Marshall University Athletics
Herd Rolls Past Zips 50-33
10/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Herd Rolls Past Zips 50-33
10/27/2001
- Game Stats
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Byron Leftwich surpassed 400 yards passing for the third straight game, throwing for four touchdowns in Marshall's 50-33 victory over Akron on Saturday night.
The Herd (6-1, 5-0 Mid-American) did little wrong against the league's worst defense.
Leftwich was 25-of-39 for 434 yards, becoming the first quarterback in conference history with three straight 400-yard games.
Franklin Wallace ran for a career-high 196 yards on 23 carries, including a pair of fourth-quarter TD runs.
Three Marshall receivers surpassed 100 yards in one game for the first time ever.
The Herd's 726 total yards were the most given up this season by Akron (2-6, 2-3). The teams combined for a conference-record 1,249 yards of offense.
Despite Marshall's firepower, Akron had a chance to close within a touchdown at the start of the second half. The Zips drove 89 yards to the Marshall 1, but the Herd's Charlie Tynes sacked Charlie Frye on fourth down.
Marshall then drove the length of the field with Leftwich hitting Denero Marriott on a 35-yard TD toss for a 30-10 lead.
Leftwich needed just four plays on the Herd's next drive, finding an open Josh Davis, who put several moves on the Zip defenders and scored untouched on a 69-yard TD play.
Akron then weaved through the Herd defense for two long touchdown drives but couldn't get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Marshall's Darius Watts matched his Division I-A-best average of 144 yards on nine catches, including TD receptions of 61 and 23 yards.
Davis had four catches for 115 yards and Marriott had seven for 108.
Akron's Bob Hendry had a career-high 192 yards on 35 carries.
