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MARSHALL SPORTS
Chuck Landon: Houston's offense froze on chilly night
It turned into a Cold War.
United States vs. Russia? Eisenhower vs. Khrushchev? Communism vs. democracy?
None of the above, détente breath.
This was Marshall vs. Houston. This was Snyder vs. Sumlin. This was Conference USA East Division vs. C-USA West.
But make no mistake, this was indeed a Cold War.
I swear on a stack of Al Roker forecasts. Or, more to the point, a crate of University of Houston hand-warmers.
Cougars first-year head coach Kevin Sumlin was very worried about the frigid weather forecast when Houston arrived in Huntington on Monday.
His fears were well-founded.
The usually-prolific Cougars offense seemed to freeze up in the extremely brisk, blustery conditions at Edwards Stadium Tuesday night.
And the longer the warm-weather Cougars couldn't get acclimated to the cold conditions -- three of quarterback Case Keenum's first nine passes were dropped -- the more the icy Marshall offense began to thaw.
As a result, the Herd (4-4, 3-1 C-USA) pulled off a stunning upset over Houston (4-4, 3-1), beating the favored Cougars, 37-23, before 20,716 fans at Edwards Stadium.
That's because Houston played like Cougarsicles.
While Houston's players, coaches and even its Cougar mascot, huddled around a pair of yellow space heaters, Marshall chilled.
Literally.
The suddenly-relaxed Herd offense turned in its most impressive rushing performance of the season, running over, around and through Cougars defenders as if they were ice sculptures.
Marshall finished with 249 yards rushing on 54 carries and two touchdowns.
Compare that performance to the 211 yards on 86 carries the Herd totaled in its previous three games -- all losses.
That was the difference. The difference between those three losing efforts and this winning performance.
Just look at the one-two punch of Chubb Small and Darius Marshall. Small, a senior making his second consecutive start, rushed for a career-high 81 yards on 19 carries.
Then, Marshall came off the bench to ramble for a game-high 102 yards on 15 carries.
"The offensive line came through for us," said Small. "The offense put it together. Going back to back with Darius Marshall kept our legs fresh."
That was obvious in the fourth quarter when Marshall broke loose for a 22-yard touchdown run.
But wait. There's another element of the Herd's suddenly resurrected rushing attack that must be mentioned.
How about Darius Passmore's eye of the tiger?
The star wide receiver lined up as a quarterback in the "Tiger formation" 11 times, taking a direct snap in the shotgun.
Passmore never threw a pass, but he did hand-off three times ... with limited success. Those three plays netted just four yards.
But the other eight plays? They were all keepers, as Passmore rambled for an important 42 yards on the eight carries for a 5.2 average.
That was just the change of pace Houston's defense didn't need. The more Marshall ran the ball, the longer the Houston defense stayed on the field ... and away from those heaters.
Just as Houston's Sumlin feared. And just as Marshall's Snyder hoped.
This was a Cold War played in the coldest venue in Conference USA. Welcome to Ice Station Huntington.
There's just one thing I would change about this Cold War contest televised nationally by ESPN2.
It should have been on the Weather Channel.
Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald- dispatch.com.
