Considering how young Old Dominion's football program is, you'd think what David Washington did Saturday night would be unprecedented. Surely no one had thrown for 400-plus yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions in a game before.

But, of course, the Monarchs once had a gunslinger named Taylor Heinicke. He pulled off the 400-5-0 hat trick three times. Against New Hampshire in 2012, Heinicke threw for a school-record 730 yards and no picks on 79 attempts.

That does nothing to diminish Washington's performance in Saturday night's 42-24 win at Florida Atlantic. As the Monarchs rallied from a 21-13 halftime deficit, Washington completed 26-of-36 passes for 416 yards — with five touchdowns and no interceptions.

That's a one-game passer rating of 215.12. The formula involves way too much math, but it rewards completion percentage, yards per attempt and touchdowns while subtracting points for interceptions.

ODU coach Bobby Wilder said almost all of Washington's yards came in the run-pass option package, which requires the quarterback to make split-second decisions. In this case, a quarterback who still is fairly new to the position.

Old Dominion's seasons in pictures, from preseason to its first bowl game in program history.

"For his 15th career start at quarterback, he's made tremendous decisions," Wilder said at his weekly news conference Monday. "He was on with his throws. He was putting the ball in really good spots.

"I sound like a broken record, but he just values the football, which forces the other team to have to create their own momentum or field position. He's playing at a very, very high level now."

Washington was named Conference USA's Offensive Player of the Week, but his performance wasn't a complete anomaly. For the season, Washington is hitting on 60 percent of his throws for 2,507 yards. He has 26 touchdowns and only three interceptions in 303 attempts.

Of the top 50 nationally in passing yards, Washington is one of two quarterbacks with three interceptions or fewer. And the way Wilder looks at it, only one of those picks was on Washington.

"The one at UTEP on fourth down when he threw behind Melvin (Vaughn)," he said. "The other two were one-on-ones when he put the ball up. The Charlotte kid took it away from (Jonathan) Duhart, ripped it away.

"Then against App State, he threw the fade to Melvin to the outside. Melvin went inside, and the DB caught it. Pretty remarkable for a guy's who's only played 15 games at quarterback."

In his brief time as QB1 during the 2015 season, Washington showed he could be a difference maker. But he tore his ACL in the next-to-last game and underwent offseason surgery. Then, in preseason practice, he sprained the same knee.

Going into the season, Washington's ability to stay healthy was an obvious question mark. So much so that Wilder devised what he called his "relief pitcher" plan. He said backups Shuler Bentley and Blake LaRussa would see meaningful minutes to help Washington and his knee not get overworked.

That pretty much lasted one game. And after Washington spent some time in Wilder's doghouse for taking unnecessary hits against Hampton University, he's given his coaches no reason for concern.

"It really only took him the Hampton game to understand 'I've got to protect myself,' " Wilder said. "He's been great with it since.

"It's not even a discussion point. It's just something he knows — 'When I run the ball, I go hash, number, sideline. And when I can't get to the sideline, I go down.' He fully understands his value to the team."

NOTES: Wilder said Vaughn, ODU's starting tight end who missed the FAU game with a sprained ankle, is expected to play in Saturday's regular-season finale against Florida International. … Defensive tackle Miles Fox, who didn't play at FAU because of a turf toe, is expected back Saturday. … Florida International (4-7, 4-3 C-USA) has gone through an unusual decision that's included a coaching change and its star player being doused with boiling water by an irate girlfriend. That player, tight end Jonnu Smith, missed one game but returned last week against Marshall. … For the last seven games, FIU has been led by interim head coach Ron Cooper, who was promoted when Ron Turner was fired after an 0-4 start. The Panthers are 4-3 with Cooper.

Johnson can be reached by phone at 757-247-4649.

Saturday's game

WHO: Florida International (4-7, 4-3 C-USA) at Old Dominion (8-3, 6-1)

WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

WHERE: Ballard Stadium, Norfolk.

ONLINE/RADIO: ESPN3/94.1 FM.