Marshall Football gained bowl eligibility on Saturday, Nov. 9, after dismantling the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 37-3 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 

With the win over the Golden Eagles, the Herd moves to 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference and 6-3 overall, maintaining its chances at a shot for the SBC title. 

The Marshall defense, led by Mike Green, kept Southern Miss in check the entire game. The only score was a field goal in the first half.  The defense tallied five sacks on the day with Green accounting for three of them. 

“I’m really proud of their willingness to continue to prepare and grind and to come out today in a tough environment and execute,” Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. 

“I told them that we were going to Mississippi for one thing, and that was to be intentional about going 1-0 this week. They responded, and there’s obviously some things that we’ve got to get cleaned up but really proud of how they battled and executed in clutch situations.”

Ian Foster caused problems for the Southern Miss offense as well. Foster led the team with eight tackles and two pass breakups, one of which led to a Landyn Watson interception. 

“I was just out there having fun,” Foster said. “That’s what I like to 

do – have fun and play the game I love. I’m trying to make the most of it. We always have to stay hungry, and we always want to make a play.”

The dominance continued as the defense forced four turnovers including three interceptions and one fumble. Redshirt freshman TaShawn Jeter notched his first interception in a Marshall uniform.

“If you get an opportunity to make a play, you have to make it,” Huff said. “We’re past the point of wondering how many opportunities we are going to get. There were some big plays today by some guys who probably have not had their names called as much. That’s great because that builds confidence for this stretch run.”

The defensive dominance correlated with offensive efficiency. The Herd notched 526 total yards on offense. Marshall led 17-3 going-

into halftime and put up 17 unanswered points in the second half despite sputtering in the red zone early. 

In combination with 220 passing yards from quarterback Braylon Braxton and 104 rushing yards from Ethan Payne, the Herd offense fired on all cylinders to put the game on ice. 

Braxton tallied two touchdowns, one on the air and one on the ground. The Payne brothers of Toby and Ethan both notched a touchdown apiece. Tychaun Chapman added a 14-yard rushing touchdown along with three field goals from Nathan Totten. 

The Herd returns to Huntington on Saturday, Nov. 16, for the annual ‘75’ game against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. 

Joseph DiCristofaro can be contacted at [email protected].