HUNTINGTON, WV – They say when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.
Unless you are Appalachian State quarterback Zac Thomas, then you should be thinking about Marshall defensive ends Koby Cumberlander and Darius Hodge, who combined for five quarterback hurries and two sacks in the Thundering Herd’s 17-7 win over the Mountaineers Saturday afternoon.
Marshall brought the pressure and the pain all day, limiting Thomas to just 268 yards and one touchdown and forcing an interception as well. The Herd also held App State to 96 yards on the ground and only allowed 4-of-13 conversions on third down. And they created so much chaos that veteran kicker Chandler Stanton missed a 26-yard field goal with 2:54 left in the game.
“We knew it was a challenge going in but I thought our guys accepted that challenge,” said head coach Doc Holliday of the defensive effort. “The front did their job stopping the run number one and getting pressure on our quarterback when we had to. I thought our secondary played really well. They all played well. You don’t hold a team like that that to just seven points.”
The defensive show out lent confidence to the initially unproductive Marshall offense, giving redshirt freshman quarterback Grant Wells a chance to slow down and settle in.
“That took a lot of pressure off of us knowing that we didn’t have to go down there and score every time, as much as we would have liked to,” said Wells. “We just had to put our defense in a good position because we knew they weren’t going to allow very many points. As well as they were playing today, the confidence was really high on the offensive side of the ball.”
Wells, who finished 11-25 for 163 yards and one interception, shared some high praise that Holliday had for the defense in the locker room after the game.
“They played lights out,”declared Wells. “I heard Doc in the locker room say that it was one of the best defensive performances he’s been a part of and that’s one of the best I’ve seen too. It really keeps your momentum, keeps your confidence up when you know, coming off a fourth down or coming off a stop that you’ve got the best defense going out there and holding their offense to very little.”
While Wells’ day didn’t unfold quite like the victory over Eastern Kentucky, he had help on the ground from running back Brenden Knox. The Conference USA pre-season Player of the Year finished with 28 carries for 138 yards and one touchdown, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Knox looked like a complete beast, breaking tackles and burning holes through App State’s defense.
The Herd’s second win of the season also marked the first-ever victory over a ranked opponent at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. But bigger than that was the national stage CBS provided and the prime-time slot the Herd were handed to do with what they pleased. And they decided to make a statement.
“We let them know that we are doing what we are supposed to do,” said linebacker Tavante Beckett, who finished the game with a career-high 16 tackles. “We’ve got great coaches; we’ve got great strength coaches and a great group of guys that love to play football and go to work every day. This was an opportunity to show the world who we are when we are dialed in.”
Marshall’s statement win goes beyond the football field though.
“I think it’s huge, not just for our football program but for our school and our community,” expressed Holliday. “Marshall is a special place. This team is a special team and it means a lot to our fanbase and our community and I thought early on, I think we only had 13,000 or whatever had there but they were loud and proud I know that. And you know what the great thing is, the last two weeks we’ve played, they have been there from start to finish. I’m just so proud of the fans, the way they showed up and the way they showed off. We sure heard them; they were a big part of it.”
