By GRANT TRAYLOR

Marshall Associate AD Communications

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Football sent its 2023 seniors out in style, earning a 35-21 win over Arkansas State in front of 18,673 fans at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Marshall becomes bowl eligible and moves to 6-6 on the season and 3-5 in the SBC. The Herd also finishes with a 5-1 mark at home while having four of its six wins on the season come over bowl-eligible teams.

“The seniors got a chance today to see how much this team appreciates them,” Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. “I think the team played really well and we started really fast early in the game.”

After missing the last two games, Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher returned to action in a big way, finishing with 314 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns accounted for.

Fancher, who served as the Herd’s lone captain for the coin toss on Saturday, finished the game 16 of 22 through the air for 214 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 100 yards and two more scores.

Wide receiver Chuck Montgomery was the beneficiary of Fancher’s first two touchdown tosses, hauling in a 9-yard pass to get the scoring started before taking a pop pass and rushing around the left edge for a 15-yard score that gave the Herd a 14-0 lead after one quarter.

Marshall continued its offensive onslaught in the second quarter as Fancher took off for 63 yards, which later set up his own 7-yard scoring run. Fancher then returned to the air for a score, scrambling to avoid a sack then lofting a pass to Caleb McMillan in the back of the end zone for a 21-yard score that gave the Herd a 28-0 lead.

“I feel like my job every play is just to make the play successful,” Fancher said. “Whatever I have to do, that’s my mindset going into every play.”

Fancher later added a 3-yard scoring run that came after running back Ethan Payne ripped off a 64-yard run to get the Herd into the red zone.

Payne joined Fancher over 100 yards on the ground for the Herd, finishing with a career-high 113 yards on 16 carries.

The offensive effort helped Marshall dominate the time of possession battle. The Herd had possession for nearly 37 of 60 minutes (36:56).

Defensively, Marshall turned Arkansas State into a one-dimensional offense, limiting the Red Wolves to just 51 yards on the ground while constantly pressuring Arkansas State quarterback Jalen Raynor.

Marshall’s defense got several standout defensive performances, including seven tackles and an interception from Ahmere Foster and four tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack by Mike Green.

With the win, Marshall awaits the announcement of a bowl game, which will come on Dec. 3.

Arkansas St.	0	7	7	7	—	21
Marshall	14	14	7	0	—	35

First Quarter

MRSH–C.Montgomery 9 pass from Fancher (Verhoff kick), 8:05.

MRSH–C.Montgomery 15 pass from Fancher (Verhoff kick), 1:28.

Second Quarter

MRSH–Fancher 7 run (Verhoff kick), 11:31.

MRSH–McMillan 21 pass from Fancher (Verhoff kick), 6:15.

ARST–Cross 3 run (Zvada kick), 1:19.

Third Quarter

MRSH–Fancher 3 run (Verhoff kick), 6:58.

ARST–Jackson 60 punt return (Zvada kick), 2:50.

Fourth Quarter

ARST–Jackson 2 pass from Raynor (Zvada kick), 2:54.

A–18,673.

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	ARST	MRSH
First downs	20	24
Total Net Yards	305	493
Rushes-yards	29-42	53-279
Passing	263	214
Punt Returns	3-73	0-0
Kickoff Returns	2-34	2-36
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	1-0
Comp-Att-Int	19-38-1	16-22-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	3-22	3-13
Punts	7-41.429	6-42.0
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	2-2
Penalties-Yards	7-89	8-98
Time of Possession	23:04	36:56

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Arkansas St., Cross 11-27, Hawkins 7-26, (Team) 1-(minus 2), Raynor 10-(minus 9). Marshall, E.Payne 19-113, Fancher 18-100, Ali 14-56, Turner 2-10.

PASSING–Arkansas St., Raynor 19-38-1-263. Marshall, Fancher 16-22-0-214.

RECEIVING–Arkansas St., Rucker 5-87, Foreman 4-81, Jackson 4-48, McCrumby 3-30, Cross 2-3, Diaz 1-14. Marshall, C.Montgomery 4-51, McMillan 2-39, Keaton 2-34, Ali 2-8, E.Payne 2-5, Sallis 1-25, J.Harrison 1-23, Pierce 1-21, Simmons 1-8.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–Marshall, Verhoff 39, Verhoff 36.