Marshall Rolls to a Sloppy 30-13 Win Over North Texas

It took Marshall(7-0, 4-0) 15 minutes to dim the lights on North Texas(0-8, 0-4) Saturday night at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, 45 minutes to turn them out, as the Herd knocked off the Mean Green 30-13 on Homecoming.

Hyleck Foster paced the Herd with 105 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown and Chase Litton finished 19-34 for 189 yards and a touchdown as the offense held the ball for just under 35 minutes.

Marshall opened the scoring in the contest after Litton found Justin Hunt on a 1-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead with 10:40 left in the opening quarter. It was Litton's 12th touchdown of the season and Hunt's 2nd who made his first start for the Herd.

For the second time in as many drives, Marshall's defense forced a North Texas three and out and picked up where it left off on its opening drive. Foster toted the load from the backfield, as the Herd marched down to the Mean Green 13-yard line.

Litton hit Deandre Reaves on a jet sweep, but the Mean Green defense swarmed in for a 4-yard loss and forced Marshall to settle for a 34-yard Nick Smith field goal, making it 10-0. Reaves finished with a game-high six catches for 68 yards.

Marshall's swarming defense forced North Texas into a 3-play drive resulting in a loss of six yards as the offense took over at its own 45-yard line.

A Litton to Hunt hookup went for 35 yards down to the North Texas 20-yard line and three plays later, Remi Watson walked into the end zone from 10 yards out for a 17-0 Herd lead after one quarter.

Both teams mucked it up in the second with North Texas giving Marshall a unnecessary reprieve that led to another Herd touchdown.

Faced with a fourth down and three, Tyler Williams was set to send it away when a running into the kicker penalty moved the chains for the Herd to extend the drive. Marshall marched to the North Texas 3-yard line setting up 1st and goal and Foster rolled in for a 24-0 lead with 90 seconds remaining in the half.

North Texas refused to go quietly before the half with DaMarcus Smith taking the Mean Green into Herd territory to set up a field goal opportunity before time expired.  Trevor Moore banged the 37-yard attempt through the uprights as the teams head to the locker room at 24-3.

Marshall opened the second half with another Smith field goal from 32 yards, extending its lead to 27-3 lead.

Marshall's daunting defense continued its bend but don't break mentality by holding North Texas to another field goal, this one from 26 yards, trimming to lead to 27-6 at the end of the quarter.

Marshall turned in 20 quarterback hurries and recorded six tackles for loss.

Litton took Marshall to the North Texas 19-yard line only to stall out once again and settling for another Smith field goal for a 30-6 lead.

North Texas took the ball to the Marshall 26-yard line only to come away with nothing. Evan McKelvey blasted through the line on 3rd and 15, tipped Smith's pass at the line of scrimmage high into the air that would land in the hands of McKelvey for an interception. It was his second of his career.

Marshall failed to capitalize on the North Texas miscue, turning it over on downs at the Mean Green seven

North Texas saved its best for last, closing out the game with a 93-yard scoring drive on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Darvin Kidsy to make it 30-13. Smith finished 15-37 for 128 yards with a touchdown and interception.

Jeffery Wilson tallied a game-high 138 yards on 17 carries for North Texas.

North Texas outscored Marshall 10-6 in the second half.

Marshall travels to Charlotte next Saturday while North Texas welcomes UTSA.