Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
3-1 , 0-0
Gardner-Webb
1-4 , 0-0
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardner-Webb | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Marshall | 10 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 36 |
Marshall Football Tops Gardner-Webb In Homecoming Thriller
9/26/2026 9:17:00 PM | Football
Diaz Nicolas hits game-winning FG to cap 36-35 victory for Herd; Del Rio-Wilson, Turner-Bradshaw with career-high efforts
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall kicker Jorge Diaz Nicolas hit a 32-yard field goal – his third of the game – with three seconds left as the Thundering Herd capped an exciting 36-35 win over Gardner-Webb in front of a Homecoming crowd of 25,710 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday.
Diaz Nicolas' kick came after a 10-play, 66-yrd drive orchestrated by quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, who finished with a career-high 386 yards through the air with three touchdowns.
With the win, Marshall moves to 3-1 on the season heading into Sun Belt Conference action next week.
"One thing I do know about this football team is that they don't let up and they don't quit," Marshall head coach Tony Gibson said. "It would've been very easy for us to stop playing at the end, but they kept fighting and they found a way. I will take – what do we have, eight more? – I'll take eight more one-point wins, but we have to help ourselves and right now, we aren't doing that."
For the second straight game, Marshall's offense was rolling and the Herd defense got a key stop en route to a final minute victory. The Herd finished with 569 yards of offense on 75 plays.
Marshall trailed 35-27 with just over six minutes left, but Del Rio-Wilson found Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw for his second touchdown of the day – a 34-yard scoring toss – to cut the deficit to two.
For the second straight week, the Herd defense bowed up inside its own 10-yard line to produce a stop that proved pivotal in the win.
Following a failed two-point conversion from the Herd, Gardner-Webb drove to the Herd 8-yard line, but the Herd got a tackle for loss of Runnin' Bulldogs quarterback Cole Pennington and forced a missed 27-yard field goal that preceded the Herd's final drive.
On the final drive, Marshall got a 27-yard completion from Del Rio-Wilson to Deandre Tamarez, who caught a quick pass and made one defender miss for the big gain to set the Herd up in Gardner-Webb territory, which led to the game-winner from Diaz Nicolas.
Del Rio-Wilson said the Herd had confidence taking the field in the two-minute offense with a chance to win the game.
"Just knowing that they missed that field goal, the whole offense came together in the huddle," Del Rio-Wilson said. "We knew we had to execute and drive the ball down the field to get in field goal range or in the box (end zone). We wanted to get in the box, but if a field goal wins it, that's what we'll do."
It was part of a day in which the Herd threw for a total of 413 yards with Khalil Wilkins also completing a 27-yarder.
Turner-Bradshaw finished with seven catches for 131 yards and two scores while Tamarez had three catches for 96 yards. Toby Payne also had seven catches for 57 yards.
Marshall receivers made the passes count after hauling in receptions with 220 yards after contact.
"We always push yards-after-catch – YAC," Turner-Bradshaw said. "That's a big thing. For us small guys with speed, we have to catch the ball and get going. We always want to get North and South and we were very happy that we were able to see North and South today."
Turner-Bradshaw opened the scoring for the Herd with a 48-yard touchdown on a slant from Del Rio-Wilson that was part of a quarter in which the Herd and Gardner-Webb combined for 400 yards.
Much like the end of the game, the final two minutes of the half was good for the Herd as the team got a 5-yard scoring run from Jo'Shon Barbie and a 21-yard field goal from Diaz Nicolas to go into halftime leading 27-21.
Barbie had two touchdowns on the day for the Herd, also catching an 8-yard toss from Del Rio-Wilson and Diaz Nicolas connected on a career-long 54-yard field goal in the first quarter to cap his second straight game with three field goals.
The win marked the Herd's third straight one-score win as they head into Sun Belt Conference action next weekend.
Marshall hits the road for its first SBC action of the 2026 season at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday when the team takes on defending champion James Madison in a game nationally-televised by ESPNU.
For all the latest information about Marshall Football, follow @HerdFB on X and @Herd_FB on Instagram.
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---HerdZone.com---
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
GWU 7, MAR 0
GWU - Jones,Kory 11 yd pass from Pennington,Cole (Simpson,Tyler kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:53
GWU 7, MAR 7
MAR - Turner-Bradshaw,Xayvion 48 yd pass from Del Rio-Wilson,Carlos (Diaz Nicolas,Jorge kick) 6 plays, 72 yards, TOP 03:01
GWU 14, MAR 7
GWU - Adopte,Giovanni 75 yd pass from Pennington,Cole (Simpson,Tyler kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:12
GWU 14, MAR 10
MAR - Diaz Nicolas,Jorge 54 yd field goal 6 plays, 36 yards, TOP 01:51
GWU 14, MAR 17
MAR - Barbie,Joshon 8 yd pass from Del Rio-Wilson,Carlos (Diaz Nicolas,Jorge kick) 11 plays, 91 yards, TOP 06:42
GWU 21, MAR 17
GWU - Tshilombo,Ruben 36 yd fumble recovery (Simpson,Tyler kick)
GWU 21, MAR 24
MAR - Barbie,Joshon 5 yd run (Diaz Nicolas,Jorge kick), 9 plays, 59 yards, TOP 03:28
GWU 21, MAR 27
MAR - Diaz Nicolas,Jorge 21 yd field goal 4 plays, 15 yards, TOP 00:36
GWU 28, MAR 27
GWU - Jones,Kory 25 yd pass from Pennington,Cole (Simpson,Tyler kick) 15 plays, 91 yards, TOP 06:21
GWU 35, MAR 27
GWU - Adopte,Giovanni 44 yd pass from Pennington,Cole (Simpson,Tyler kick) 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 04:04
GWU 35, MAR 33
MAR - Turner-Bradshaw,Xayvion 34 yd pass from Del Rio-Wilson,Carlos () 8 plays, 74 yards, TOP 03:18
GWU 35, MAR 36
MAR - Diaz Nicolas,Jorge 32 yd field goal 10 plays, 66 yards, TOP 01:54