[Westside]

Falcons pick off Herd, 44-28

J.D. Pooley/For The Herald-Dispatch

Bowling Green Falcons linebacker Dwayne Woods (5) runs the ball into the end zone after making an interception Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010, during a college football game in Bowling Green, Ohio. (Photo/J.D. Pooley)
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Herald-Dispatch.com

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — *The scene on Saturday looked like an all-too familiar one for Marshall football fans who made the trip to Doyt Perry Stadium.

The Herd committed five turnovers which led to 21 points for Bowling Green in the Falcons’ 44-28 win over Marshall on Saturday night in front of 20,515 fans at Doyt Perry Stadium.

“You can’t turn the ball over five times and beat anybody,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said. “We’ve been preaching that in our plan to win. There are few teams in America that can overcome two turnovers — *let alone five.”

Marshall spotted Bowling Green a 21-point lead, only to claw back into the contest and tie it at 28 after a pair of third-quarter touchdowns, but the Falcons forced three turnovers in a 5-minute stretch of the fourth quarter and scored the game’s final 16 points.

The clincher was a 29-yard interception return by Jerry Gates for a score midway through the frame. His interception was the fourth of the night for Marshall quarterback Brian Anderson and the second that the Falcons returned for a touchdown.

Anderson finished 20-of-44 for 191 yards a touchdown and four interceptions — *two of which came in the fourth quarter.

“I can’t turn the ball over four times. It was kind of the story of the game,” Anderson said. “Our defense played very well and showed a lot of heart out there. We fought hard to get back into it and then let it go at the end.”

Bowling Green used the two Anderson interceptions and a fumbled kickoff by Andre Booker to score 16 points in the final quarter and continue a disturbing trend for the Herd.
In the last two weeks, Marshall has been outscored 31-0 in the fourth quarter and 34-0 if you include overtime.

“We just have to learn to finish...In the fourth quarter, it was 28-28,” Holliday said. “That’s about what it was a week ago and we didn’t finish the daggone game.”

After trailing throughout the contest, Marshall tied the game at 28 after scoring 21 points in the course of 14 minutes of game action. The Herd scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns after getting a late score in the first half to seize momentum.

A 1-yard touchdown run by A.J. Graham brought the Herd within 28-21 and Martin Ward knotted the game on a 1-yard dive with 1:01 left in the third after the Herd defense forced a turnover.
Ward’s touchdown was set up when Delvin Johnson got to Bowling Green quarterback Matt Schilz and Jeremiah Taylor recovered the fumble at the home team’s 1-yard line.

With the score tied and Schilz on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, the Herd had momentum on its side, but that quickly changed.

However, Marshall’s defense got over-aggressive and the Falcons caught the Herd with a 47-yard screen pass to Willie Geter from backup Aaron Pankratz. The end result was a 27-yard field goal by Bryan Wright that gave Bowling Green a 31-28 lead with 14:13 remaining.

“Anytime a team does a two-step drop, it’s frustrating for your whole defensive line,” Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry said. “They had us running at them the whole game. They came out and executed their plan properly.”

It was an uphill battle for the Herd all evening as the team spotted Bowling Green a 21-0 lead before cutting the lead to 28-14 at the break on a 6-yard scoring pass from Anderson to Antavious Wilson with 0.9 seconds left in the first half. The drive took just 54 seconds after Jordan Hopgood’s 1-yard run had put the Falcons back up by 21.

The biggest momentum swing of the game came at the end of the first quarter. Marshall trailed 7-0 but was driving deep in Bowling Green territory when Booker fell down on a crossing route and Anderson was intercepted by Dwayne Woods, who returned the pick 78 yards for a score on the final play of the first period.

Instead of cutting into the lead, Marshall found itself down two scores heading to the second quarter.

Four plays later, Anderson was once again intercepted — *this time by Jovan Leacock, who returned the ball to Marshall’s 16-yard line and set up a 1-yard scoring run by Schilz to push the lead to 21-0.

Eddie Sullivan came on in relief of Anderson and scrambled for an 8-yard run on 3rd-and-7 to keep a drive alive. Andre Booker took the next handoff 68 yards for a touchdown with 9:29 left in the first half to get the Herd on the board.

Booker finished as the leader for the Herd with 121 yards on the ground.

Schilz threw for 181 yards and a score before being injured and Pankratz totaled 111 yards in relief, including a 31-yard scoring pass to Tyrone Pronty in the fourth quarter.

Willie Geter finished with 100 yards on 31 carries for the Falcons.

With the loss, the Herd is now 2-13 all-time at Doyt Perry Stadium.

Marshall will look for its first win next Saturday when Ohio visits Joan C. Edwards Stadium at 7 p.m.

[Stardust]

Marshalls best game was their first????

[dangerousdaneerfan]

It is apparent that Marshall had been using the preseason to prepare for WVU. It ALMOST worked.