HUNTINGTON, W.Va — Old Dominion's football team bolted to a 21-3 second-quarter lead over Marshall and had a chance to beat its long-time conference nemesis in the game's final minutes.
After exploding for 28 unanswered points over a 15-minute stretch over the second and third quarters, Marshall was forced to hold off a late Monarch rally to defeat ODU, 41-35, Saturday in a Sun Belt Conference game at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
ODU's Kadarius Calloway, a junior college transfer from Philadelphia, Mississippi, had a breakout game for the Monarchs. The former Alabama signee rushed 11 times for 236 yards, the second-most yards in school history.
He also scored three touchdowns that kept ODU in the game until the final minutes.
In spite of a game rally, the Monarchs were undone by their own mistakes. ODU committed turnovers and penalties in key situations and failed to convert on fourth down twice in the game's final minutes.
ODU head coach Ricky Rahne said "our guys kept fighting, but turning the ball over the way we did hurt us.
"We have a bunch of kids who play hard, who love to play football. What we have to do is not make the plays that make it hard for us to win games.
"We had too many of those moments today. And that's my job to fix it."
Marshall (4-0, 1-0 Sun Belt), which defeated East Carolina and Virginia Tech in its last two outings, was ODU's primary rival in Conference USA, and the rivalry continued when both schools joined the Sun Belt last season.
ODU (2-3, 1-1) has lost eight of nine against the Herd, although the Monarchs could have won the last three games. Last year the Monarchs lost, 12-0, and in overtime in 2021.
This game was a statistical draw, with Marshall compiling 449 offensive yards and ODU 434.
Jack Shields made his first start at quarterback for the Monarchs and with wide receivers Javon Harvey and Isiah Paige out with injuries, the Monarch passing game never got untracked. Shields completed 11-of-23 passes for 95 yards and had three passes intercepted.
Marshall led, 24-21, in the third quarter when a key exchange of three turnovers in a minute and 23 seconds led to seven Herd points, and a ton of momentum.
ODU was deep in its own territory when a Shields pass was intercepted by Elijah Alston and returned to the Monarch 24.
Three plays later, Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher tossed to the ball in the direction of running back Rasheen Ali, who thought it was an incomplete pass. ODU's Wayne Matthews III knew differently, scooped up the fumble and sprinted 55 yards to the Marshall 14.
However, on third down from the 13, Shields was intercepted by Marshall's Elijah Alston, who returned it 85 yards for a touchdown that gave the Herd a 31-21 lead that could have left the Monarchs demoralized.
It did not. While Marshall's offense continued to score, the Monarchs clawed their way back into the game.
"We didn't get down," Calloway said. "We just had to bring the momentum back. And we did."
ODU stayed withing striking distance largely because of Calloway. He rushed 69 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter to trim the lead to three, 31-28.
Marshall responded with a 68-yard drive in which Fancher completed six passes on six plays in a row. Ali capped the drive with another 1-yard touchdown run with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
Place kicker Rece Verhoff then built the lead to 41-28 with 8:21 left.
But then Calloway exploded again, rushing 75 yards for a touchdown just 12 seconds later that trimmed the margin to six, 41-35.
ODU had two more chances to take the lead, but a Shields pass was intercepted by J.J. Roberts with 3:53 left and a fourth down pass with 1:18 left fell short.
ODU took the early 21-3 lead thanks to two long touchdown runs and a fumble recovery by safety Terry Jones that led to another TD.
Shields raced 66 yards for a touchdown on the game's third play. It was a designed quarterback keeper that caught the Marshall defense off guard. ODU sent all its receivers wide and with the Herd in man coverage, Shields sprinted for the TD untouched.
It was the longest touchdown run by a quarterback in school history.
Verhoff trimmed the lead to 7-3 with a 42-yard field goal with 5:26 left in the first quarter, but then ODU scored twice to build its lead to 21-3.
After Jones' fumble recovery deep in Marshall territory, Shields passed 19 yards to Jordan Bly for the Charlotte, North Carolina native's first college touchdown early in the second quarter.
Calloway then burst for a 70-yard touchdown run, the first TD scored by a running back this season.
Marshall scored on its next possession, a 57-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD pass from Fancher to Cade Conley that was aided by a 47-yard kickoff return by Jaden Harrison and a pass interference penalty on ODU.
On its next possession, Marshall caught the Monarchs in a blitz on third and seven and scored on a screen pass from Fancher to Caleb Coombs that went 23 yards for the TD.
The Herd flexed their muscle on the first drive of the second half, going 94 yards on nine plays in 4:42 to take the lead, 24-21. Ali gave the Herd the lead with a one-yard touchdown run.
That set up a frenetic finish, in which the Monarchs fought gamely, but could not come all the way back.
ODU next plays at Southern Miss, another former Conference USA rival now in the Sun Belt, next Saturday, Oct. 7, and then has an open date the following weekend.
