Marshall forced two turnovers on special teams and dominated Cincinnati on third downs during a 38-21 upset Saturday night.
Chase Litton tossed four touchdowns, three of those to tight end Ryan Yurachek, as the Herd (3-1) snapped an eight-game road losing streak.
The Bearcats (2-3) converted only 4-of-14 third downs while fumbling a kickoff and a punt that led to Marshall scores. Those turnovers — along with a linebacker Frankie Hernandez scooping up an errant lateral by Cincinnati quarterback Hayden Moore — helped the Herd dominate possession time while bolting to a 24-0 halftime lead.
Litton played his most complete game of the season, completing 21-of-34 passes for 233 yards. He found Yuracheck for touchdowns of 15 and 14 yards in the first half, followed by a 31-yarder in the third quarter.
“We had so much chemistry going tonight,” Litton said. “Yuracheck, that’s my roommate every weekend. Let’s just say we talked about this game and our prediction came true.”
Yuracheck made a team-high six catches for 77 yards, reminding defenses that receiver Tyre Brady isn’t the only weapon on the offense.
“People asked me the first few games, ‘Why aren’t you getting the ball? Why aren’t you doing this, why aren’t you doing that?’ I just keep plugging along,” Yuracheck said. “Things are going to happen, they happened tonight. Chase did a great job of getting me the ball and the cards fell where they did.”
Running back Keion Davis didn’t start but carried 20 times for 93 yards and a touchdown.
“We felt all along we have played really well on offense, defense, and special teams (at different times),” coach Doc Holliday said. “Today we played well in all three phases, and that is exactly what we needed to do on the road against this football team.”
Cornerback Chris Jackson and linebacker Chase Hancock led the team in tackles with seven each.
The Bearcats’ Moore finished 22-of-45 for 211 yards passing but threw for only 93 yards in the first three quarters.
“It was a tough night,” said Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell. “Not a whole lot of things went well for us. We’ve got to be one of those teams that’s not going to sit there and wait for something to go right. At some point in time we’ve got to be able to feed off some positive momentum and some positive energy and we just haven’t had that opportunity yet.”
Notes from the Herd
Marshall confirmed defensive lineman Damien Dozier, who had three sacks against Kent State, has left the program. … Ryan Yuracheck extended his streak of catching a pass to 33 games. … Marshall held the ball for 39 minutes compared to Cincinnati’s 20 minutes. … Cornerback Jaylon McClain-Sapp left the game with an ankle injury. … Litton has 25 straight games with a touchdown pass, the second-longest active streak behind Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield with 30. … Tyler King, who earned the start after a 100-yard rushing performance last week, fumbled the ball on his first carry of the game. He finished with 16 carries for 28 yards.
— By Troy Alexander