— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall got the win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night, but not in the explosive manner it showed last week.
The Thundering Herd had 171 yards on the ground against Miami, Ohio, in the opener but only 89 yards on 28 attempts vs. EKU. Freshman quarterback Isaiah Green tossed three TD passes to highlight a 32-16 victory in front of 24,304 fans at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
“You don’t ever want to apologize for a win, but I was disappointed in some of the things that happened out there today,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said. “That’s not normally us.”
Marshall’s defense limited the Colonels to 48 yards passing and 139 on the ground for 187 total yards. EKU used three quarterbacks.
Green finished 23-of-39 passing for 278 yards and a touchdown with one interception.
Marshall’s leading rusher was Willie Johnson, a receiver who had 36 yards on two reverses.
“We have to take a look at the tape and get better, because we did not run the ball as well as we did a week ago against what I thought was a good Miami defense,” Holliday said.
The Herd opened a 20-6 lead at halftime. Green tossed two touchdowns and Tyler King ran for a score. King finished with 31 yards and Keion Davis with 19.
Green’s first TD pass covered 20 yards to Obi Obialo to cap a 94-yard drive. The big play on the drive was a 29-yard pass from Green to Tyre Brady for a first down in EKU territory.
The Herd picked off three first-half passes and got points off two. Herd defensive back Brandon Drayton intercepted a pass to give the home team the ball at the EKU 38. Moments later, new offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey called a reverse and Johnson scampered 20 yards down to the 4.
On the next play, Green found Brady for the score, with Brady beating 1 on 1 coverage on the play.
Later, the Colonels took advantage of a break to get their first score. On an EKU punt, the ball struck a Marshall defender and the visitors recovered at the 19. On the drive, the Herd got called for pass interference in the end zone to give the Colonels and first and goal at the 3 and L.J. Scott scored on the next snap. EKU surprisingly went for two, but the pass failed.
Marshall ended the first-half scoring thanks to its third pick, this one being a 30-yard return by linebacker Frankie Hernandez to the EKU 5. Defensive lineman Malik Thompson tipped the pass at the line and Hernandez ran it down. King scored on the first play that followed.
In addition to the two EKU punts hitting a Herd player, the Colonels got their third turnover when Brady Leodis Moore III picked off a pass with 5:32 left before halftime.
Right before the half, the Colonels drove into Marshall territory, but Samuel Hayworth had a 47-yard field goal try blocked on the final play of the half.
In the third period, EKU recovered the opening kickoff and drove to a score. Alonzo Booth scored on a 7-yard run.
Marshall responded on its next drive to counter with a TD. Green found Obialo for a 40-yard TD strike on a free play. Obialo beat 1 on 1 coverage on the play. EKU jumped offside on the snap, but the call didn’t matter.
Later in the third period, EKU missed on a 42-yard field goal try.
In the fourth quarter, the Herd got five points. Justin Rohrwasser connected on a 35-yard field goal, the first three-pointer of the season for the Herd. On the drive, Green connected with Artie Henry for 22 yards and Xavier Gains for 39.
EKU got its final points on another Herd special teams error. The Colonels blocked a punt and recovered the ball at the Marshall 10. They had to settle for a 29-yard Samuel Hayworth field goal.
“We haven’t seen that around here in a long, long time and you won’t see it again,” Holliday said of the special teams miscues. “Some things that should just never have happened, but they did. To our defense’s credit, we put them in a lot of bad situations, but they created five turnovers thank goodness.”
Marshall’s final score came on a safety. After taking over at its 5 following the Herd downing a punt, the Colonels went in reverse. Quarterback Dakota Allen got tackled in the end zone to complete the scoring.
Marshall, a former FCS power, leads the series against EKU 11-8-1. Both schools have two FCS titles in their possession.
Next Saturday, Marshall (2-0) returns to action at South Carolina (1-1). No. 3 Georgia beat the No. 24 Gamecocks, 41-17, Saturday in Columbia, S.C.