Marshall vs Western Michigan

 by Ben Anderson

   Marshall football responded late Saturday, to hold off a near second-half Western Michigan comeback, 27-24. 

    The Thundering Herd’s 17-3 halftime lead was broken by Broncos kicker Luka Zurak’s 45-yard field goal with 12:47 remaining in the 4th quarter, right before he forced and recovered a fumble to take possession in the Thundering Herd’s territory. 

    Marshall defensive lineman Jabari Ishmael delivered the reaction punch to Western Michigan as he stripped quarterback Hayden Wolff of the ball. 

    Three plays later, Marshall scored the go-ahead touchdown to take a 27-20 lead with less than eight minutes remaining.

    “It was a big drive, especially being towards the back end of the game. We knew we had to finish. Marshall running back AJ Turner said during the post-game news conference. “My offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, so I knew I could run behind them and just find the crease to make the play. It is toward the end of the game; we just knew we had to finish.”

    Turner finished the game with a career-high 124 rushing yards on 9 carries. 

    On the drive, quarterback Stone Earle threw his third passing touchdown on the game, hitting Christian Fitzpatrick for a 34-yard score.

    “It was a good way to bounce back following the fumble I had.” Earle said. “Can’t worry about what happened in the past because you can’t go change it, but I thought our guys did a great job of responding and just going out and playing the next play, one at a time.”

    Western Michigan’s next drive would become the “quarter that never ends” as it escaped a third-and-16 on a defensive pass interference penalty. The drive also included a nearly ten-minute official review after Marshall made a stop for no gain, and the officials forgot what down it was. 

    The drive ultimately came down to Western Michigan as it threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-3 from the Marshall 7-yard line to seal the deal.

    Wolff overthrew Malique Diuedonne, and marked the first time that the Broncos had failed to score in the red zone this season.

    “These types of games are strictly won on culture because they got a good team over there, too.” Marshall head football coach Charles Huff said. “Right there, when your back’s against the wall, you’ve been standing there for 15 minutes, and you don’t know what’s going on. They make some plays. We finally knock the ball off the guy, they give it back to him. It wasn’t  ‘oh man,’ it was ‘load up again and respond.’”

    The win moved Marshall to 2-2 on the year and snapped a 2-game losing streak in the non-conference finale. 

    Earle completed 15 of his 25 passes for 177 yards and three scores, while Turner turned in his third 100-yard rushing game in four games. Marshall finished with 420 yards of total offense. 

    Western Michigan running back Jaden Nixon led the way, carrying the ball 23 times for 146 yards and a touchdown. 

    Marshall returns home Saturday to Joan C. Edwards for its homecoming game and Sun Belt Conference opener against the Appalachian State Mountaineers at 3:30 PM. 


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