Marshall Football kept charge and kept its 10-game win streak alive against fellow conference foe.
The Herd showed dominant force in its 48-24 blowout win against the, at the time, Sun Belt East leaders, the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Defensive back Boogie Trotter showcased his skills with a forced fumble and recovery, giving the Herd the first points of the game with a pick six late into the first quarter securing Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
“I’m really proud of this football team,” head coach Tony Gibson said. “It’s been a hard two weeks. My biggest thing this week was ‘believe.’ That was the message starting yesterday, this morning and in our team meeting. We got to believe we can win, and boy did they play hard.”
Marshall quarterback Carlos Del-Rio Wilson went 17 of 24 for 219 yards and two touchdowns while rushing 17 times for 95 yards and was nominated to be a part of the Davey O’Brien “Great 8” award, an award given out to the best eight performing quarterbacks during the week. This is the second time Del-Rio Wilson has been nominated for the award, the first time after the 42-28 victory against Middle Tennessee State.
“What I told our football team is that this is what it needs to look like every week,” Gibson said. “Now I know we can do it against one of the best offensives in this league, and now, we just have to keep moving forward.”
Despite a missed kick in the first half, Marshall’s special teams also played a key role in the match up, with Lorcon Quinn scoring 10 points for the team, two made field goals from the 40 and 21-yard lines and perfect six for six on extra points as well as recovering a dropped punt and being able to recover the ball deep in ODU territory.
Marshall took a dominant 48-10 lead in the final few minutes of the game until ODU scored two quick touchdowns to make it 48-24, but the coffin was already sealed.
The ODU offense averaged 36.2 points per game on the season and were coming off of a dominant four-game win streak, outscoring their opponents 181-73.
“I want to thank the fans, too,” Gibson said. “It was a great crowd and a great day.”
Old Dominion head coach Ricky Rahne gave credit to Gibson in his post-game interview.
“He’s done a fantastic job,” Rahne said. “They really should be 5-1.
“The reality is to go through the Sun Belt undefeated is going to be next to impossible,” Rahne said. “There are too many good teams.”
The Herd looks to ride the wave of this victory to its homecoming match against the Texas State Bobcats Saturday, Oct. 18. Kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m.
Nate Harrah can be contacted at [email protected].
