Moral victories for CMU
HUNTINGTON, W. VA— Head Coach Mike DeBord had to be pleased with the Chippewas play against Marshall.
Well, at least for the first half.
The Chippewas were beating the Herd at their house, until the second quarter.
Marshall’s first touchdown of the game, a fluke. Franklin Wallace ran a six-yard sweep on the left side to score.
Except, a Marshall player Cullen Jenkins as he tried to stop Wallace.
As CMU broadcaster Ed Phelps put it, “Jenkins was held so bad that the offensive lineman stole a part of his jersey.”
A penalty flag was thrown on Marshall, but only for excessive celebration.
Then, Derrick Vickers throws an interception at the goaline. Marshall makes CMU pay and takes a 14-7 lead.
Central was still in the game. But as time expired at the end of the first half, Paul Savich missed a 34-yard field goal wide left.
Sure, there could have been a roughing the kicker call against Marshall. But at 34 yards, there are no is no excuses for missing.
But, Central was still in the game, just with less momentum.
Vickers and the offense got the ball to start the second half moves into Marshall territory.
On second and 11 from the Marshall 39-yard line wide receiver Rob Turner drops a ball, one of five drops on the day.
DeBord said Turner struggled. It’s tough to solve passing woes when a top receiver can’t catch the ball.
Then, on third down Central throws a four-yard screen pass and punts.
Then, within a blink of an eye Marshall goes up 35-7.
Byron Leftwich, the Marshall quarterback rallied his receivers and exploited the Chippewas inability to put pressure on him.
He threw for two touchdowns of 86 and 47-yards and Franklin Wallace ran for another during a third quarter DeBord would love to forget.
Leftwich finished with 471 yards passing. He could have had over 500 but was pulled early in the fourth quarter.
No matter how the Chippewas tried to stop Leftwich, he always had an answer.
CMU tried blitzing him. Leftwich completed short underneath passes.
CMU tried blitzing him again, the Marshall offensive line picked up the blitz.
CMU tried blitzing cornerbacks and safeties, Leftwich beat them with big plays.
Marshall was not yet done, as they scored on their sixth straight possession to lead 42-7, before putting in their second string offense and defense.
Positives for CMU
Terrence Jackson and Kenan Lawhorne. Finally, a solid 1-2 punch running game. Add in a consistent passing game and watch out for the offense to roll up the points.
Jackson continues to run the ball with power and Lawhorne did a solid job of complementing the offense with his runs and catches.
Also, the offensive line. A better job of protecting Vickers in the second half after allowing three sacks in the first half and a solid job of run blocking.
Most importantly, CMU beat Marshall in the fourth quarter and refused to give up.
Unfortunately, once again the game was out of reach. But DeBord had to be pleased with the effort.
If the score is 14-10 at the half against Marshall, it’s a whole different ball game and winning the fourth quarter matters.
