I really didn't think Marshall had anymore toes left to shoot off after last week.

I was wrong.

So much for podiatry school.

But how was anybody to guess there were any bungles, any gaffes, any blunders remaining after all those self-destructive mistakes the Herd committed six days ago?

Who knew those toes would grow back so quickly after Marshall's 27-3 meltdown against West Virginia University?

Probably only Dr. Scholls.

But they did.

Just in time to be shot off by even more grievous mistakes during a 33-10 loss to the University of Cincinnati Friday night before 29,237 fans at Edwards Stadium.

What's worse, the game was televised by ESPN, so Marshall was embarrassed on a national stage rather than just regionally like last weekend.

Anyway you do the math, it's travesty times two.

And that's hard to stomach.

I can understand one performance like that. As Marshall head coach Mark Snyder commented earlier this week, "It happens. That's part of football. Each and every week you sit there and go, 'Wow, how did that happen?'

"So, no, I can't put my finger on it. I just hope we got it out of our system."

We all hoped that. We all expected that. But the Herd obviously didn't get anything out of its system.

If anything, Marshall's bumbling performance against Cincinnati was far worse than the Don Knotts impersonation the Herd did last week in the actor's native Morgantown.

These blunders were at home. These gaffes were before 29,237 mostly white-clad Herd fans who bought into the "White Out." These bungles occurred in what was supposed to be a bounce-back game.

But instead of bouncing back, the Herd was just plain bounced.

And from the coaching staff all the way down to the managers, Marshall doesn't have anyone to blame but itself.

I mean, somebody has to take responsibility for what happened on Marshall's second and fourth punts of the game.

On the second kick, Cincinnati defensive end Connor Barwin barged up the middle and partially blocked Kase Whitehead's punt.

Then, one punt later it happened again. ... only worse.

This time Barwin again blew past long-snapper Sean McClellan untouched, then shot through the gap between MU upbacks Ian Hoskins, John Jacobs and Albert McClellan -- again untouched -- to spike Whitehead's punt and send it through the end zone for a safety.

How does the same guy make the same block on punts twice in one quarter?

That's inexcusable.

Like Marshall's shoot-yourself-in-the-foot performance against WVU, a mistake like that can happen one time. But twice?

Not acceptable.

Besides that compound blunder, there were:

Two very poorly thrown interceptions by struggling quarterback Mark Cann. ... an embarrassing fall on his rump by Cann after tripping during his drop back. ... a penalty for illegal substitution on MU's offense. ... A 15-yard loss by running back Darius Marshall that was more retreat than rush. ... Whitehead shanking a punt for only 17 yards. ... and a Marshall offensive line that was devoured like a garbage disposal by the Bearcats.

All that added up to a stumbling, bumbling loss to an opponent that was starting a third-string quarterback who was making his collegiate debut.

How does that happen?

There aren't any answers yet. But there will be. There will have to be.

This is still a make-or-break season.

And Marshall put itself right back behind the 6-ball again Friday night.

Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.

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