HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—Throughout the season it’s taken Marshall a little time to get the offense in high gear. For example, against Middle Tennessee State, Marshall went three-and-out on its opening drive.
So, leading up to the Southern Miss game, Marshall spent the week of practice emphasizing getting off to a fast start and not letting the Golden Eagles hang around in the game. Although I’m not certain Doc Holliday envisioned the kind of first quarter Marshall put together. Rakeem Cato threw five touchdowns and the defense forced a fumble on the opening drive of the game.
“I felt going into this ball game it was important we got out to a fast start,” said Holliday after the 61-13 win over Southern Miss. “Anytime you play a team like that you have to start fast. That was one of our goals all week; come out and get going fast. We did it. I was happy that not only did we do it in the first half but we duplicated it in the second half.”
The Herd came out of the lockerroom in the third quarter and immediately marched down the field and extended its lead to 42-10 thanks to a an 18-yard touchdown run by Essray Taliaferro.
“The big goal for this game was to start fast,” said Taliaferro. “We normally start slow and play down to our competition.”
Not only did the offense come of the gate running. So did the defense. It forced a fumble on the opening drive and pounded Southern Miss freshman quarterback Nick Mullins all day, never letting the young quarterback get comfortable in the pocket.
“We had something to prove,” said defensive lineman Brandon Sparrow. “The win is tremendous. Last week we had a sour stomach and now we’re back to feeling pretty good.”