Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Houston
Marshall Falls to Cougars in Shootout
11/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 17, 2007
HOUSTON - Marshall's football team came up just one score short once again Saturday as Houston used a balanced offensive attack to post a 35-28 win over the Herd in Conference USA football action.
Houston's Anthony Aldridge rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown and had another score through the air, while quarterback Case Keenum added a combined 342 yards of offense and three scores. Cougar tight end Mark Hafner led all receivers with six catches for 128 yards and one score.
Marshall quarterback Bernard Morris had another excellent game through the air, completing 20 of 32 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown. Darius Marshall, Chubb Small and Kelvin Turner combined for 134 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 7-4 overall and 6-2 in Conference USA. Marshall is now 2-9 overall and 2-5 in C-USA.
Marshall had several missed opportunities in the contest. The Herd forced two first half turnovers and was unable to capitalize on either of them.
After the Cougars went ahead 3-0 on their first drive, Marshall countered to take a 7-0 lead when Morris connected on a 32-yard passing score to Emmanuel Spann with just 36 seconds remaining in the first quarter. It was the Herd's fist first-quarter touchdown of 2007.
Houston regained the lead for good on a three-yard rushing score by Alridge and took a 10-7 lead into the locker room.
The second-half looked more like the shutout that was expected. Houston opened the half with another field goal from T.J. Lawerence on its first dive, and after a Herd punt, Kennum found a wide open Alridge streaking out of the backfield for 26-yard strike to put the Cougars up 20-10.
The Herd answered with a 13-yard touchdown run from Small, but Houston jumped out to a two-score lead once again on a one-yard sneak by Keenum.
After a tough one-yard scoring run by Darius Marshall, Kennum hit Hafner for a 62-yard touchdown. Marshall scored once more on a one-yard run by Turner with 2:31 remaining to cut the final deficit to seven points.
