Marshall continues run against Southern Miss

Nov 5, 2014 - 4:14 PM Hattiesburg, MS (SportsNetwork.com) - With just four regular season contests remaining, the No. 23-ranked Marshall Thundering Herd will attempt to remain unbeaten as they hit the road to take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in a Conference USA bout at M. M. Roberts Stadium Saturday.

Only three teams in the FBS are still undefeated, and Marshall is one of them with four games against Conference USA opponents left. The Herd trailed at halftime for the first time all season on Oct. 25 against FAU - the team's last outing. But Marshall shut out the Owls in the second half, and unleashed running back Devon Johnson to earn the 35-16 victory.

Southern Miss, after winning just one game in the 2013 season, is starting to look more like that squad than the one that started 2014 with a 2-2 record. The Golden Eagles have dropped two in a row (most recently to UTEP, 35-14), and have lost four of their last five.

This meeting between Marshall and Southern Miss will be the 10th in the series history. The Golden Eagles hold the slight lead over the Thundering Herd, 5-4, although Marshall won last year's clash, 61-13.

The last time the Thundering Herd took the field was two weekends ago, and they found themselves in a spot they hadn't experienced at all this season: they were trailing at halftime, 16-14. This came just one week after Marshall trailed an opponent for the first time all season, when FIU went up with a first-quarter touchdown. Still, the Herd overcame the slim deficit and went on to score 21 points in the second half while shutting out the Owls in the same frame.

Johnson set a Marshall rushing record against FAU in the win, gaining a program-record 272 yards with four touchdowns. He had over 100 yards by halftime when the Herd were trailing, which marked the seventh game in which the tight end transplant has gained 100 yards in a contest. He ranks seventh in the FBS this season with 1,203 rushing yards, adding 15 touchdowns to his resume.

Johnson has proven to be just as big of a component to the offense as starting quarterback Rakeem Cato, who continues to pile up the accolades. Cato this season has passed for 20 touchdowns and 2,130 yards against six interceptions, with a passing efficiency rating of 160.05, which puts him eighth in the nation. Marshall's offense is an unstoppable force, averaging 45.9 ppg (third in the FBS), 571.2 offensive ypg (second in the FBS) with 290.1 ypg coming from the running attack (sixth in the FBS). Doc Holliday's squad looks to finish the season on the same note on which it started.

"I know a lot of places take the pads off and not do things (late in the season) quite the way they've done them all year, but we don't do that," Holliday said. "We continue to grind and continue to practice the way we do, and I think it pays off on Saturdays."

Marshall's defense has been almost as devastating to face as its offense. The Herd have only allowed an opponent to score more than 20 points twice this season - one of them was in the season opener against Mid-American Conference foe Miami-Ohio. Marshall is allowing just 16.5 ppg, so the scoring differential between the Herd and their opponents is monumental. The team is holding opponents to a 31-percent success rate on third down conversions, and a 27-percent rate on fourth down tries.

Linebacker Neville Hewitt tops the defense with 62 tackles on the year, and has been a pest hanging around in opponents' backfields. He's registered eight tackles for loss and a team-high four sacks, having also picked up a fumble recovery. Defensive back A.J. Leggett is one to watch out for in the secondary, considering he leads Marshall with three interceptions. The defensive backfield is boosted by the presence of Corey Tindal (eight pass breakups) and Tiquan Lang (four pass breakups).

"We just do what we do and we go to work," Holliday said. "I think a lot of it is just our preparation, and our kids are in good shape."

A 30-20 victory over North Texas back on Oct. 18 may have been the outlier for the Golden Eagles, who have lost consecutive games by double-digit points. Southern Miss ran into a hot UTEP team last weekend and, trailing 21-14 heading into the final quarter, allowed the Miners to score 14 unanswered points in the fourth period for the 35-14 win. Cole Weeks saw the most time under center, completing 20-of-46 passes for 309 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

Regular starter Nick Mullens missed the game for the Golden Eagles. Mullens has been the better option under center this season for Southern Miss, having passed for 1,950 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Golden Eagles are still unsure if Mullens will be able to go this weekend after suffering an injury to his right foot. Wideouts Casey Martin (501 yards, two touchdowns) and Michael Thomas (491 yards, five touchdowns) will try to provide whichever quarterback is under center with some sort of aerial outlet.

The Golden Eagles have been anything but golden in the run game as of late. The team is averaging 89.9 rushing ypg behind team leaders Ito Smith (313 yards) and George Payne (six touchdowns), which has been anything but enough for some victories. A porous offensive line can be partially to blame for the lack of any success in the run game.

Southern Miss hasn't gotten much help on the defensive side of the ball either. The Golden Eagles are allowing opponents to gain 445 offensive ypg and score 33.9 ppg on them, In the team's last five games, the Eagles have only given up fewer than 30 points once - in the win to North Texas. No opponent has scored fewer than 20 points on Southern Miss this season.

Jacorius Cotton has played well for the team this season, racking up a team- best 56 tackles with five pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Brian Anderson sits right behind Cotton with 54 stops on the season, and Dasman McCullum has 10 tackles for loss and a team-high 4.5 sacks this season. But together the Eagles haven't been able to slow an opposing run game at all. Opponents are gaining 191.2 rushing ypg on them, and have scored 19 ground touchdowns through nine games.