HARRISONBURG, Va. – Marshall quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson threw for 221 yards, but it was not enough as the Thundering Herd fell to James Madison, 45-17, in front of 25,034 fans at Bridgeforth Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, Marshall falls to 3-2 on the season and 0-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.
“We shoot ourselves in the foot way too much,” Marshall head coach Tony Gibson said. “We’ve got to be better as coaches, we’ve got to be better as players – everything. One game doesn’t define who we are.”
Marshall took a 14-10 lead with 14:26 left in the second quarter following a 1-yard touchdown run by T.J. Lesterbut the Dukes scored the final 28 points of the quarter to take a sizable advantage into halftime.
The Herd came out as the aggressor in the game’s early stages, getting a third-down stop on JMU’s first drive – the first time the Dukes had not scored on their first possession all season – to take possession.
From there, Del Rio-Wilson completed six of seven passes on the Herd’s opening drive, connecting with Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw on a 3-yard scoring toss to give Marshall an early 7-0 lead. The drive took over six minutes off the clock as the Herd was 4 for 4 on third-down conversions.
A red zone turnover followed by a big play for a JMU score turned the tables in the game as the Dukes scored 28 points in the second quarter to take control.
Khalil Wilkins was a bright spot for the Herd with 99 total yards for the Herd (37 rushing, 62 receiving). Marshall had 12 different receivers catch a pass in Saturday’s loss.
Marshall returns to Joan C. Edwards Stadium for its SBC home opener on Sat., Oct. 10, when Coastal Carolina comes to Huntington for a 7 p.m. matchup.
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—HerdZone.com—
Source: herdzone.com
