 "Photo: Sholten Singer")
Those who started leaving after Marshall punted back to Southern Miss with 5:21 to go in the fourth quarter saw it coming. Those who found the exits after a late Brian Anderson interception just plain saw it.
Marshall let another fourth quarter chance at victory slip away.
Surprise, surprise.
Bowl eligibility will have to wait yet another week after the Thundering Herd failed to take advantage of chances down the stretch in a 27-20 loss to the Golden Eagles before a restless crowd of 21,036 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday.
“This hurts on a lot of fronts,” Marshall head coach Mark Snyder said. “There’s no question about that.”
Perhaps the literal translation of “hurt” held key meaning in Snyder’s statement. The Herd lost both star tight end Cody Slate and running back Darius Marshall before the fourth quarter started.
But perhaps the figurative translation of “hurt” was the real feeling after this one.
For the first time all night, the Joan was rocking with a little over seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter. After battling to tie things at 20, the Marshall defense had the Golden Eagles right where it wanted them.
It was a third-and-11 and the Herd could afford to bring the house with a blitz.
It did — but Southern Miss went to the house with a pass.
Advantage, Eagles.
Quarterback Martevious Young found DeAndre Brown on a lofted 36-yard pass to the end zone for what would eventually serve as the winning score.
“We gave up the wheel route and DeAndre Brown’s a good player,” Sndyer said. “He’s 6-foot-6 and (Herd defensive back) Ahmed (Shakoor) is 5-10. And that’s the matchup that they wanted, and they got it and completed the ball.”
The Young-to-Brown connection proved to complete their win, but the Golden Eagles had to sweat it out as the game hit its waning moments.
First came Marshall’s desperation drive that started with under four minutes to play. Anderson, who finished the game with a career-high 337 yards, was working the middle of the field to Slate’s replacement, Lee Smith.
The junior tight end was money on three consecutive plays, including a 5-yard grab to put the Herd within striking distance at the Southern Miss 36.
But then Anderson made his first mistake of the night. He got greedy on a pitch to Antavious Wilson around the goal line. Wilson, who made 13 catches for 153 yards, couldn’t corral it in between two Southern Miss defenders. A Golden Eagle corner was on him underneath and a Golden Eagle safety was on him over the top.The latter, Justin Wilson, picked B.A. off.
“I have to see the safety better,” Anderson said. “I saw him beat the DB off the line so bad that I thought I could put it up to him before the safety got over there and the safety made a great play.”
Around a minute later, Anderson unfortunately found Wilson again. This time it was a desperation heave to Southern Miss’ 7, where all the junior safety had to do was play center field.
It was the last play of Marshall’s final drive that, because of a poor Golden Eagles punt proceeded by their inability to gain a game-clinching first down, started at Southern Miss’ 32 with 1:03 left.
But three incompletions and an interception sealed the Herd’s fate.
“I think I overthrew Lee on the first one,” Anderson said, reliving the final drive. “You just have to make a better pass. I’m not really sure what happened on second down. On third down, we got pressure and fumbled. On fourth down, I just kind of threw it up as I was getting hit there.”
Well, that wasn’t the first time Anderson was hit. In fact, he was sacked a season-high eight times and hurried another seven.
B.A. got ice packs on the house from the training staff afterward.
“They wanted me to get in the cold tub because I need about five more bags,” he said. “But I really didn’t feel like walking around with that much ice.”
But maybe that tub was already full with Marshall special teams players trying to heal their wounds after a subpar effort.
Perhaps the Herd (5-5, 3-3 Conference USA) is sitting comfortably ahead in the fourth quarter instead of playing catch-up if the specialists don’t foul-up more than a few game-changing plays.
A sampling:
-On the Golden Eagles‘ first possession, Marshall extended their drive after Johnny Jones ran into punter Peter Boehme for a 15-yard penalty. Nine plays later, Tory Harrison bullied in for a 1-yard score.
-After the Herd took its only lead of the game (10-7) following an Anderson-to-Aaron Dobson 29-yard touchdown in the second quarter, Southern Miss’ Tracy Lamplsy took the ensuing kickoff return to paydirt for an electrifying 93-yard score.
-With under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, DeQuan Bembry fumbled a punt return, which Southern Miss recovered at the Herd’s 39. One play later, Young found running back Damion Fletcher wide open on a wheel route for an easy 39-yard pitch and catch for a score to put Southern Miss ahead 20-13.
-With under five to play in the third and the Eagles up 20-13, Jones again extended a Southern Miss drive by getting called for an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty. It never scored on the drive but the Eagles were able to chew up five minutes off the clock.
“I thought we have been pretty good on special teams, but they at least cost us 14 points tonight,” Snyder said.
Other game notes: Slate’s injury came with less than six minutes remaining in the first quarter. After making a six-yard grab for a first down, he was hit by a Southern Miss defender on the right knee. He did not return to the game and, by the tone of Sndyer’s voice, the senior may never play again in a Marshall uniform. “At this juncture, it does not look good,” Snyder said. ... Smith held his own replacing Slate, finishing with six catches for 77 yards ... Marshall’s injury came in the middle of the third quarter after he seemed to tweak his ankle on a run. He finished the game on crutches ... Marshall was replaced by Terrell Edwards-Maye, who gained 12 yards on three carries. Marshall had just 22 yards on 11 carries before leaving the game ... Anderson gained those 337 yards by completing 29 of 52 passes ... Southern Miss (6-4, 4-2) was outgained 363-294 ... The Herd will get chance No. 3 at bowl eligibility next Saturday when it takes on C-USA West Division leader SMU at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m.
Andrew Ramspacher can be contacted at ramspacher@marshall.edu.
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