CONWAY — Marshall capped off its first season as a member of the Sun Belt with a bang.
The Thundering Herd handled Connecticut, 28-14, in the third-annual Myrtle Beach Bowl at Coastal Carolina’s Brooks Stadium on Dec. 19.
With the win, Marshall ended the season on a five-game winning streak, the first time the Herd has done that since 2002.
“This 2022 team will always be remembered,” Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. “One, for the first Sun Belt team. They’ll be remembered for a team that found a way to go 4-0 in November (and) create an opportunity for us to party in December. They’ll always be remembered as the 2022 Myrtle Beach (Bowl) champions, and for the rest of their lives, they’ll be called champions.”
Marshall finished the season at 9-4 with the win, while UConn dropped to 6-7 with the loss. It was the Huskies’ first bowl appearance since 2015, and it was Marshall’s first bowl victory since 2018.
Quarterback Cam Fancher led Marshall with two touchdown passes, completing 9-of-18 passes for 59 yards. Running back Rasheen Ali, who was named the bowl game MVP, led the Herd’s ground game with 81 yards on 12 carries and a score, and tight end Devin Miller and wide receiver Corey Gammage each caught a touchdown pass.
For UConn, Zion Turner went 5-for-18 for 99 yards and two interceptions, and running back Victor Rosa led the ground game with 57 yards on 13 touches and two scores. Keelan Marion was the high man in receiving yards with two catches for 69 yards for the Huskies.
After Hancher fumbled on fourth down on Marshall’s opening drive in Huskie territory and UConn recovered, Turner fumbled on the very next play and Marshall recovered. This set up a 9-yard touchdown pass from Fancher to Gammage to put the Herd up 7-0 with 11:15 to go in the first quarter.
After four consecutive punts, Marshall scored again when defensive lineman Damion Barber Jr. picked off Turner and returned it 34 yards for a score to put the Herd up 14-0 with 3:23 to go in the first quarter. It was the first pick six for Marshall since Steven Gilmore, the brother of former South Carolina Gamecocks great Stephon Gilmore, had one in the win over Notre Dame on Sept. 10.
UConn squandered its first opportunity to get on the board when kicker Noe Ruelas missed a 45-yard field goal with 8:25 to go before half.
Marshall extended its lead when Fancher found Miller for a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the Herd up 21-0 with 7:05 to go before half.
UConn had another chance to put points on the board late in the second quarter, but the Huskies turned it over on downs when a pass from Tucker fell incomplete in the back of the end zone.
Ali padded Marshall’s lead with a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Herd up 28-0 with 9:51 to go in the third quarter.
UConn finally got on the board with 5:35 to go in the third quarter when Rosa found pay dirt from 14 yards out to cut the lead to 28-7. Rosa found the end zone again on UConn’s next drive, this time on a 24-yard run to cut the Herd to 28-14 as the third quarter clock expired.
UConn defensive back Malik Dixon-Williams picked off Fancher early in the fourth quarter to give the Huskies the ball back, but a sack and multiple penalties on UConn, including an unsportsmanlike conduct call on UConn head coach Jim Mora, left the Huskies with a 4th-and-13 try, and Turner’s pass to Kevens Clercius was broken up by Gilmore to give Marshall the ball back at its own 45-yard-line with 9:57 to go in the game.
After a Marshall punt, two costly penalties on the Herd got UConn into Marshall territory, but Herd defensive back Micah Abraham picked Turner off in the end zone to give Marshall the ball back at its own 20-yard-line with 5:09 to go in the game.
From there, Marshall was able to run the clock out and win the game thanks to UConn only having one timeout left.
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