The Marshall football team’s losing streak increased to five straight games after losing 31-9 to the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Boone, North Carolina, on Saturday, Nov. 4.
“We’re not playing really good complementary football, and we’re not stringing enough consistent plays together,” head coach Charles Huff said.
App State dominated the Herd on the stat sheet, tallying 25 total first downs to Marshall’s 12.
Turnovers plagued the Herd throughout the game. Quarterback Cam Fancher finished the game with three interceptions, 137 yards passing and one touchdown.
Fancher was sacked twice during the game. He has now been sacked 24 times this season.
A 43-yard rush by Rasheen Ali put the Herd in Rece Verhoff’s field goal range to give the Herd an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
Ali finished the game with 63 yards on 11 attempts, a lighter workload than he’s seen in the past.
Following Verhoff’s field goal, the Mountaineers put up 28 unanswered points, 21 of which came off touchdown passes to three different receivers from quarterback Joey Aguilar.
Aguilar finished the night with 226 passing yards, three touchdowns and 44 rushing yards.
The Herd’s offense showed signs of struggle going into Saturday’s matchup against App State, going almost a month without an offensive score.
In the third quarter, Marshall’s offense put its first touchdown on the board since Oct. 14 against Georgia State. Fancher found tight end Sean Sallis on a 10-yard pass in the endzone to give the Herd six points and Sallis’ first career touchdown.
The scoring drive was set up after Fancher exhibited his running ability, scrambling 43 yards down the field.
App State extended its lead to 31-9 in the fourth with a 31-yard field goal from kicker Michael Hughes.
Herd safety J.J. Roberts led the team with 15 tackles in the loss, his first game back after suffering an injury which resulted in him missing last week’s game.
Going into the final stages of the season, the Herd needs to win two of its last three games to become bowl eligible. The first of the final three games will take place at home against Georgia Southern on Saturday, Nov. 11, marking the annual emotion-filled 75 game.
