Second half surge leads Herd over Georgia Southern

By GRANT TRAYLOR

Marshall Associate A.D. of Strategic Communications

HUNTINGTON – Marshall Football got the complete performance it has been looking for and 19,175 fans left Joan C. Edwards Stadium happy as the Thundering Herd earned a 38-33 win over Georgia Southern in the “We Are … Playing for the ‘75’” game on Saturday night. In a game that featured five lead changes, Marshall got big plays in all three phases of the game to produce a win that snapped a skid and got the Herd within one win of bowl eligibility. “I’m really proud of their competitive spirit and I’m really proud of their effort,” Marshall Football coach Charles Huff said. “Hopefully, the ‘75’ in Heaven are smiling today and I hope that tailgate for the ‘75’ Herd members was pleased with how we played.” Marshall running back Rasheen Ali rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns and wide receiver DeMarcus Harris finished with four catches for 147 yards, including 128 yards after contact, to help ease the pressure on redshirt freshman Cole Pennington, who was making his first career start. Pennington settled into the game and got stronger as things continued, ending the game 15 of 20 for 201 yards while distributing the ball to nine different receivers in the win. “This one feels great,” Pennington said. “I’m just really proud of this team. I’m proud of how we came out today and played to the final whistle. They played their hearts out. We kept clawing and scratching the whole game.” The game’s most important sequence belonged to special teams and the defense, however. Marshall led 31-26 late, but Georgia Southern’s defense got a stop that forced the Herd to punt. Herd punter John McConnell came up big, dropping a punt at the Georgia Southern 2, forcing the Eagles to drive 98 yards for a go-ahead score. The situation allowed Marshall’s defensive front to pressure Georgia Southern quarterback Davis Brin and the Herd was able to force a turnover on downs that gave the team possession inside the 10-yard line. On the next play, Ali scored his third touchdown – a 9-yard run – that produced a two-score lead and all, but put the game away. Georgia Southern led 26-24 going into the fourth quarter, but Ali changed that with 10:41 left when he took a direct snap and followed a huge block from tight end Luke Soto for a 55-yard touchdown run that gave the Herd the lead for good. “I’m proud of our resolve because we came out today and fought,” Huff said. In addition to McConnell’s big special teams play to help end the game, the Herd got a huge special teams play to set the tone at the start of the contest. Wide receiver Jayden Harrison returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a score that gave the Herd a 7-0 lead just 15 seconds into the contest. Ali said that kickoff return was the spark that the team needed. “We’re a team that feeds off energy, so once that energy was set, the energy was through the roof,” Ali said. “That was a great way to start the game.” Harris caught a pair of slant passes from Pennington and broke tackles to turn them into a pair of 60+-yard gains that led to 10 points for the Herd. In addition to Ali’s three touchdowns on the ground, wide receiver Caleb McMillan also added a 21-yard scoring run on a reverse that pushed the Herd to the lead in the second quarter. Marshall was led in tackles by J.J. Roberts’ 11 while linebacker Eli Neal had nine tackles and two tackles for loss. Micah Abraham and D’yoni Hill each had three pass breakups while Owen Porter had 1.5 tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries. Neal summed up the meaning of the day as he spoke of honoring those lost in his final ‘75’ game while also seeing the team snap its skid. “To be able to win and give these fans and the people in this community that cheer so hard – they go hard for us and for some of these people, that tragedy in 1970 still lingers on today, so just to go be able to win and play hard for them was amazing,” Neal said. Marshall now turns the page and prepares for its final regular season road contest of the 2023 season next weekend when the team travels to Mobile, Alabama for a 5 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. CT contest at South Alabama on Saturday.

Ga Southern 3 17 6 7 — 33

Marshall 10 7 7 14 — 38

First Quarter MRSH–J.Harrison 98 kickoff return (Verhoff kick), 14:45. GASO–FG Lantz 35, 6:15. MRSH–FG Verhoff 22, 2:49. Second Quarter GASO–Barden 9 pass from Brin (Lantz kick), 11:15. MRSH–McMillan 21 run (Verhoff kick), 5:32. GASO–Cobb 47 pass from Brin (Lantz kick), 3:07. GASO–FG Lantz 38, :12. Third Quarter GASO–FG Lantz 40, 6:51. MRSH–Ali 2 run (Verhoff kick), 5:06. GASO–FG Lantz 21, 1:56. Fourth Quarter MRSH–Ali 55 run (Verhoff kick), 10:51. MRSH–Ali 9 run (Verhoff kick), 2:41. GASO–Burgess 2 pass from Brin (Lantz kick), :50. A_19,175. ————— GASO MRSH

First downs 18 14

Total Net Yards 384 370

Rushes-yards 24-77 33-169

Passing 307 201

Punt Returns 4-68 0-0

Kickoff Returns 4-84 2-109

Interceptions Ret. 1-(-2) 0-0

Comp-Att-Int 29-56-0 15-21-1

Sacked-Yards Lost 2-9 2-15

Punts 6-38.5 6-40.5

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-1

Penalties-Yards 6-40 9-74

Time of Possession 32:33 27:27

————— INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING–Georgia Southern, White 17-67, Brin 6-6, Cobb 1-4. Marshall, Ali 24-165, McMillan 1-21, E.Payne 2-1, (Team) 3-(minus 6), Pennington 3-(minus 12). PASSING–Georgia Southern, Brin 29-54-0-307, (Team) 0-1-0-0, Hood 0-1-0-0. Marshall, Pennington 15-20-1-201, Keaton 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING–Georgia Southern, Burgess 8-63, Hood 7-46, Barden 6-96, Cobb 3-80, White 2-18, Dirrim 2-2, Upshaw 1-2. Marshall, Harris 4-147, Ali 3-9, Coombs 2-14, Keaton 1-15, B.Robinson 1-9, C.Montgomery 1-4, Mottillo 1-3, J.Harrison 1-1, McMillan 1-(minus 1). MISSED FIELD GOALS–Georgia Southern, Lantz 38.