— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
That adage could apply to Marshall’s football team after last Saturday’s 48-24 dismantling of Old Dominion at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicated as Marshall led by 38 with inside 9 minutes remaining and forced six Monarch turnovers in the convincing victory.
A Marshall defense that had struggled through five games improved in many areas against ODU despite the Monarchs finishing with 439 total yards — only 6 fewer than the Herd.
The improvement followed Marshall head coach Tony Gibson’s decision to call defensive plays after the Herd’s first bye week.
Previously a defensive coordinator at West Virginia and North Carolina State, Gibson felt it was time to assume more responsibility with the unit.
“I’ve run this defense since 2002 and I was hired by Marshall because of the way we defended at NC State,” Gibson said. “I felt I was letting the team down after 5 games by not calling plays and being a bigger part of it. We had some hard conversations and evaluations during the Bye Week and I thought it was best for me to take over the defensive play-calling duties and I thought that gave us the best chance to win moving forward.”
Next, Marshall (3-3, 1-1) has a chance for another Sun Belt Conference win in front of its fans as Texas State visits Huntington for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. contest at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
Texas State (3-3, 0-2) enters its seventh game off back-to-back hard-fought losses. The Bobcats squandered a 21-point first-quarter lead at home last week and lost to Troy 48-41 in overtime. The previous week, Texas State dropped a 31-30 decision at Arkansas State.
Marshall’s defense will be challenged this week by a strong Bobcat offense that averages 36 points and churns out 476 yards on average.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Brad Jackson has been solid, throwing for 1,342 yards with seven touchdowns and only one interception. The Bobcats’ efficient run game is led by redshirt senior Lincoln Pare, who has 581 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. Jackson is also a key factor in the run game and has amassed 336 yards and seven scores.
“They’re very well-balanced,” Gibson said. “Their quarterback is a good runner and they’ve got two really good tailbacks. They’ve got a big physical offense line and they do a good job. We’ve got to make sure we’re sound and we account for the quarterback in the run game.”
For all of its defensive improvement against ODU, the Herd offense had a memorable showing as well. Marshall possessed the ball for more than 36 minutes and had ideal balance with 223 rushing yards and 222 more through the air.
Since scoring 27 points over two losses to start the season, Marshall has 179 points in four games and no fewer than 38 in any contest.
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Marshall senior cornerback Boogie Trotter was named Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Going against the Sun Belt’s top offense in Old Dominion last Saturday, Trotter made an early impact and opened the scoring when he intercepted Colton Joseph and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Trotter later added another pivotal play when he stripped tailback Trequan Jones in the second quarter and recovered the fumble to give the Herd possession in Monarchs’ territory just before halftime.
The Herd cashed in on the opportunity in the form of Carlos Del Rio-Wilson’s 6-yard touchdown run that gave MU a 24-7 lead. The interception was the fourth of the season for Trotter, who is tied for third in FBS in interceptions and tied for second in FBS in turnovers forced with five.
Against ODU, Trotter finished with five tackles, including a tackle for loss, onen interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.