mu vs ecu

The ECU Pirates dominated Saturday against Marshall’s Thundering Herd in Greenville, N.C. with a final score of 37-10.

The Thundering Herd was trying to shake off a 3 game losing streak and hadn’t played since Oct.13 against UCF at home, losing 35-14.  The Herd has had a rough season so far with a conference record of 0-3 and a non-conference record of 1-2, giving them the over all record of 1-6.

The Herd was hoping to control the ball to keep ECU’s strongest players such as quaterback Davis and wide receiver Dwayne Harris off the field.  Marshall was successful in the first half, with a 22-yard field goal from lead kicker Tyler Warner and a 9-yard touch down pass from Brian Anderson to Troy Evans to with 8:56 left in the second period.

The Pirates were led by, senior Jonathan Williams who ran for 111 yards and a touchdown, quarterback Dominique Davis who threw for 208 yards and two scores, Dustin Lineback who had 12 tackles and several other outstanding receivers (ECU had a total of 11 different receivers catch balls). The ECU Pirates are currently the East Division leaders and have a conference record of 4-0 and an overall record of 5-2. Leading the Pirates to be tied for the fourth-longest active conference-winning streak in the nation.

Marshall's Brian Anderson threw for a total of 217 yards before being pulled for backup for the third game in a row. He finished with 3 interceptions before being pulled by Marshall head coach, Doc Holliday. Marshall's only touchdown was Anderson's 9-yard pass to Troy Evans midway through the second quarter that tied the game at 10-10.

The game was tied until the Pirates scored twice in the final 2:30 of the first half to take a 20-10 lead before halftime. Marshall outgained ECU in total yardage by 19 in the first half, while Davis, who is the league's top passer at about 315 yards per game, threw for only 92 yards. But Williams’ 29-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown put East Carolina ahead 17-10 with 2:14 left in the half that led to an ECU 40-yard field goal to close out the half, a Pirate lead that would only grow.

The Pirates then scored on their first three plays of the second half to open up the game.

Davis started the opening play of the second half with a 26-yard touchdown to make it 27-10. Then after the Pirates second drive ended with a field goal, Williams crushed the 100 yrd mark by jumping around and over linemen for a run of 21 yards, which set up Davis' 10-yard pass to Mike Price, scoring for the 37-10 final lead with 12:59 left in the game.

Marshall’s Thundering Herd returns to Huntington next Saturday at home for the homecoming game against UTEP. Kickoff is 3 p.m. at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

-East Carolina official sports page

-Herald Dispatch

-Herzone