HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Chase Litton threw three TD passes and Remi Watson ran for two as Marshall blanked Florida International, 52-0 on Saturday.

The game was played on the 45th anniversary of the most deadly sports-related tragedy in American history. On Nov. 14, 1970 a charter flight carrying the Marshall football team and its coaches home following a 17-14 loss to East Carolina clipped trees short of the runway and crashed, killing 75.

Watson scored from a yard out, Litton threw 7 yards to Justin Hunt for a touchdown and Deandre Reaves returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown to stake the Thundering Herd (9-2, 6-1 Conference USA) to a 21-0 lead after one quarter.

Litton threw 3-yards to Ryan Yurachek in the second quarter, Watson ran 89 yards for a score and Nick Smith kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 38-0 at halftime.

Florida International falls to 5-6, 3-4.

FIU 0 0 0 0 — 0

Marshall 21 17 7 7 — 52

First Quarter

Mar—Watson 1 run (N.Smith kick), 11:14.

Mar—Hunt 7 pass from Litton (N.Smith kick), 7:22.

Mar—Reaves 69 punt return (N.Smith kick), 1:21.

Second Quarter

Mar—Yurachek 3 pass from Litton (N.Smith kick), 10:03.

Mar—Watson 62 run (N.Smith kick), 5:04.

Mar—FG N.Smith 35, :18.

Third Quarter

Mar—Reaves 10 pass from Litton (N.Smith kick), :52.

Fourth Quarter

Mar—Birdsong 2 run (N.Smith kick), 3:58.

A—26,572.

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FIU Mar

First downs 13 26

Rushes-yards 36-111 39-289

Passing 98 174

Comp-Att-Int 11-27-1 17-26-1

Return Yards 0 111

Punts-Avg. 9-36.3 2-41.0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 5-55 3-14

Time of Possession 30:20 29:40

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—FIU, Jones 16-73, Caldwell 3-19, Gardner 9-14, T.Anderson 1-9, Oyegunle 1-8, McGough 6-(minus 12). Marshall, Watson 11-97, Foster 12-67, Davis 8-51, Pittman 3-39, Litton 3-25, Birdsong 2-10.

PASSING—FIU, McGough 11-25-1-98, T.Anderson 0-2-0-0. Marshall, Litton 16-23-0-169, Birdsong 1-3-1-5.

RECEIVING—FIU, Dan-Fodio 4-45, C.Taylor 3-7, J.Williams 2-45, Gardner 1-1, Jones 1-0. Marshall, D.Allen 5-71, Reaves 5-31, Knight 2-37, Byrd 1-12, Davis 1-8, Hunt 1-7, Mathews 1-5, Yurachek 1-3.