Flashes lose heartbreaker to Marshall in two overtimes

Saturday, September 26

Kent, Ohio

3:30 p.m.

Kent State University

1-3

Marshall University

3-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Marshall

Kent State

Flashes lose heartbreaker to Marshall in two overtimes

9/26/2015 8:25:00 PM | Football

Box Score

KENT, Ohio – Kent State forced Marshall into two overtimes before finally falling 36-29 on a 7-yard touchdown run by Thundering Herd running back Tony Pittman on Saturday at Dix Stadium.

The backbreaker came a few minutes earlier, though, as the Herd's Chase Litton threw a desperation 3-yard touchdown pass to Stefan Houston on fourth down to force the second extra session.

Battered and bruised on a five-sack day by Kent State's defense, Litton was flushed from the pocket before firing on the run to a diving Houston. The game-extending play made amends for a rocky performance that saw the freshman quarterback complete 14-of-36 passes for 151 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while being sacked three times alone by Kent State tackle Terence Waugh.

The Flashes (1-3), who scored first in overtime on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Colin Reardon to Brice Fackler, still had a chance to force a third overtime following the Pittman touchdown, but third-and-fourth-down throws from Reardon to Ernest Calhoun fell incomplete to end the game.

"This was a tough loss, but our guys fought hard in a tough football game," said Kent State head coach Paul Haynes. "A play here or a play there and the outcome could have been different … I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of our coaching staff. If you watched us during the first week there were a lot of questions about how good we will be. Our record may not show it, but we are a better team now than we've been since I've been here."

Kent State held several leads during the game, including a 6-0 advantage after an Antwan Dixon 47-yard reverse for a touchdown at the 11:33 mark of the first quarter and a 13-7 lead at halftime thanks to Trayion Durham's 2-yard scoring run in the second quarter.

A 19-yard touchdown pass from Reardon to Calhoun with 9:05 to play in the third put KSU on top by two scores at 19-7, but Marshall answered quickly with a 93-yard kickoff return by Deandre Reeves.

"You never know what plays are going to make the difference," said Haynes. "But we talk about that Recon (kickoff unit) keeping momentum, and that was a big play in the football game … We had the game (in control) and then that was huge. We have to be better on special teams."

Kent State was better than Marshall statistically, out-gaining the Herd 436-to-277 while outrushing them 247-to-126.

"In (overtime) they made a couple of plays here and there on a short field when it is a little easier," said Haynes. "We had a couple of penalties that gave them the ball down close, and then they made a couple of plays in the run game at the end."

A pair of controversial personal foul penalties led to the ejections of two of Kent State's best defensive backs in the fourth quarter – Safety Nate Holley, who recorded 15 tackles before exiting, and cornerback Najee Murray, who had three pass breakups.

Murray appeared to break up a pass in the back of the end zone on a 2-point conversion attempt by Marshall with 12:32 to play in the fourth quarter following a Litton-to-Ryan Yurachek touchdown pass of 17 yards. The penalty gave the Herd another crack at two points, which a Pittman run converted for a 22-19 lead.

A 33-yard field goal by Shane Hynes with 4:55 to play in regulation ultimately forced overtime.

Despite the frustrating loss, Kent State found several reasons to add some confidence heading into next week's Mid-American Conference opener.

Durham reestablished himself as a feature back, running for 114 yards on 31 carries, while freshman Myles Washington added 56 yards on 12 attempts. The offensive line opened some big holes and made some key plays, including a kick-out block by Reno Reda that sprung Fackler for the Flashes' 12-yard touchdown in the first overtime.

"(Marshall) has a good defense and they made some plays at the end," said offensive lineman Brock Macaulay. "It's a shame, but we just have to keep working to get better."

Waugh's three-sack day helped to establish the junior as one of the MAC's top pass rushers. He began the day as the MAC leader and ended it with a total of 6 1/2 sacks through four games.

"Coach told me from the beginning of the season that for me to be able to help the team on defense I will have to work at getting better every day," said Waugh. "That's the only mindset I've had since the season started…Get better every day and see what happens."

The Flashes defense also found a few more heroes after losing Holley and Murray to ejection and watching last week's MAC East defensive player of the week Demetrius Murray leave the game late with an apparent injury.

"It was next man up," said Haynes. "Our guys (freshman Quan Robinson, sophomore Marcus Elliott and junior Nick Cuthbert) went in and played very well for us."

Kent State will be back in action when Miami visits Dix Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. Homecoming Game next Saturday.

"A lot of crazy things happened in this game, and their ball fell their way in the end. It's heartbreaking because you know you should have won two weeks in a row," said Haynes, whose Flashes lost 10-7 at Minnesota last week. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for you, though…Now we begin the most important part of our season."

Postgame Press Conference

Postgame Notes

With 12 tackles for loss against Marshall, Kent State's defense has 37 tackles for loss in its last three games.
Junior Terence Waugh now has 6.5 sacks in four games. Waugh was tied for the MAC lead in sacks heading into Saturday. He also had career-highs of 11 tackles and 4.0 tackles for loss.
In each home game, freshman receiver Antwan Dixon has scored touchdowns the very first time he has touched the ball. Dixon scored a 47-yard touchdown on a reverse Saturday. Against Delaware State, he scored a 20-yard touchdown after catching a screen pass.
Senior safety Jordan Italiano made his fifth career interception in the first quarter.
Senior Trayion Durham scored his 26^th career rushing touchdown, putting him in a tie for seventh place with Eugene Jarvis among Kent State's all-time leaders. Durham's 114 yards rushing was Kent State's first 100-yard performance of the season and his first 100-yard game since 2013.
Junior Nate Holley had 11 tackles in the first half and led the Flashes with 15 tackles, despite not playing in a big portion of the second half.
Junior Ernest Calhoun made his first touchdown grab of the season in the third quarter. He led the Flashes with four catches.
Freshman Myles Washington had a career-high 56 yards rushing.
Marshall extended its series winning streak against Kent State to 11.
Kent State played its first overtime game since the 2012 MAC Championship Game.
Redshirt freshman Raekwon James had a career-high 77 yards receiving on three catches.
Sophomore Anthony Johnson had a career-high seven tackles, including 2.0 tackles for loss.
Sophomore Marcus Elliott made his first career interception in the fourth quarter.
Junior Brice Fackler caught his first career touchdown pass.
In each of their two home games, Kent State has rushed for over 240 yards.