— By David Walsh
HOUSTON — Quarterback Isaiah Green threw a touchdown pass, Brenden Knox ran for one and the Marshall defense bottled up Rice all afternoon as the Thundering Herd defeated the Owls, 20-7, Saturday at Rice Stadium.
Marshall (6-3, 4-1 Conference USA) is off until Nov. 15 when Louisiana Tech comes to Joan C. Edwards Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Winless Rice is 0-9 overall and 0-5 in C-USA.
Rice did take one lead at 7-3 when it drove 66 yards in 11 plays that ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass from JoVoni Johnson to Austin Trammel with 10:20 left in the second quarter. This game was Johnson’s first college start.
That had the Homecoming crowd excited, but the good times lasted but 47 seconds as Green connected with tight end Xavier Gaines on a 63-yard pass to the 1-yard line — and Knox scored on the next play.
“It was a big play,” Holliday said of the throw to Gaines. “It was critical we do something. This just shows you how lucky we are. I was concerned coming in. There was no juice. It was important we start fast and we did.”
Right before the half, Green took the Herd 95 yards to expand the lead to 17-7. He connected with tight end Arnie Levias for first downs on plays of 14 and 22 yards and then found Talik Keaton for a 19-yard touchdown. It was Keaton’s first collegiate score.
“The defense played tremendous,” Holliday said. “We had no turnovers. We’ve got a chance to win with the way the defense is playing.”
The last points came in the third period when the Herd’s Justin Rohrwasser connected from 49 yards with 2:47 left in the period. In the first period, Rohrwasser suffered his first miss of the season when the Owls blocked a 28-yard attempt. He had made 11 in row up to that point.
Green torched the Rice defense in the first half, completing 12-of-13 attempts for 229 yards. He finished with 269 and Knox added 130 on 27 carries with a long of 26. It’s his fourth 100-yard game of the season.
“We took what the defense gave us,” is how Green explained the success. “It was big we scored after they took the lead. We found a way to get back. The O line protected me well and we picked up the blitzes. It demoralizes a defense when you do that and keep making it on third down.””
On its first drive in the third quarter, Rice went from its 25 to the Herd 20, but Chris Barnes missed a 38-yard field goal.
Rice’s offense managed just 231 total yards to 391 for the Herd.