By GRANT TRAYLOR

Marsahall Associate A.D. Strategic Communications

CONWAY, S.C. –Marshall Football dropped a 34-6 contest against Coastal Carolina in front of a record crowd of 21,324 fans at Brooks Stadium on Saturday night.

With the loss, Marshall falls to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in Sun Belt Conference action.

“We didn’t execute well enough to beat a good team,” Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. “Hats off to Coastal, first off, because they made the plays, but way too many explosive plays given up in the pass game on defense.”

Coastal Carolina jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in the contest as Marshall turned the ball over four times, which contributed to the loss.

Marshall kicker Rece Verhoff connected on field goals of 23 and 44 yards to provide the lone points on the evening for the Thundering Herd.

One of Verhoff’s field goals came after a recovered punt fumble by linebacker Landyn Watson – the first fumble recovery of his Marshall career.

Marshall’s special teams also got a boost from Isaiah Gibson, who blocked a Coastal Carolina field goal in the second half, and punter John McConnell, who averaged 41.3 yards on his three punts with all landing inside the 20.

Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher finished the game 11 of 22 for 125 yards with two interceptions.

Freshman quarterback Cole Pennington also came in during the second half and finished 12 of 23 for 77 yards and two interceptions.

“We had a lot of drops, a lot of missed opportunities and a lot of poor throws,” Huff said. “They took us out of the run game a little bit because they got out ahead of us.”

Rasheen Ali returned to action after missing last week’s game and finished with 52 yards on the ground. Wide receiver DeMarcus Harris was the Herd’s leading receiver with five catches for 61 yards.

Defensively, A.G. McGhee had a career-high nine tackles and added an interception in the loss for the Herd, who returns to action at 6 p.m. on Saturday against App State in Boone, N.C.

Marshall	0	6	0	0	—	6
Coastal Carolina	10	17	0	7	—	34

First Quarter

CCAR_FG Hensley 36, 10:55.

CCAR_Jar.Brown 30 pass from Guest (Hensley kick), 6:18.

Second Quarter

CCAR–FG Hensley 33, 12:40.

MRSH–FG Verhoff 23, 7:23.

CCAR–Jar.Brown 59 pass from Guest (Hensley kick), 5:05.

CCAR–Coleman 27 pass from Guest (Hensley kick), 2:57.

MRSH–FG Verhoff 44, :03.

Fourth Quarter

CCAR–White 1 run (Hensley kick), 9:49.

A–21,324.

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	MRSH	CCAR
First downs	17	20
Total Net Yards	283	427
Rushes-yards	26-81	40-145
Passing	202	282
Punt Returns	1–1	1-5
Kickoff Returns	1-31	0-0
Interceptions Ret.	1-0	4-25
Comp-Att-Int	23-45-4	15-22-1
Sacked-Yards Lost	3-26	0-0
Punts	3-41.333	2-38.5
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	1-0
Penalties-Yards	7-60	5-62
Time of Possession	27:53	32:07

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Marshall, Ali 12-52, A.Roberts 2-11, E.Payne 2-11, J.Harrison 1-8, Fancher 7-8, Pennington 2-(minus 9). Coastal Carolina, Vasko 5-37, Guest 3-36, White 11-33, Jar.Brown 3-26, Beasley 5-11, Balthazar 7-10, Simpkins 2-7, (Team) 4-(minus 15).

PASSING–Marshall, Fancher 11-22-2-125, Pennington 12-23-2-77. Coastal Carolina, Guest 14-20-1-289, Vasko 0-1-0-0, Duplessis 1-1-0-(minus 7).

RECEIVING–Marshall, Harris 5-61, Coombs 4-52, Keaton 3-18, C.Conley 3-12, Simmons 2-19, B.Robinson 2-10, Ali 2-4, A.Roberts 1-17, Pierce 1-9. Coastal Carolina, Jar.Brown 5-117, S.Pinckney 2-48, Tucker 2-44, Karr 2-40, Coleman 1-27, Beasley 1-7, Fountain 1-6, Vasko 1-(minus 7).

MISSED FIELD GOALS–Marshall, Verhoff 49. Coastal Carolina, Hensley 33.