Herd falls to Charlotte, 27-24

Marshall had its final six possessions all go into Charlotte territory, but had zero points to show for it and Charlotte used a long fourth-quarter drive to leave Joan C. Edwards Stadium with a 27-24 win in front of 20,904 spectators.

"We had the opportunity to make some plays there and, unfortunately, we didn't make them," Marshall head coach Doc Holliday said. "They did, and we didn't."

Marshall (2-5 overall and 1-2 in Conference USA) had a chance to tie or win the game after taking possession at Charlotte's 45-yard line with 2:37 left, but the trend of missed opportunities showed itself at the Herd's worst possible time.

"Our mistakes are coming at the wrong time," Marshall tight end Ryan Yurachek said. "Defense put it in our hands to win that game and we didn't do it. This one is on the offense, for sure."

A pair of Keion Davis runs put the Herd inside the Charlotte 20, but a sack and two incomplete passes preceded a missed 40-yard field goal by Amoreto Curraj that would have tied the game.

Charlotte (3-5, 2-2) ran out the clock from there and sprinted to midfield to celebrate one of the biggest wins in program history.

Neither team executed well inside opponent territory, but the 49ers were able to get the game's biggest drive into the end zone when needed.

After Marshall missed a prime opportunity to open a two-score lead with a short field, Charlotte drove 80 yards in 16 plays with quarterback Hassan Klugh going airborne to break the goal line on a 2-yard touchdown run to put the 49ers up 27-24 with 8:32 remaining.

On the subsequent drive, Marshall drove to the Charlotte 28, but a personal foul for hands to the face and a holding call that negated a 43-yard touchdown run by Davis gave the Herd a first-and-35 scenario. The offense wasn't able to drive into scoring territory and elected to punt with 3:38 left.

Charlotte appeared that it was going to get a first down to ice the game, but Kendall Gant made a big hit on Chris Montgomery that jarred the ball loose. It appeared to be a fumble that Marshall's Chase Hancock recovered, but a review deemed the play incomplete.

The Herd wasn't able to get points, which proved to be a theme for the offense all night long.

"I don't know how many times we had the ball inside the 30, but you can't have it," Yurachek said. "You can't win football games like that. That hasn't been the Marshall of the past, and that can't be the Marshall of now."

Prior to Charlotte's drive to take the lead, Marshall had a stretch when four consecutive drives moved into Charlotte territory with no points being put on the board as a plethora of mistakes ended potential big possessions.

The Herd took over at Charlotte's 32-yard line following a shanked punt, but a pair of holding penalties negated first downs and Kaare Vedvik's punt went into the end zone to give the 49ers possession at the 20-yard line, which led to the lengthy scoring drive, capped by Klugh's head-over-heels score.

Marshall appeared to be on its way to a two-score lead on the first drive of the second half, but the self-inflicted wounds took control literally feet from the goal line. The Herd drove inside the Charlotte 5-yard line and Davis lost control of the football while stretching for the pylon and the ball went through the end zone, which turned the ball over to the 49ers.

Charlotte immediately moved downfield into Marshall territory, but the Herd defense tightened and got a stop to force a field goal attempt. Blake Brewer's 25-yard kick was good to make it 24-20.

The Herd's missed opportunities started late in the first half when the offense squandered a chance to take a two-score lead into the locker room. Marshall drove to the Charlotte 38 after the 49ers turned it over on downs, but a last-ditch effort to score before halftime fell into the arms of Charlotte safety Ed Rolle, despite Rolle being the only 49ers' defender around three Marshall receivers.

Marshall settled for a 24-17 lead at the halftime break and didn't score in the second half.

Quarterback Chase Litton completed 32 of 46 pass attempts for 262 yards and two scores, but the Marshall offense was never able to complete the task once in the score zone after halftime.

"We just went out there and didn't finish," Litton said. "Coach Legg (offensive coordinator Bill Legg) couldn't have called a better game. He put us in situations to succeed and we'd get down there and make our plays, and something would come up. As a team, as an offense, that's on us."

Early on, it didn't appear the Herd would have any problems with a 21-10 advantage following a pair of Litton touchdown passes to Justin Hunt.

Litton completed 13 of his first 15 passes including a pair of short touchdown passes to Justin Hunt of four and five yards respectively that helped the Herd offense push to the advantage.

Hunt's first scoring reception of four yards came one play after a Chris Jackson interception that set the Herd up inside the 5-yard line. The score gave the Herd a lead it would not relinquish in the half.

After Charlotte kicker Blake Brewer hit a 38-yard field goal to cut the advantage to four, the Herd drove 73 yards with Litton connecting on third down to Hunt in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard score to make it 21-10.

Charlotte answered when Kalif Phillips broke off a 32-yard run to set up his own 5-yard TD jaunt that cut it to four points before a 38-yard field goal from Amoreto Curraj set the halftime score.

Phillips finished with 123 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns for Charlotte. Klugh was 17 of 31 passing for 203 yards while rushing for 48 yards and the game-winning score.

Gant recorded a career-high 14 tackles for Marshall.

Marshall returns to action for a pair of road games, starting with Saturday's 7 p.m. contest at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss.