KENT, OH – On a day when Marshall’s offense struggled to find its rhythm the Herd relied on its defense and special teams to give it a chance to win at the end of the day and both units responded.
“Our special teams played well,” praised coach Doc Holliday. “Our kicker made every extra point. The guy that kicks off had a bunch of non-returnables again and our punter kept flipping the field.”
The biggest special teams play of the day came in third quarter when Deandre Reaves slipped through a seam and dashed 93 yards for his second career kickoff return for a touchdown. While that play electrified the Marshall fans that made the trip to Dix Stadium, the near perfect execution of facets of the game that don’t make headlines played a major role in the game.
In a game where every point mattered, Nick Smith was 4-for-4 on extra points while Amoreto Curraj blasted three kickoffs into the endzone that were downed for touchbacks.
The player of the game, could very well have been punter Tyler Williams who punted a career-high 12 times. Seven of those punts landed inside the Golden Flashes 20-yard line, giving Kent State a long field to work with all game long. Kent State’s average starting field position was its own 23-yard line.
That helped a Thundering Herd defense that was once again called upon to keep the game close and give the offense a chance. Marshall also forced 14 punts and a fumble to conclude Kent State drives.
“Some of the stuff we thought we knew, but then we didn’t,” admitted defensive lineman Gary Thompson. “But we made adjustments during the game.”
Kent piled up 436 yards of total offense but similar to the Herd’s offense, when Marshall needed a stop the defense responded. In the second half, Marshall forced Kent State to punt four times, forced a fumbled and stopped the Golden Flashes on 4th-and-1 on its own 43-yard line. Then in overtime, Marshall responded after the offense got the lead on the first possession of the second overtime.