HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall called on its defense, needing a stop on 4th and 3 at its own 10-yard line and the Herd defense responded, forcing an incomplete pass on the visiting sidelines and preserving a 27-21 win over FAU.
Calling Saturday’s game against FAU a “must win” game is not overstating the importance of game to the rest of the Thundering Herd’s season. After scuffling to a 1-4 start, the Thundering Herd players understood they did not have any margin for error.
“I think everybody knew it. We always play to win but everybody knew,” said linebacker Chase Hancock.
Everybody knew if Marshall wanted to keep any hope alive of turning the season around it had to start with a win over FAU and the Thundering Herd had to battle down to the final gun.
Chase Litton threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns, while receiver Josh Knight pulled in a career-high nine catches for 128 yard and a touchdown in the win.
Trailing 21-19 with 8:24 left in the game, Marshall started what turned out to be a game-winning drive that consumed 6:31 of the fourth quarter and kept FAU off the field. The 14-play, 80-yard drive included three third down conversions, one courtesy of an FAU pass interference call, and a 4th-and-1 conversion to continue the drive at the FAU 35-yard line.
“It’s just execution, our coaches put us in a good situation to succeed and that’s what we did. We put it all together,” said quarterback Chase Litton, who finished the night 27-of-39 for 330 yards and two touchdowns.
Marshall capped off the drive with a 1-yard plunge into the endzone by Keion Davis, after an officials’ review took a 4-yard Davis touchdown run off the board, ruling he was stopped shy of the goal line.
However, FAU still had 1:53 to work with, and thanks to an unsportsmanlike penalty called on Davis after the touchdown, and a kickoff out of bounds, FAU started its final drive at midfield.
“We said the game was us but we just did our job and were able to get the win,” defensive Ryan Bee said.
On first down, FAU quarterback Jason Driskel completed a 33-yard pass to Kalib Woods, in double coverage to advance the ball down to the Marshall 17. FAU was flagged for a holding penalty on the next play pushing the football back to the 27-yard line. Buddy Howell, picked up six yards on the ground then another pass to Woods picked up 11 more giving FAU the ball on the Marshall 10.
On fourth down, Driskel’s pass to Woods dropped a pass on the sidelines that would have given FAU 1st-and-goal.
“It was a great feeling. I hadn’t had that in a while,” Bee grinned after the game. “We’ll enjoy it but we can’t forget how we felt after the four losses.”
Bee and the rest of Marshall’s defense came up big when it needed to, holding FAU to just 4-of-10 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down chances. The defense also forced two turnovers, a fumble and an interception, both times snuffing out FAU drives inside Marshall territory.
The Owls were determined to pound the football against Marshall and in the first half, were met with little resistance. The Owls rushed for 182 yards in the first half and rolled up 309 yards of offense, scoring on an 18-yard quarterback keeper by Jason Driskel and a 48-yard touchdown run by Devin Singletary in the first quarter. Buddy Howell got into the act with a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:13 left in the half to give the Owls a 21-16 lead.
Marshall countered with big plays in the first half. Keion Davis broke free for a 30-yard touchdown run and Litton hit Josh Knight for a 61-yard touchdown pass. Knight hauled in career-high nine catches for 128 yards.
In the second half, Marshall’s defense adjust and was able to contain the FAU rushing attack, holding FAU to 97 yards on the ground and most importantly keeping FAU off the scoreboard.
“It was just a matter of digging in there and being physical like we need to. In the first half, I don’t that we did that very well,” evaluated Bee.
Marshall improves to 2-4 on the season and will play host to Charlotte next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5:00 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.