NEW ORLEANS — This time the warm-up acts upstaged the stars.

Darius Marshall — the nation’s leading rusher — was held to a season-low 98 yards. Mackey Award candidate Cody Slate had just two catches for 33 yards.

But that didn’t stop the Marshall supporting cast from performing well as the Thundering Herd beat the Tulane Green Wave 31-10 Saturday in Conference USA play.

A fumble return for a touchdown by Ashton Hall, a key goal line stand by the defense and two interceptions were instrumental in the win.

“It wasn’t the Darius Marshall and Cody Slate show, it was other guys stepping up and making plays,” said Snyder. “The goal line stand was great, and any time you create turnovers you have a chance to win.”

After struggling last week in a 21-17 loss to East Carolina, Herd quarterback Brian Anderson bounced back and completed 18-of-22 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. Anderson completed passes to six different receivers.

“He played pretty good. He’s a calm, cool customer. He bounced back like we thought he would,” said Snyder.

Anderson gave credit to the defense and his receivers for the win.

“They kept the ball a lot but fortunately the defense got a big score for us,” said Anderson. “We had a lot of different guys stepping up for us today. (All the receivers) stepped up for me.”

Tulane (2-3,0-2) took a 7-0 lead on a 32-yard run by Jordan Sullen off a reverse with 11:18 on the first quarter clock.

An onside kickoff backfired and the Herd drove 44 yards to tie the game on an 11-yard run by Marshall.

Tulane botched the ensuing kickoff and was backed up at its own 7 but put together a 44-yard drive to the Marshall 49.

But John Youboty sacked Tulane quarterback Joe Kemp and on the next play Albert McClellan forced Jeremy Williams to fumble. Hall picked up the ball and returned it 29 yards and Marshall had the lead for good a 14-7.

Tulane ran 19 plays and ate up 10:59 off the clock on its next possession, but the Herd had a goal line stand on a fourth-and-one as linebacker Mario Harvey made a tackle on Williams for a 1-yard loss.

The Herd proceeded to drive the length of the field and scored on a 21-yard pass from Anderson to Chuck Walker and it was 21-7 at the break.

Craig Ratanamorn kicked a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter and it was 24-7.

Brandon Burns came up with an interception that put the Herd at the Tulane 5-yard line where Marshall scored on the next play and it was now 31-7 with 13:44 to play.

Tulane added a field goal to cap the scoring.

The win was Marshall’s second straight road win and gave the Herd a 4-2 record overall and 1-1 in C-USA.

“It’s good to get that monkey off our back. We have some maturing in that locker room right now and it’s starting to show,” said Snyder.

Marshall must now prepare for next week’s intrastate rivalry game at West Virginia.

“We have to tackle better than we did today. We have to address that and address that in a hurry,” said Snyder. “We just have to try and get better every week.”

Marshall stats

MARSHALL 31, TULANE 10

Marshall 14 7 3 7 — 31

Tulane 7 0 0 3 — 10

First Quarter

Tul—Sullen 32 run (Thevenot kick), 11:18.

Mar—Marshall 11 run (Ratanamorn kick), 8:31.

Mar—Hall 29 fumble return (Ratanamorn kick), :41.

Second Quarter

Mar—C.Walker 21 pass from Anderson (Ratanamorn kick), :34.

Third Quarter

Mar—FG Ratanamorn 32, 6:58.

Fourth Quarter

Mar—Marshall 5 run (Ratanamorn kick), 13:44.

Tul—FG Thevenot 33, 9:31.

A—28,312.

———

Mar Tul

First downs 16 23

Rushes-yards 27-116 39-189

Passing 207 215

Comp-Att-Int 18-24-1 23-41-2

Return Yards 70 0

Punts-Avg. 4-43.0 2-37.0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-2

Penalties-Yards 6-42 2-10

Time of Possession 26:08 33:52

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Marshall, Marshall 20-98, Ward 3-11, Edwards-Maye 2-9, J.Taylor 1-0, Team 1-(minus 2). Tulane, Anderson 18-92, Jason 10-51, Sullen 1-32, Duplessis 4-19, Kemp 3-7, J.Williams 3-(minus 12).

PASSING—Marshall, Anderson 18-22-1-207, P.Taylor 0-1-0-0, Team 0-1-0-0. Tulane, Kemp 14-23-1-116, Griffin 9-17-1-99, Banks 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING—Marshall, A.Wilson 6-65, C.Walker 4-37, Bonner 3-40, Slate 2-33, Smith 2-21, J.Wilson 1-11. Tulane, J.Williams 8-53, Jason 4-22, Anderson 3-43, Robottom 2-28, A.Williams 2-26, Duplessis 1-15, Figaro 1-14, Grant 1-11, Banks 1-3.