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MARSHALL SPORTS
Herd opens season on a high note
Marshall wideout Darius Passmore streaks down the sideline past Illinois State defenders Chris Garrett, left, and Kelvyn Hemphill after catching a deep pass from quarterback Mark Cann in the final minute of the first half Saturday, August 30, 2008, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. The play was good for a touchdown which gave the Herd a 14-7 halftime lead over the Redbirds.
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HUNTINGTON -- Not exactly what Marshall University football fans envisioned, particularly early, but they'll happily slip victory No. 1 in their collective pocket.
Savvy NCAA Division I-AA opponent Illinois State played keepaway for much of the first half, but Mark Cann's 88-yard touchdown pass to Darius Passmore provided a needed boost, spurring the Thundering Herd to a 35-10 victory Saturday before 25,661 in attendance at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
| Click here for statistics from the game. |
"That was a game of big plays, and we knew going in they were going to stack it up and try to stop the run," fourth-year Marshall head coach Mark Snyder said. "We were going to have X amount of big plays, and I think our punt return teams set our offense up in some pretty good field position."
Snyder said explosive plays were the difference.
The season opener was predictably uneven, but Marshall depth and talent showed. Sophomore tailback Darius Marshall rushed for 115 yards on 20 carries (his first career 100-yard game), and Passmore, a senior wideout, totaled 111 yards on four receptions. Cann completed half of his 22 attempts for 161 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Marshall defensive end Albert McClellan ran down a pair of sacks in his return from last year' season-ending injury.
It appears Marshall's offense might suffer a significant setback when Marshall awkwardly landed on tight end Cody Slate's right knee. The All-Conference USA playmaker, and the Herd's leading receiver two years running, watched the second half in shorts with his knee wrapped, but Snyder said Slate was "OK."
The Thundering Herd (1-0) limited ISU to 98 rushing yards on 40 carries, including just 31 on 17 second half attempts.
"Their four guys up front were huge and they just kept bringing more," Illinois State quarterback Kevin Brockway.
Running effectively between the tackles and moving the chains via repeated screens, Illinois State pulled off exactly what it planned -- shorten the game and remove crowd noise as a factor -- for nearly 30 minutes.
Edwards Stadium largely was silent while backup freshman quarterback Drew Kiel -- replacing Kevin Brockway while the starter's chin was stitched -- methodically marched his offense 76 yards in 17 plays, exhausting 9:36. Kiel capped the marathon, lobbing a 4-yard touchdown to Eyad Salem and knotting the score at 7-7.
Chubb Small established an early 7-0 Thundering Herd lead, hinting at an anticipated rout, sprinting 14 yards through the middle. After scoring just three first quarter touchdowns in 2007 (all in the final two games), Marshall reached the end zone less than five minutes into the season.
Then it got quiet, real quiet.
Marshall punter Kase Whitehead and his counterpart, Bobby Kelsey, were impressive, but that was about it until Cann-to-Passmore. Illinois State held on fourth down from its own 31, dropping Darius Marshall for a 3-yard screen pass loss.
Marshall linebacker Mario Harvey intercepted a Brockway pass and rumbled 29 yards down the Herd sideline, setting up the offense at ISU's 13. Three plays later, free safety Tom Nelson intercepted an underthrown Cann pass in the end zone.
A 33-yard catch-and-run touchdown by ISU tailback Geno Blow was negated by a block below the waist, a needed get-out-jail-free card for a struggling team and an awkwardly silent collection of fans.
"We moved the ball and were able to make some first downs and matriculate the ball, but I thought we left some points on the field in the first half," Redbirds head coach Denver Johnson said. "We were playing up a level on the road, (and) you've got to avoid those things."
Otherwise, the first half was uneventful until Cann showed off arm strength and Passmore simply outran Redbird strong safety Kelvyn Hemphill and cornerback Chris Garrett for the undisputed game-changing play.
Moments earlier and with just 35 seconds remaining in the second quarter, a sports writer suggested from the press box that Cann would take a knee, Marshall would march to the halftime locker room and booing would cascade from the stands. Instead, the dynamic play provided a 14-7 advantage through two quarters and flipped the feel of a close game.
"My coach (wide receivers coach Todd Goebbel) tells me 'just go win'," Passmore said. "And that's what I did. I wanted to win. He believed in me to do it, and I went out there and did it.
"The offensive coordinator (John Shannon) we have, that's not even his mindset. He's in attack mode all the time, no matter how many seconds are left."
Special teams dominated the second half, spurring the expected wide final margin.
Emmanuel Spann's 24-yard punt return to Illinois State's 39 preceded Passmore's 14-yard scoring reception. Cann rolled left, threw to his right and the senior wideout sprinted untouched down the seam.
Following a 22-yard Steven Fetzer field goal, trimming the ISU deficit to 21-10, Whitehead placed a 49-yard kick at the 1 (Small tracked the rolling ball to the end zone's doorstep). A three-and-out ensued, and Small again provided ideal field position, returning a punt 19 yards to the 10; Marshall then powered through the Redbird defense, which blitzed the proper hole, for a 28-10 lead with 3:23 remaining in the third quarter.
"The two most important things in football is possession of the football and field position," said Johnson, who considered kicking off to start the second half to possibly avoid the field position woes that played out. "I was concerned what happened to us in the second half, we would receive the kickoff, maybe not be able to advance the ball, not punt the ball particularly well and put Marshall on the short field. And I think that's basically what happened the whole third quarter."
Redshirt freshman Terrell Edwards provided the final margin, sprinting 49 yards down the Herd sideline with 32 seconds removed from the game's conclusion.
Expectations are modest for this Thundering Herd team. A pair of national magazines famously predicted a single win for Marshall in 2008, and the Herd was favored by just nine points against ISU, coming off a 4-7 season. Saturday's performance was sound, if not always spectacular.
The Thundering Herd outgained ISU, 390-327, despite running just 54 plays to the Redbirds' 83. Time of possession naturally weighed in Illinois State's favor, 39:00-21:00, but Marshall committed just one penalty against seven ISU flags.
Marshall's road toward a postseason return amplifies next Saturday with a trip to Big Ten title contender Wisconsin. Kickoff at Camp Randall Stadium is noon (EST) and the game will be televised by Big Ten Network.
