ODU FINISHES 4-8 WITH LOSS AT RICE
Defeat against struggling Owls relegates Monarchs to their worst record in this era
HOUSTON — In front of a smattering of fans in a 47,000-seat stadium, Old Dominion finished its season Saturday with a loss to a team that had dropped 11 straight games, and was rated by one statistical metric as the worst FBS team in the country.
It was an apt ending to dissatisfying season for the Monarchs, who finished a programworst 4-8 with a 27-13 loss to Rice.
As it was all year, ODU’s inability to run and stop the run was its undoing. Rice (2-11, 1-7 Conference USA) rushed for 275 yards. All but 51 came from tailback Juma Otoviano, who surpassed his season total of 140 yards on touchdown runs of 80 and 62 yards in the second half.
ODU (4-8, 2-6) committed three turnovers and settled for two first-half field goals, continuing a season-long trend in both categories.
“It was our mistakes,” ODU coach Bobby Wilder said. “Rice took advantage of our mistakes.”
The Monarchs were left to ponder a season characterized by dizzying highs — a win over Virginia Tech, a wild finish in a win at Western Kentucky, and an epic comeback over North Texas — that were overshadowed by puzzling lows.
With 17 starters and 22 seniors returning, the Monarchs fully expected to improve on last year’s 5-7 finish. Instead, they lost eight games for the first time in the program’s 10 seasons.