Marshall vs Virginia Tech Recap

 by Ben Anderson

   Missed opportunities Saturday cost Marshall the game against Virginia Tech, Marshall head football coach Charles Huff said. 

    “Didn't make enough plays to beat a really good football team, too many missed opportunities in the beginning of the game that could have changed the outcome,” Huff said in his postgame news conference.  “Got to get better. We had opportunities, we got to make the catches, we got to get the guys on the ground. Can't turn the ball over. Special teams (were) back and forth (with) too many penalties.”

    Marshall fell to Virginia Tech 31-14 and fell to 1-1 on the season.

    Marshall struggled offensively as the first seven possessions resulted in punts except for the second drive that resulted in a missed field goal. Virginia Tech struck first with a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter.

    “When you play a good team and stop them on defense, you have to move the ball on offense.” Huff said. “And if you don’t, at some point they are going to make a good play.”

    Virginia Tech followed with a 42-yard field goal from Peter Moore in the second quarter to give the Hokies a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.

    Marshall only had 77 yards of offense in the first two quarters on 29 plays, and the only score created in the first half was by a blocked punt by Ahmere Foster that rolled out of bounds on Virginia Tech’s 5-yard line.

    The blocked punt led to an Ethan Payne 2-yard rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to 10-7 with 3:19 remaining in the first half. 

    Virginia Tech continued the offensive pursuit in the third quarter as quarterback Kyron Drones connected with Stephen Gosnell on a 49-yard touchdown. 

    Early in the third quarter, Marshall cut the deficit to 3 as Stone Earle connected with Christian Fitzpatrick on a 16-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-14 in favor of Virginia Tech. 

    The three points deficit was the closest Marshall would get against Virginia Tech. 

    Drones scored his second touchdown of the game with a 3-yard run to give the Hokies a 24-14 lead with just over four minutes to go in the third quarter.

    Following the score to put Virginia Tech up by double digits, the Hokies intercepted Earle on the next offensive drive and Da’Quan Felton caught a touchdown pass from Drones to extend the lead to 17 points less than a minute into the fourth quarter. 

    Leading the way for Virginia Tech offensively was running back Bhayshul Tuten as he tallied 120 yards on 22 carries and scored a touchdown for the fourth consecutive game dating back to last season. 

    Jaylin Lane led the receiving for the Hokies as he tallied 4 catches for 48 yards while Felton tallied 4 catches for 14 yards and a score. 

    Earle, the starting quarterback for the Thundering Herd, went 13-16 in the air and tallied 129 yards and one touchdown. He targeted the duo of Elijah Metcalf and Fitzpatrick 23 times in the loss. 

    Fitzpatrick led the receiving for Marshall as he tallied 4 catches for 73 yards. 

    The offense of the Thundering Herd struggled throughout the contest as half of the Herd’s 14 drives were three-and-outs. The two scoring drives on offenses only took three total plays, the last of which was set up by a 69-yard from AJ Turner. 

    Marshal football will be off this week before it travels to Columbus Ohio on Sept. 21 to play the Ohio State Buckeyes.