Topic: Parthenon: Herd shocks Pirates in C-USA action

[ZackUSAF82]

The East Carolina Pirates came into Saturday's contest with Marshall at Joan C. Edwards Stadium after putting 56 points on the scoreboard against the Memphis Tigers last week. What looked like another potentially big day for the Pirates offense was anything but.

The often criticized Marshall defense pitched a first half shutout en route to a 26-7 victory over East Carolina (6-5, 4-2). At halftime the Pirates had mustered only 92 yards of total offense.

It was the Marshall (2-8, 2-4) offense that held the ball for 21:12 of the first half and kept the potentially explosive ECU offense on the sideline.

"(The opening drive) was huge. It was huge," head coach Mark Snyder said. "Especially when you have an offense that can score like East Carolina."

Marshall looked as if it would finally break through and score a touchdown in the first quarter for the first time this season. A 16 play, 60-yard drive to open the game was stalled by a holding call on junior E.J. Wynn, forcing the Herd to settle for a field goal and putting the score at 3-0 Marshall.

The Herd had a golden opportunity to increase its lead in the second quarter. In a drive marred by personal foul penalties on both squads, senior Bernard Morris found sophomore Cody Slate wide-open standing at the goal line on the right hash. Slate, however, couldn't hang on to the pass, and Marshall was forced to punt.

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