— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — How appropriate it would have been for Marshall to gain bowl eligibility in the annual Memorial Game to make it a special Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Appalachian State had other ideas and wound up the team that’s bowl eligible.
The Mountaineers drove 75 yards twice in the second half for scores, and their defense forced the Herd to turn the ball over on downs three times in the final minutes. Two came on when Marshall failed to pick up 1 yard on third-and-fourth-down situations. The third came when the Herd threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-5.
Appalachian State’s second 75-yard drive ended with quarterback Henry Hasselbeck’s 37-yard TD run to provide a go-ahead score for the Mountaineers (6-4, 3-3 Sun Belt) and the three defensive stands allowed the visitors to exit Edwards Stadium with a 20-16 victory.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Herd coach Tony Gibson said. “A penalty on a TD and fumble out of the end zone. It’s embarrassing.”
Hasselbeck also ran for the first TD for the visitors.
One bright spot in the second half came on a fake punt late in the fourth period. Herd punter Cooper Heimback completed a 25-yard pass to Sherone White Jr. on fourth-and-4 for a first down at the Appalachian State 41. The Herd would eventually turn the ball over on downs.
Khalil Wilkins made his first start at quarterback, but exited with a leg injury in the first quarter. On came Carlos Del Rio-Wilson who had the fumble out of the end zone on a potential TD run.
“I’m disappointed the way we played offensively,” Gibson said. “So many missed opportunities. Khalil gave us a spark early. Carlos did good things at times, but the fumble through the end zone is unacceptable. You don’t deserve to win.”
Had Del Rio-Wilson scored, Marshall’s lead would’ve been 20-3.
“Flipped the game big time,” Gibson said. “You play a lot freer. The defense played its guts out. That’s Marshall football. Credit to App. They kept fighting and didn’t give up.”
Gibson said the short-yardage failure stand out.
“We’ve got to be creative and not do the same thing over and over again if it’s not working,” he said. “We didn’t get the push up front. You’ve got to make those plays to win these kinds of games. This one hurts for a lot of different reasons. We’re rivals, the Memorial Game and bowl eligibility. We’ve got two games left to find a way to get bowl eligible.”
In the first half, Jorge Diaz Nicolas kicked two field goals as did Appalachian State’s James London. Both covered 31 yards and London’s second came on the last play of the first half.
Appalachian State got its first TD on its first possession of the second half. Malachi Singleton found Sam Pickett III for 28 yards to the Herd 48. The Mountaineers had 11 running plays in the 15-play march with Henry Hasselbeck, the running quarterback, going over from a yard out.
Marshall came right back with a 13-play drive capped by Diaz Nicolas booting a 24-yard field goal with 1:08 left in the period. During the drive, Barbie started with runs of 18 and 20 yards.
Marshall’s lone TD came in the second period with T.J. Lester scoring on a 2-yard run.
It’s no secret the three Herd’s quarterbacks are a little beaten up. Still more offense must be found.
“We’re not good enough on that side of the ball,” Gibson said. “Starts with me, the coaches and players.”
The fake punt proved huge, but the Herd offense could not finish.
“The fake, we tried to extend the drive,” Gibson said. “Made the call and had great execution. Coop made good throw and Deuce (White Jr.) made the catch. Stalled out in the fourth. Credit to App. We’ll have a tough week of practice. Again we’re fighting for bowl eligibility. They have to want it, we can’t play for them. The kids have to be prepared to play next week.”
The “75” contest honors the 75 killed in the plane crash Nov. 14, 1970. The Southern Airways charter crashed short of the runway at Tri-State Airport in Kenova on a rainy Saturday night. Of the 75, 37 were players or coaches who had lost to East Carolina, 17-14, earlier that day in Greenville, N.C.
App State last won at Marshall in 1995 as part of an 11-0 regular season. The Mountaineers prevailed 10-3.
Before Saturday, 21 of the 28 matchups came when the two teams were members of FCS Southern Conference.
The annual Marshall Fountain Ceremony honoring those individuals took place Saturday morning at the Marshall Memorial Student Center plaza.
Marshall wore replica uniforms of the ones worn during the 1970 contest at East Carolina on Nov. 14, 1970. These uniforms featured a green helmet with a white stripe and white jerseys and pants with green numerals and green trim.
The Herd faces Georgia State next week at home on Senior Day. Start time is 4 p.m.