— By David Walsh
TAMPA, Fla. — Funny sometimes how things work out.
Back in early November, it was Brenden Knox, fourth on the depth chart at running back at the time, to the rescue with regulars Tyler King and Keion Davis out with injuries. Last Thursday night, it was Davis who stepped up after Knox suffered a broken hand in the first half of the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl against South Florida in Raymond James Stadium.
Davis showed the form that led to an 800-yard rushing season a year ago. The senior carried 14 times for 94 yards, the highlight a 52-yard dash late in the fourth period followed by a 16-yard TD run, to power the Thundering Herd to a 38-20 victory over the Bulls in a game nationally televised on ESPN.
A threat on kickoff returns as well, Davis had four for 77 yards with a long of 33. He was voted MVP and received what appeared to be a treasure chest full of riches.
No player appreciated what Davis did more than redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Green, who has family ties with Davis. They are cousins.
“He was able to stay strong, be resilient and fight back,” said Green, who closed out his first year under center on a high note. “I’m happy he can end his career like that.”
“It was fun to get to play my senior year with my cousin, sharing the experience,”Davis said.
Green completed 17-of-25 passes for 221 yards. On the night, though, the Herd recorded all five touchdowns on the ground with Davis getting his first on a 5-yard run late in the second period to extend the Marshall lead to 28-7. USF’s rush defense was a soft spot and the Herd capitalized by rolling up 282 yards. Knox, who had a 200-yard day in the season finale at Virginia Tech, totaled 93 in the first half, including an 8-yard TD run late in the first period and 43-yard romp on the game’s first play.
“Keion is a special player,” Herd coach Doc Holliday said. “He makes things happen when he touches the ball.” Davis eclipsed 2,000 yards rushing for his career.
Marshall improved to 6-0 in bowl games under Holliday, No. 1 all-time among Herd coaches. It was the Herd’s seventh straight bowl win and makes its overall bowl mark 12-2 for the best winning percentage (.857) among teams with at least five appearances.
“The ones you win are the ones you remember,” Holliday said. “You get one shot at the memory of a lifetime. There’s nothing like that locker room after a bowl game win. Fortunately, we’ve had six straight that have been happy locker rooms. There’s nothing better than that. Preparation is the key. At times, they get pissed at me, thinking we do too much. It all pays off.”
Green emerged as the starter after winning a two-way battle against graduate transfer Alex Thomson. Green suffered a knee injury late in the win at Western Kentucky and missed some time. He came back during the game at Southern Miss.
“It was my first time contributing to a (bowl) win,” Green said. “It feels good to be able to show people that just because I’m a freshmen doesn’t mean I can’t play this game like I’m not a freshman.”
He opened the scoring on a 10-yard run with 5:20 left in the first period. It was his first career rushing TD and put the Herd ahead to stay.
Marshall (9-4) finished with 503 total yards for its season 500-yard plus effort of the season. That means credit to the offensive line which had just one senior.
“They got hats on the right guys,” Holliday said. “They are a bunch of young guys who continue to get better and I’m looking forward to getting them all back.”
“We came out with a plan,” offensive guard Jordan Dowrey said. “Brenden and Keion hit the holes.”
USF started the season 7-0, then lost its final six. The Bulls are the first team in college football history to do that.
“We know this, there’s work to be done in the program,” Bulls coach Charlie Strong said. “We were in position to make some plays and we didn’t make them.”
Strong started Chris Oladokun at quarterback, but regular No. 1 Blake Barnett took over on the team’s third possession. The graduate transfer from Arizona State who started a game for Alabama in 2016 had missed two of the final three games with a leg injury. He completed 11 of 23 passes for 212 yards.
The Bulls used some imagination record its memorable game highlight. Wide out Tyre McCants took a direct snap and tossed a 38-yard TD pass to Randall St. Felix for USF’s first score with 2:43 left in the opening quarter. St. Felix caught six passes for a school bowl-record 165 yards.
For Marshall, senior wide out Tyre Brady wrapped up quite a two-year run. He hauled in five passes for 88 yards, the long a 42-yarder in the first period, to go over 1,000 career receiving yards. He’s the first to that since Tommy Shuler. Brady has been selected to play in the 2019 Senior Bowl.
Marshall, which went 7-0 in 2018 when leading after the opening quarter, had a record-setting first 15 minutes. The Herd scored 21 points, eclipsing its total point output from either of its two previous appearances in this particular bowl game (20 points versus FIU in 2011; 16 points against UConn in 2015), and tied the bowl game’s record for points in a quarter.
The previous record for points scored in the first quarter was 14, accomplished by four teams in the game’s 11-year history. Ironically, the announced crowd of 14,135 in the home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the lowest in bowl history.
Marshall’s defense, one of the best in Conference USA all season, limited the Bulls to 360 total yards. They had 92 rushing. For the season, no opponent had a back go over 100 yards in a game.
“We stayed focused and sound throughout the game,” said senior safety Malik Gant, who started his career as a walk-on. “We did a good job against the run. That helped us pull out the win. From walk-on to this, it’s all about family.”
Linebacker Frankie Hernandez, playing in front of his hometown crowd, led Marshall in tackles with eight. The Herd roster features 30 players from Florida. Defensive tackle Channing Hames, the Defensive MVP in the 2017 New Mexico Bowl win, racked up two of the Herd’s four sacks to bring the season total to 43.
Punter Robert Lefevere averaged 44.7 yards on three punts. The Herd downed three punts inside the 20 (at the USF 3, 1 and 17). One came on a 33-yard pooch punt by Green.