By GRANT TRAYLOR

Marshall Associate A.D. of Strategic Communications

ATLANTA — Marshall Football dropped a 41-24 decision to Georgia State on Saturday night at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

With the loss, Marshall drops to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.

“We rode our way into this storm and we’ve got to ride our way out of it,” Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. “No one is feeling sorry for us. We’ve got to get ready to go on Thursday.”

Marshall running back Rasheen Ali scored three total touchdowns for the Thundering Herd, including a 64-yard reception from quarterback Cam Fancher that cut the Georgia State lead to 27-24 on the final play of the third quarter.

Ali finished with 174 all-purpose yards and his three touchdowns keeps him in the Top-5 in FBS in both scoring and rushing touchdowns.

Fancher also continued to be efficient in the throw game, finishing 27 of 34 for 301 yards while also completing 18 straight throws from the second quarter until the fourth. Fancher did not throw an incompletion in the second half.

“I thought he did a really good job managing the game,” Huff said. “He got the ball to a bunch of different receivers.”

Marshall fell behind 27-10 after Georgia State scored with just 1:19 before halftime, but the Herd drove 75 yards in less than one minute with Ali’s second touchdown run of the game cutting into the deficit.

J.J. Roberts finished with a career-high 15 tackles in the loss while Owen Porter added 10 tackles and a sack from his defensive end spot.

Marshall Football returns to action for a nationally-televised SBC showdown with James Madison at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

Marshall	7	10	7	0	—	24
Georgia St.	14	13	0	14	—	41

First Quarter

GAST–Grainger 24 run (Rickman kick), 13:03.

MRSH–Ali 2 run (Verhoff kick), 10:30.

GAST–Guy 4 punt return (Rickman kick), 6:50.

Second Quarter

GAST–FG Rickman 34, 13:17.

MRSH–FG Verhoff 21, 8:02.

GAST–FG Rickman 39, 2:47.

GAST–T.Williams 74 pass from Grainger (Rickman kick), 1:19.

MRSH–Ali 2 run (Verhoff kick), :23.

Third Quarter

MRSH–Ali 65 pass from Fancher (Verhoff kick), :00.

Fourth Quarter

GAST–Grainger 2 run (Rickman kick), 11:02.

GAST–M.Carroll 2 run (Rickman kick), 1:42.

—————

	MRSH	GAST
First downs	24	24
Total Net Yards	450	474
Rushes-yards	35-156	42-240
Passing	294	234
Punt Returns	0-0	3-88
Kickoff Returns	1-23	0-0
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	0-0
Comp-Att-Int	27-34-0	21-31-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	3-17	2-9
Punts	5-37.8	3-37.667
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	1-0
Penalties-Yards	8-76	8-80
Time of Possession	27:29	32:31

—————

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Marshall, Ali 19-103, E.Payne 4-46, Fancher 11-9, (Team) 1-(minus 2). Georgia St., M.Carroll 27-153, Grainger 13-68, Brock 2-19.

PASSING–Marshall, Fancher 27-34-0-294. Georgia St., Grainger 21-31-0-234.

RECEIVING–Marshall, Simmons 5-53, Ali 4-71, J.Harrison 4-49, Coombs 4-5, Pierce 3-39, Harris 2-27, E.Payne 2-20, C.Montgomery 2-17, Mottillo 1-13. Georgia St., T.Williams 6-129, Carter 5-31, R.Lewis 4-36, Thompson 3-24, Green 1-6, Kikwata 1-5, M.Carroll 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.