— By David Walsh
Marshall’s defense got the stop when desperately needed and then watched quarterback Braylon Braxton drive the team 75 yards for the go-ahead score by Ethan Payne on a 1-yard run with 4:03 left to play to secure a 42-35 win for the Thundering Herd over Old Dominion on Saturday night at S.B. Ballard Stadium in Norfolk, Va.
Marshall (8-3, 6-1 Sun Belt) still leads the East Division by one game over Georgia Southern. The Herd, on a five-game win streak, end the regular season next Saturday at James Madison
“Every time we play, these guys battle,” Herd coach Charles Huff said. “Hats off to our guys. I wish you could see the locker room now. This group of guys battled their tails off. The coaches battled their tails off. Came up with big plays when we needed them. Had a lot of people here. This gives us a chance to go battle next week.”
Old Dominion (4-7, 3-4) is eliminated from bowl contention.
In the wild second half, ODU scored on its first four possessions. Drives covered 75, 84, 75 and 75 yards. Twice, the Monarchs took the lead and once got even, but each time, the Herd counter punched for scores.
One big spark was specialist Ian Foster, who reeled off two long kickoff returns. He averaged 39 yards on three returns.
The one Herd stop that mattered most came after the Herd took the lead on Payne’s run. Old Dominion got 5 yards on two runs and then an incomplete pass forced the Monarchs punt and hope for a stop with 2:48 left.
Instead, Braxton found Chuck Montgomery for 10 yards and then the Tulsa transfer raced 27 yards on a keeper to the Marshall 49 to all but secure the win.
“They were doing some things that put us in a bind,” Huff said. “They did some things with formations and put stress on us. We took it away just in the nick of time. Ultimately it was the players who executed.”
Braxton completed 13-of-24 passes for 210 yards and ran 18 times for 140 more yards. Carl Chester caught three passes for 60 and Christian Fitzpatrick a pair for 69.
ODU freshman quarterback Colton Joseph connected on 19-of-31 passes for 227 yards, one score and a costly pick on his first attempt. Joseph carried 25 times for 158 yards and Aaron Young added 111 on 18 carries. Joseph and Young each rushed for two scores.
Josh Moten picked off Joseph’s first attempt and the Herd settled for a 43-yard field goal by Rece Verhoff, back after a two-week absence.
Marshall pulled off a successful flea flicker for its second TD. Payne took a handoff from Braxton, flipped the ball back to Braxton, who threw a 51-yard TD pass to Fitzpatrick for a 10-0 lead.
ODU did get a score before the half, but Jordan Houston sped 30 yards for a 17-7 lead at the break.
The Herd lost veteran center Logan Osburn in the first quarter to injury and Eric Meeks, normally a guard, moved to that spot.
“Been hanging around a while and it (injury bug) hadn’t hit, but it did today and Meeks stepped up. The guys rallied around him,” Huff said. “All Braxton does is make plays.”
On ODU’s first third-quarter drive, Joseph tossed a 46-yard pass to Isiah Page and Young scored on a 2-yard run.
Foster returned the next kickoff 55 yards to the Old Dominion 45. Braxton threw a 13-yard TD pass to Montgomery, but the score got reversed by a review. Verhoff came on to boot a 31-yard field goal and 20-14 lead.
On its next possession, Joseph completed a 26-yard pass to Pat Conroy, ran 39 yards to the Herd 10 and hit Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding on a 10-yard TD and the Monarchs had their first lead. Abdul-Rahim Gladding is a freshman and the TD was his first catch of the season.
Marshall got a break on its next possession when Page muffed a punt and Braxton found Montgomery on a 22-yard TD to regain the lead at 27-21.
Back came the Monarchs behind Joseph. He threw a 20-yard pass to Conroy and later scored on an 8-yard run for a 28-27 lead with 52 seconds left in the third period.
In the fourth, Braxton drove Marshall to a go-ahead score again, plus a key two-point conversion. He found Chester for a 37-yard TD as he won a jump-ball battle.
Braxton then hit DeMarcus Harris for the two points and a 35-28 lead.
Not to be denied, the Monarchs came back one more time. Young had two big early runs, then a 35-yard dash to the Herd 1. Young would score from a yard out with 6:29 left for the final tie at 35-35. That set the stage for the dramatic ending.
Huff also had admiration for the special teams, especially Foster on kickoff returns.
“Special teams, we dominated tonight,” Huff said. “Flat out. If they kick it deep, we’re going to keep gashing them. How big is it to start at the 50 all night.”
Old Dominion has lost six of seven games by eight points or fewer.