COLUMBIA, SC (WTKR)- Halfway through the fourth quarter, it looked as though Old Dominion just might do it.
The Monarchs held a 19-16 lead on South Carolina on the road and forced a punt to get the ball back, but that's when the wheels fell off for the underdogs.
Grant Wilson fumbled the ball deep in his own territory and the turnover led to a go-ahead Gamecock touchdown with 6:11 to play as South Carolina nipped the Monarchs, 23-19, in their season opener Saturday night.
Wilson, who was doing his best to elude the USC defense for much of the night, lost a fumble on the second play of the game at the Old Dominion three yard line and Raheim Sanders scored on a short touchdown run to start the scoring and put the silver and blue in an early 7-0 hole.
The second drive for ODU went much better than the first. Wilson completed a long pass to Isiah Paige, who used some fancy footwork to get away from his defender and score on a 73-yard touchdown conversion to tie the game at 7-7.
Old Dominion's offense was quiet for the remainder of the half, but the Monarch defense answered the call, keeping the Gamecocks out of the endzone for most of the night. Two Alex Herrera field goals gave the favorites a 13-7 lead heading into halftime and the kicker would add another one in the third quarter to give South Carolina a nine point advantage.
That's when Old Dominion's offense got a spark. Ricky Rahne opted to go for it on a fourth and seven from the USC 36 yard line and Wilson kept the ball for a 36-yard touchdown scramble. The point-after attempt was blocked, but the Monarchs had pulled to within three. Ethan Sanchez would boot home a 40 yard field goal in the third quarter as well, sending the game to the final stanza with the teams knotted at 16-16.
Sanchez would give ODU its first lead of the game with 9:54 remaining, splitting the uprights on a 33-yard field goal try to push the Monarchs in front, 19-16.
However, things then took a turn for the worse. After the ODU defense forced a punt, the offense took over at its own 10 yard line with 7:52 to play. A false start penalty pushed the silver and blue back even more towards the goal line and then Wilson had the ball knocked loose. South Carolina recovered the fumble and LaNorris Sellers scored the eventual game-winner on a three yard touchdown rush.
Old Dominion would have another shot to move down the field, but a Wilson passed bounced off the hands of his intended receiver and was picked off.
The Monarchs committed four turnovers on the day, two inside their own 10 yard line leading to 14 USC points. Wilson was also sacked five times.
Despite the loss, Old Dominion more than kept itself in a game it entered as a 21 point underdog. The sellout crowd of 78,496 was the largest ever for a Monarch football team.
Wilson ended the night completing 22 of his 38 pass attempts for one touchdown and two interceptions. He added 16 rushing yards and the score on the ground as well. Aaron Young was the Monarchs' leading rusher with 56 yards on 16 carries and Paige paced the receiving corps with 115 yards on eight carries and the touchdown.
Mario Thompson was the headliner on defense, coming up with 2.5 sacks, good enough for the second-most in program history in a single game. Patrick Smith-Young led the team with nine tackles and Jason Henderson, who was limited as he was coming back from injury, tallied three total tackles.
Old Dominion is back in action next Saturday when the Monarchs host East Carolina in the Monarchs' home opener. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 PM.
