It was a back and forth, up and down affair at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Saturday night that left the Hilltoppers still in search for their first conference win after what was, well, a finish that exemplified the saying 'what the hell.'
9:42, 1st Quarter: Western Kentucky 7, Old Dominion 0 - Davis Shanley 9-yard touchdown (shovel) pass to Mik'Quan Deane.
Drive went 9 plays, 80-yards in 3:20
5:59, 1Q: Old Dominion 7, Western Kentucky 7 - Kesean Strong with a 1-yard touchdown run to even things up. Monarchs responded quickly.
Drive went 8 plays, 72 yards in 3:38
0:00, 1Q: Old Dominion 14, Western Kentucky 7 - Will Knight scores on a 1-yard touchdown run. Monarchs with 176 total yards, including 74 rushing on 13 carries.
Drive went 9 plays, 81 yards in 3:15
9:57, 2nd Quarter: Western Kentucky 14, Old Dominion 14 - Gino Appleberry scores on a 1-yard touchdown run. He's having a good night so far with 54 yards on nine carries. Shanley connected with Lucky Jackson for a key 16-yard gain on 3rd and eight, a big conversion for the Toppers.
Drive went 11 plays for 75 yards in 5:03
8:17, 2nd Q: Old Dominion 17, Western Kentucky 14 - Nick Rice connects on a 45-yard field goal to put the Monarchs back on top.
Drive went 5 plays for 26 yards in 1:33
4:49, 2nd Q: Western Kentucky 17, Old Dominion 17: Alex Rinella connects on a 41-yard field goal to tie things up.
Drive went 8 plays for 50 yards in 3:20.
0:35, 2nd Q: Western Kentucky 24, Old Dominion 17 - Davis Shanley connects with Kyle Fourtenbary for a 15-yard touchdown. Hilltoppers cash in on a fumble recovery by Eli Brown.
Drive went 9 plays for 71 yards in 2:47.
Halftime: Western Kentucky 24, Old Dominion 17 - Hilltoppers have 281 total yards of offense compared to Old Dominion with 241. Davis Shanley with a big first half, going 17-20 for 173 yards and two touchdowns.
Gino Appleberry is leading the way on the ground with 58 yards on 10 carries, his 24 yard run in the first half was the longest by a WKU running back this season.
7:08, 3rd Quarter: Western Kentucky 24, Old Dominion 19 - Hilltoppers called for holding in their own endzone. The call was on Jordan Merideth.
3:45, 3rd Q: Western Kentucky 27, Old Dominion 19 - Alex Rinella connects from 33-yards out to extend the Tops lead to eight. While WKU didn't score a touchdown, they still took advantage of good field position after OD
6 play, 40-yard drive that lasted 2:04
5:40, 4th Quarter: Western Kentucky 27, Old Dominion 27 - Kesean Strong scored on a 2-yard run and the two-point conversion is good. Blake Larussa 44-yard completion to Isaiah Harper was the big play that set the Monarchs up at the WKU 2-yard line.
8 play, 80 yard drive in 2:59
1:37, 4th Q: Western Kentucky 34, Old Dominion 27 - Gino Appleberry scores on a two-yard touchdown run to put WKU back on top. Big 22-yard pass completion to Jacquez Sloan on that drive, otherwise, all runs from Joshua Samuel, Appleberry, and Shanley.
10 play, 80 yard drive in 3:55
:09, 4th Q: Old Dominion 34, Western Kentucky 34 - Blake Larussa to Travis Fulgram for a 9-yard score to tie the game. Monarchs respond quickly, completed back to back 31-yard completions on that drive.
8 play, 79 yard drive in 1:23
:00, 4th Q: Old Dominion 37, Western Kentucky 34 - Nick Rice nails a 26-yard field goal to win it for the Monarchs in an absolutely crazy finish.
WKU's Alex Rinella's 52-yard field goal attempt to win the game falls way short, ODU's Isaiah Haper fields the short kick and returns it 83 yards with no time remaining on the clock, however, a Mason Brooks personal foul penalty gives ODU an un-timed down and a chip shot field goal to win the game.
Un-freakin-believable.
PLAYER NOTES:
DAVIS SHANLEY
• Completed24(career-high) of 31 passes for 257 yards (career-high) with 2 touchdowns(career-high) and 0 interceptions in his 2nd career start.
GINO APPLEBERRY, JR.
• Had career-highs of 18 rushes for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. His 24-yard carry in the 2nd quarter was the 1st rush of 20+ yards by a running back in the Mike Sanford Era.
JOSHUA SAMUEL
• Rushed 15 times for a team-high 87 yards, including a long of 14 yards.
MIK’QUAN DEANE
•Had career-highs of6 receptions for 74 yards, while adding a 9-yard touchdown reception in the 1st quarter, his team-high 4th of the season.
KYLE FOURTENBARY
•Had career-highs of 6 receptions for 54 yards, while adding a 15-yard touchdown reception in the 2nd quarter, his 2nd of the season.
JUWUAN JONES
• Led the team with a career-high 2.5 sacks after coming into the game with 0.5 sacks. He forced the 1st fumble in his career on a sack in the 4th quarter.
JAYLON GEORGE
• Tied a career-high with 6 tackles (4 solo) and added 0.5 tackles for loss.
DRELL GREENE
• Tied a career-high with 2 pass breakups, both to stop 4th down tries in the 3rd quarter, on his 22nd birthday.
