SAN ANTONIO — UTSA produced 424 yards of offense, but it was not enough as Old Dominion churned out 548 en route to a 36-31 victory in Conference USA action on Saturday night at the Alamodome.
David Washington completed 29-of-48 passes for an opponent-record 378 yards and two touchdowns to spearhead the Monarchs’ (4-5, 2-3 C-USA) offensive attack. His two favorite targets —Jonathan Duhart and Zach Pascal — hauled in an opponent-record 160 and 146 yards, respectively.
The Roadrunners (1-8, 1-4 C-USA) stormed out to a 14-3 lead after one quarter in front of the Homecoming crowd.
Dalton Sturm sparked a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive with a 13-yard dart to Jarvis Taylor over the middle, later utilizing his legs to put the offense in scoring position with a 22-yard scamper to the ODU 9. Tyrell Clay punched the ball in from 1-yard line, giving UTSA the early lead, 7-0.
On the ensuing possession, Washington heaved a 42-yard pass to Pascal to the UTSA 22-yardline to help set up a Chris Kirtly 38-yard field goal that put the visitors on the board.
The Roadrunners took advantage of their field position following a failed ODU onside kick attempt. Sturm marched the Roadrunners downfield completing a 15-yard pass to Kerry Thomas Jr. The drive was cultivated with a 6-yard strike to Aaron Grubb for the 14-3 lead.
ODU answered with a pair of Kirtley field goals to cut the deficit to 14-9 with 5:52 left in the first half.
Two minutes later, the Monarchs took their first lead of the evening on an 8-yard touchdown reception by Duhart, as ODU scored 13 unanswered points to take a 16-14 lead into the locker room.
Ray Lawry, who rushed for 103 yards on 23 carries, helped extend the ODU lead to 23-14 with a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but UTSA responded.
Following a Satchel Ziffer 11-yard punt, Tyrell Clay completed a 31-yard halfback pass to JaBryce Taylor down to the ODU 4-yard line and then scored on the next play to help pull the home side within 23-21 with 18 seconds left in the third stanza.
The Monarchs pushed the advantage back out to nine on a 4-yard touchdown scamper by Lawry on the first drive fo the final frame.
UTSA again cut into the ODU lead when Sturm hit Grubb on a 25-yard TD pass and the Roadrunners moved in front, 31-30, on a 39-yard field goal by Daniel Portillo with 7:21 left.
Old Dominion quickly answered with a 40-yard catch and run along the right sideline to the end zone by Duhart to recapture the lead, 36-31.
UTSA had two final chances to go ahead, but came up short on fourth downs twice as the Monarchs held on for the five-point victory.
Sturm finished with 252 yards and a pair of scores through the air on 25-of-37 passing. Taylor caught seven for 85 yards, while Grubb and Thomas Jr. had six receptions apiece.
Duke Wheeler led the defense with 13 tackles, his fourth straight game with double-digit tackles, while Drew Douglas added 11 stops.
UTSA will play its final road game of the season next Saturday, Nov. 14, at Charlotte (2-7, 0-6 C-USA).