By GRANT TRAYLOR

Marshall Associate A.D. of Media

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Football fell in its final road contest of the 2023 regular season, falling to South Alabama 28-0 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

With the loss, Marshall falls to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the Sun Belt Conference.

“We got our butts kicked tonight,” Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. “We talked all week about not having the emotional hangover and how much emotion went into that game and that we had to recharge, but we didn’t. That starts with me, obviously, but we came out very low-mo and we got our butts kicked.”

Marshall linebacker Stephen Dix, Jr., finished with a career-high 14 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.

That output from Dix matched that of linebacker Eli Neal, who also had 14 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss with two pass breakups.

Punter John McConnell also had a solid day for the Thundering Herd, averaging 42.7 yards per punt on seven punts with two punts inside the 20.

Quarterback Cole Pennington finished 22 of 36 for 159 yards and three interceptions. Running back Rasheen Ali finished with 55 rushing yards on 16 carries while also hauling in four passes for 41 yards.

Saturday marked the first time Marshall had been shut out on the road since Oct. 14, 2000 at Toledo (42-0).

Marshall returns home next week for Senior Day with a 3:30 p.m. contest against Arkansas State at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

Marshall	0	0	0	0	—	0
South Alabama	14	7	0	7	—	28

First Quarter

USA–FG Guajardo 47, 10:37.

USA–FG Guajardo 43, 8:38.

USA–Pritchett 25 pass from Bradley (L.Webb pass from Bradley), 5:02.

Second Quarter

USA–L.Webb 8 pass from Bradley (Guajardo kick), 3:19.

Fourth Quarter

USA–L.Webb 6 run (Guajardo kick), 10:15.

—————

	MRSH	USA
First downs	10	20
Total Net Yards	201	393
Rushes-yards	20-42	46-197
Passing	159	196
Punt Returns	0-0	4-72
Kickoff Returns	3-32	0-0
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	3-0
Comp-Att-Int	22-36-3	19-26-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	0-0	3-16
Punts	7-42.714	4-45.25
Fumbles-Lost	0-0	1-1
Penalties-Yards	7-41	5-37
Time of Possession	23:33	36:27

—————

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Marshall, Ali 16-55, E.Payne 3-5, Pennington 1-(minus 18). South Alabama, L.Webb 24-117, McReynolds 8-53, Lee 8-30, Trotter 2-13, Bullock 1-0, Bradley 3-(minus 16).

PASSING–Marshall, Pennington 22-36-3-159. South Alabama, Bradley 17-23-0-176, Trotter 2-3-0-20.

RECEIVING–Marshall, Coombs 6-23, Ali 4-41, Harris 3-34, J.Harrison 2-17, Sallis 2-7, E.Payne 2-6, Simmons 1-15, McMillan 1-11, Turner 1-5. South Alabama, Lacy 9-126, McReynolds 5-21, L.Webb 2-4, Pritchett 1-25, Ivory 1-17, Do.Smith 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.