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ODU football coach Bobby Wilder
NORFOLK, Va. (ODUSports.com) - Florida Atlantic University rolled over Old Dominion University, 41-3, Saturday night in a Conference USA football game at S.B. Ballard Stadium, spoiling homecoming for the Monarchs and sending them to their school record seventh defeat in a row.
With four games to go, ODU (1-7 overall, C-USA) is assured of its third losing season in a row. FAU (5-3, 3-1) is tied for first in the C-USA East Division.
Wide receiver Eric Kumah, playing for the first time since ODU lost at Virginia on Sept. 21, was a bright spot for ODU. He caught a career-high 10 passes for a career-high 99 yards.
ODU football
He also announced that he will redshirt this season and return next season. He has played in the maximum four games in which a player can play and still redshirt.
FAU outgained the Monarchs, 430-204 in offensive yards.
ODU kept it close for a while, but the game got away from the Monarchs in part because of their own mistakes and in part because of FAU's potent offense.
ODU’s Darrell Brown returned a punt 82 yards for an apparent touchdown early in the first half, but it was negated by a block in the back that was apparently away from the play. Instead, ODU had a first down at its eight, lost a yard on three plays and then got off a poor punt.
FAU needed just six plays to drive 36 yards for its first touchdown, which came on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Chris Robinson to John Raine.
ODU football
The decision to redshirt Kumah is good news for next season, when the Monarchs return 62 of the 70 players who played against FAU.
Kumah came off of knee surgery in the summer, but Wilder says he never fully recovered. “I never felt like he was running right, that he ever got healthy,” Wilder said.
Kumah said Wilder told him “that’s what’s best for me and I always listen to my coaches. “I’ll take this offseason, and this’ll be my first offseason to do everything to get healthy, so I feel like this is a good move,” Kumah said.
