, and I think that metastasized itself into less passion, which obviously was not the message I was going for.”
Georgia Southern quarterback Kyle Vantrease completed 22 of 27 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown, and the Eagles got 138 yards and a touchdown from Jalen White on the grounr.
ODU QB Hayden Wolff completed 23 of 40 passes for 328 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Ali Jennings III hauled in nine passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Watson rushed 16 times for 108 yards and a touchdown.
ODU linebacker Jason Henderson tied his own school record of 21 tackles and is averaging nearly 16 per game.
The loss knocked ODU out of first place in the Sun Belt.
“The bottom line is we’ve got to play with more energy coming into the game,” Wolff said. “It’s tough going into the red zone that many times and not coming away with points. We usually come out fired up, juiced up, and I feel like we didn’t do that today. And you know, it was all three phases, including the sidelines.”
ODU next plays at Georgia State on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 3 p.m. The Monarchs are home again on Saturday, Nov. 5, when they take on Marshall at a time yet to be announced.
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Chris Graham
