Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Marshall Thundering Herd Pick & Prediction SEPTEMBER 23rd 2023
Diego Garcia
After playing each other four times between 2002 and 2011, Virginia Tech and Marshall have been growing distant.
The Hokies and Thundering Herd met in 2013, not again until 2018 and finally will clash Saturday, when Virginia Tech will visit Marshall in Huntington, W.Va. Call it the new five-year plan.
The latest installment will feature teams headed in opposite directions.
Virginia Tech (1-2) comes in reeling, having dropped consecutive games to Big Ten opponents Purdue and Rutgers.
Not much went right for Virginia Tech in a 35-16 loss at Rutgers last week, but the Hokies might have seen potential for the long term.
Sophomore quarterback Kyron Drones made his first career start in place of injured senior Grant Wells and provided a two-way threat, completing 19 of 32 passes for 190 yards and running for 74 yards on 22 carries in the loss.
Drones, a Baylor transfer, is expected to start again Saturday.
"I think there are some really good things," Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry said. "(Drones) made it hard to defend him. He had some nice balls and did a really nice job running the ball. He did miss a few reads that I think left some plays on the field. His decision making was pretty good. First college start, I think there will be a lot to build from."
Marshall (2-0) enters with momentum after winning its first two games of the season against Albany at home and on the road at East Carolina.
The Thundering Herd were off last week following a 31-13 win at East Carolina on Sept. 9. in their two games, quarterback Cam Fancher and running back Rasheen Ali have delivered as expected.
Fancher is 43-of-63 passing in two games for 446 yards, while Ali has rushed for 222 yards on 36 carries and five touchdowns.
"Now that we have got two games on guys, we can start to see some consistency in production, and we can start to see some inconsistency in production," Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. "We got to be able to make adjustments. We got to be able to coach up the inconsistencies and retain the consistencies."
--Field Level Media
Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Marshall Thundering Herd Recap SEP 23TH 2023
Rasheen Ali rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries to lead Marshall to a 24-17 home win over Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Cam Fencher went 16 of 27 passing for 166 yards for the Thundering Herd (3-0).
Kyron Drones rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, and passed for 160 yards in defeat for Virginia Tech (1-3). Bhayshul Tuten rushed for 88 yard on nine carries to flank Drones for the Hokies.
Virginia Tech took the opening kickoff and scored first, taking a 7-0 lead with 11:59 left in the second quarter on a 31-yard touchdown run by Drones.
The score stayed that way until the second quarter, when Marshall tied the game at 7-7 with 14:50 left until halftime on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Fancher to DeMarcus Harris.
Following a 21-yard field goal by John Love that gave Virginia Tech a 10-7 lead with 11:47 left in the second quarter, Marshall drove the field and took a 14-10 lead with 9:10 remaining until halftime on a 56-yard touchdown run by Ali.
Rece Verhoff then made a 21-yard field goal with 2:55 left in the second quarter to give Marshall a 17-10 lead.
In the third quarter, pinned at its own 2-yard line, Marshall drove 98 yards in seven plays and took a 24-10 lead with 7:22 remaining in the third on a 1-yard touchdown run by Ali.
The big play of the drive was a 61-yard run by Ali to the Virginia Tech 18-yard line.
Virginia Tech drew closer in the fourth quarter, cutting its deficit to 24-17 with 7:14 remaining in the game on a 16-yard touchdown run by Drones.
Virginia Tech drove down to the Marshall 31-yard line in the final minute in its last attempt to tie the game, but the drive ended on downs.
--Field Level Media