MOSCOW - Idaho's year-long journey playing as an independent continues to be a season most will want to forgot.

Celebrating the 17 seniors on the roster playing their last game in the Kibbie Dome, the game turned out to be a milestone for the Vandals' opponent. Old Dominion, which resurrected its football program just five years ago, saw its star quarterback torch the Vandals (1-9) in a 59-38 victory that gave the Monarchs its first win over an FBS opponent.

Taylor Heinicke, last year's Walter Payton Award winner for best player at the FCS level, connected with 10 different receivers to finish 40 of 56 passing for 533 yards and an interception. The junior even booted two punts for a 48.5-yard average.

"We just had to throw the ball a lot," said Heinicke, who threw for the second most yards in his career. "They were stuffing the run a little bit ... and we felt like we could move the ball great through the air, so we stuck with the pass."

ODU (7-3) finished with 621 yards of total offense against an Idaho defense that entered the game allowing more than 520 yards and 44 points per game. It was the fifth time this season the Monarchs have scored more than 50 points in a game.

Marquel Thomas caught seven passes for 137 yards and two TDs for ODU, while Antonio Vaughn added three receptions for 103 yards and a score.

"We've got to be a little more disciplined," said Idaho defensive end Maxx Forde, whose team led 14-0 early in the first quarter. "They made plays doing what they do, and we weren't making plays we made early on in the game."

ODU took the lead for good on its first possession of the third quarter after a back-and-forth first half with a 1-yard run by Heinicke. The Monarchs extended the lead to 45-31 on 1-yard run by Colby Goodwin.

Idaho got to within a touchdown at 45-38 on a 12-yard touchdown run by Richard Montgomery with 1:20 left in the third quarter. But Heinicke found a wide-open Marquel Thomas for a 39-yard score on a fourth-and-3 play to give the Monarchs a 52-38 lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter.

Goodwin added a 3-yard scoring run late in the game.

Neither team could stop the other in the first half. The two teams combined to score 62 points and produce more than 700 yards on 86 plays.

ODU, which reached the FCS playoffs the last two seasons, is in the first year of transitioning to the FBS level. The Monarchs join Conference USA next July but will not be eligible to play in a bowl game until the 2015 season.

ODU is playing a mixed schedule this season that features five FBS games. The Monarchs have lost to East Carolina, Maryland and Pittsburgh and will play North Carolina later this month.

"Making history," ODU head coach Billy Wilder said about the program's first win over an FBS team. "It's hard for me to put into words or quantify. Another, just giant, giant, giant step for this program."

Idaho, meanwhile, has lost five in row since beating Temple 26-24 on Sept. 28. The Vandals have a bye next week before traveling across the country to face national championship contender Florida State on Nov. 23.

Idaho finished with 505 yards of total offense but had several dropped passes throughout the game.

"For sure, it could be the storyline today," Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. "There's a whole bunch of yards out there if we don't have some of those drops. That's unfortunate."

Taylor Davis, Idaho's third string quarterback, was 15 of 29 passing for 308 yards and two touchdowns. Josh McCain also took some snaps and rushed for 31 yards, but he was 1 of 5 passing for 20 yards. Chad Chalich, the redshirt freshman from Coeur d'Alene, missed his third straight game with a shoulder injury.

Dezmon Epps caught nine passes for 175 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown that tied the game 31-31 just before halftime. Another Coeur d'Alene High grad, Deon Watson, had two catches for 22 yards.

Running back James Baker rushed for 57 yards and had a 73-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the game.