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Herd can’t muster any offense in 24-14 loss to USM

HATTIESBURG, MS – Marshall is now on the brink of missing a bowl for the first time since Doc Holliday’s second year as coach in 2012, falling to Southern Miss 24-14 Saturday night, and dropping to 2-6 on the season.

When Southern Miss drove down the field on its opening possession and immediately took a 7-0 lead on the Herd, the collective groan from Herd nation could be heard all the way from Huntington to Hattiesburg.

However, the Thundering Herd defense played tough most of the night and prevented the Golden Eagles from reaching the endzone again until the 12:08 mark of the fourth quarter. Even though the defense performed admirably against one of the top quarterbacks in the league, Marshall’s offense mustered just 138 total yards during the first three quarters and ran 20 fewer plays than Southern Miss.

On the night, Marshall finished with a meager 226 yards of total offense and 11 first downs. Southern Miss forced eight three-and-outs, allowing the Herd to convert only 1 of 13 third-down opportunities.

Despite the offensive struggles, the Herd trailed 10-7 at halftime and battled through a scoreless third quarter but with Marshall’s defense starting to show the effects of being on the field all night, Southern Miss finally put the game out of reach. Late in the third and into the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles marched 83 yards on 10 plays reaching the endzone on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Nick Mullins to Allenzae Staggers.

With the way Marshall’s offense was performing, the 10-point lead could have been 40 points.

Southern Miss reached the endzone again 4:23 left to play to erase any doubt of the outcome. Tailback Ito Smith broke loose for a 40-yard touchdown run to make it 24-7.

The Herd was able to find the endzone in the closing minutes on a highlight reel, 44-yard touchdown pass from Chase Litton to Michael Clark, but it was too little, too late for the Herd.

“We’re not a very good team at times,” said Herd coach Doc Holliday. “We play in spurts. We’ve got to play all three phases for 60 minutes; now, we’re not doing that.”





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