Marshall is accustomed to gaudy statistics, but the one stat the Thundering Herd really wanted escaped their grasp on Saturday.
The West Virginia school is second in the NCAA in total wins over the last five years, but the six-year member of Division I-A has yet to find a win over a Top 25 team.
After losing to No. 12 Tennessee, the search will continue. But Marshall head coach Bob Pruett said his team is getting closer.
“I really didn’t think that at any time we didn’t think we could win the ballgame,” Pruett said. “We came down here and played a good team, but we’re a good team. It’s not nearly as big a gap as you might think.”
The Herd did very little to prove their coach wrong.
Marshall recorded 294 yards of total offense against the nation’s leader in total defense, completed five plays over 20 yards – one of 65 – and only trailed by four points entering the fourth quarter.
“What we said going into the ballgame was, ‘They make one play we gotta make two,'” Pruett said. “I thought we answered a lot of the times. We played our hearts out, but they’re just a good football team and they’re gonna win a lot of football games.”
Pruett’s team might have lost against the Vols, but his program seems to be drawing closer to its goal of national respect.
In the past three years, Marshall has taken on national powers Florida and Virginia Tech – both losses – but performed well enough against Tennessee to prove to Pruett his team is developing.
“This Tennessee team is probably the best of all those programs we’ve faced,” Pruett said. “So you have to see we’re getting there, we just have gotten there yet.”
Marshall showed that lack of maturity at several points in the game.
One turning point came when Herd quarterback Stan Hill called a timeout with 38 seconds left in the first half on a third-and-30 situation. Instead of running out the clock with a three-point lead, Marshall punted, leading to a quick Vol score.
The Herd would never lead the game again.
“We’re used to going for those type things,” Pruett said. “We’d rather run the clock out, but that ain’t what beat us, it just added to it.”
So while the Herd didn’t get that coveted marquee win, according to wide receiver Darius Watts, the performance will have lasting effects on the season.
“I think other teams we play are going to give us a little more respect now, especially in the passing game,” Watts said. “We showed a lot today.”
Watts ended the game with nine grabs for 109 yards, but became less of a factor when Hill left the game with a knee sprain.
Hill, who finished with 24 completions for 242 yards, had to leave the game when the knee injury became unbearable. He did say the pain in his knee, though, wasn’t nearly as bad as leaving the game when his team needed him.
“It just sucks right now,” Hill said. “I mean to be in there the whole game and be so close, then to go out like that just hurts.
“But we’ll take this and build on it. I have no doubt we’re going to have a successful season, and this game just confirms that.”
