Published: November 02, 2009 10:19 pm      

Herd’s title hopes take ‘Rocky’ turn

BECKLEY— Mark Snyder had a lot of explaining to do Monday afternoon.

On the Conference USA teleconference, the fifth-year Marshall coach addressed questions about the Thundering Herd’s disastrous 21-20 loss to Central Florida less than 24 hours before.

Snyder’s voice sounded tired, probably from a combination of not getting home until 4 a.m. and the numbness of a nationally-televised meltdown nowhere close to wearing off.

Marshall (5-4, 3-2 Conference USA) was looking to attain bowl eligibility for the first time in Snyder’s tenure, and keep pace with East Carolina in the East Division race. The latter is now all but impossible, and the prospect of reaching a sixth win seems suddenly distant.

Everything was going well up until the 3:20 mark of the third quarter. The Herd defense was allowing the Knights nothing in the run game, and UCF quarterback Brett Hodges was able to do little to help.

Craig Ratanamorn’s 21-yard field goal put the Herd up 20-7 with 3:25 to go. But he followed that up with a pooch kick that was fielded by the Knights at their 32-yard line and returned to the 40.

Snyder said the philosophy there was to not give freshman Quincy McDuffie, who was averaging 24.1 yards per return going into the game, an opportunity to turn the momentum.

“What happened a couple of times before that was they got the ball at the 40, anyway,” Snyder said. “We were trying to keep the ball out of the playmaker’s hands back there. We felt like the pooch kick was there and we covered it pretty good.”

UCF did punt on the ensuing drive, but only after moving to the Marshall 40 thanks to a short field.

A huge play occurred on Marshall’s next series, which began at its 1.

Brian Anderson hit freshman wide receiver Aaron Dobson for a 43-yard gain and first down at the UCF 44. However, the play was called back when senior right tackle Daniel Baldridge was called for a hands to the face penalty.

“The thing that broke our backs a little bit was the personal foul,” Snyder said. “Because of the personal foul, they get the ball at the 50 (the Marshall 43 after a punt). It should have been our ball (across) the 50.”

Brynn Harvey’s 2-yard touchdown capped off the next drive. The Herd defense later forced a turnover on downs and the offense was left to protect a 20-14 lead with 2:40 to play.

That didn’t happen.

On second-and-1 at the Marshall 27, Anderson fumbled after a two-yard gain. Josh Robinson recovered at the 30, and the comeback was set in motion.

The Knights converted a fourth-and-1 in prime fashion, with Hodges hitting Kamar Aiken on a 19-yard completion to the 1-yard line.

After a Marshall timeout, the Knights got a gift when receiver Rocky Ross was left uncovered on the next play. Hodges easily hit him in the end zone for a touchdown that tied the game at 20-20. Nick Cattoi’s extra point made it 21-20 with 23 seconds to play.

Snyder was asked to explain what happened on the play.

“We were in goal-line defense, and they came out in a different formation,” he said. “We took one of our cornerbacks out of the game and put an extra defensive lineman in the game. We couldn’t get adjusted to it and (Hodges) made a good throw.”

Marshall now has 11 days to forget it and move on. Southern Miss will visit Huntington on Saturday, Nov. 14, which is also the 39th anniversary of the 1970 plane crash.

The Herd needs time to get past the loss, plus three offensive linemen are injured. Left tackle Brandon Campbell and left guard Ryan Tillman did not play, and center Chad Schofield was injured on the play before Anderson’s fumble.

Snyder said the off week comes at the absolute perfect time.

“I don’t think there is any question,” he said. “I think most of the teams across the country are beat up right now. We’re pretty banged up. This is a pretty good time, especially coming off a pretty emotional loss where we felt like we played pretty good.

“It falls right where it needs to fall and we’re glad to have this week off.”

The team will practice today, Wednesday and Friday. There will be a sub-varsity game against Hargrave Military Academy at 3 p.m. Thursday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

— E-mail: gfauber@register-herald.com