CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Coming into Marshall’s ninth game of the season against Charlotte, Doc Holliday wanted to see more production from his outside receivers. A week ago, they struggled to get in sync with quarterback Chase Litton. That was far from the case Saturday in Marshall’s 34-10 win over Charlotte as Litton completed 33 passes to nine different receivers.
However, almost half of those completions went to one man; Davonte Allen.
His 232 yards receiving ranks sixth all-time at Marshall as the senior hauled in 12 catches, including a 66-yard touchdown pass.
“He was tremendous and made some great plays,” Holliday said of Allen.
Allan came into the game with 246 yards receiving for the season. He almost doubled that Saturday night.
“We were just having fun out there. It was just like playing in the backyard, just pitch and catch,” Allen said with a smile.
Quarterback Chase Litton knew early on it could be a big day for Allen and the Herd’s passing attack. Marshall came out of the gates firing downfield and Litton was confident after one pass that he and the receivers were clicking.
“I just knew after that first play when he went and got it he was feeling it. He attacked the corner and he had a great game,” assessed Litton.
And on the 66-yard touchdown toss to Allen, upon seeing the defensive alignment, Litton knew he had a big play on his hands.
“They gave us cover 2 and I knew that corner was going to sit and Davonte just outran everyone else,” Litton explained.
Litton also credited Allen with making adjustments in the middle of patterns to come back for passes that were not necessarily on target.
“He had a couple where I just threw it and he just made a play.”