As a soaking wet Mark Snyder headed for the locker room, he stopped to hug everyone. His players. His wife. His kids. Even former athletic director Bob Marcum.
Finally, Marshall’s head coach was getting some love.
For the first time in Snyder’s tenure, the Thundering Herd is bowl eligible after holding on for a 34-31 win over SMU on Saturday before a spotty crowd of 19,646 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
“That was my first head coaching bath,” Snyder said of the postgame Gatorade dousing he received form his players. “And it felt pretty daggone good.”
Good, great, grand. You can throw in all the celebratory adjectives and had the feeling of Snyder immediately following the game.
Stressed, nervous, anxious. These may have been his feelings in the fourth quarter.
After Craig Ratanamorn knocked home a 42-yard field goal, Marshall took a 27-17 lead with 8:55 remaining in the contest. It had momentum, the Mustangs on their heels and what was left of an inspired crowd on their feet.
But then the Herd-of-the-last-two-weeks reared its ugly head.
Marshall nearly blew another one.
Three minutes after the Ratanamorn strike, SMU marched right back, going 60 yards in seven plays, capped off by a Kyle Padron to Aldrick Robinson 12-yard score, to pull within three, 27-24, with under six minutes to play.
But then, for the first time all season, it seemed Marshall gave a knockout punch.
On the Mustangs‘ next possession, Omar Brown picked off Padron at the SMU 23. Four plays later, Brian Anderson found Aaron Dobson on a 16-yard jump ball in the end zone.
34-24, only 2 minutes left. Over right?
Wrong.
For the third time in as many games, the Herd allowed the opposing team to get the last touchdown. This time it was a Zach Line 8-yard run to pay dirt that got Marshall sweating.
All of a sudden, with roughly 50 seconds to play, the Herd was a failed onside kick recovery away from allowing the opportunity for another lead to slip.
But, this time, it didn’t.
Fittingly enough, senior Ashton Hall, playing in his final game at the Joan, pounced on the Mustangs’ onside attempt at the SMU 43.
Game over. The quest for bowl eligibility over. Finally.
Phew.
“It’s huge,” Snyder said. “It’s not something we’ve done since we’ve been here. This senior group was the first that came in and said we were going to do it. And they did it.
“I don’t think they’re done yet.”
The Herd will play for official bowl qualification next week at UTEP.
“We have a lot of chemistry,” Albert McClellan. “Everybody on the team is friends. Everybody is playing for one another. We have freshmen that come out and say, ‘I want to play for the seniors this year.’
“And I’ve never been around a group of freshmen that’s been like that.”
Indeed, Marshall’s rookie class saved its best for its seniors’ final home game.
Freshman Martin Ward helped fill the void of an injured Darius Marshall by rumbling for a career-high 136 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. Dobson, another freshman, assisted in the loss of Cody Slate by hauling in four catches for 127 and two scores.
“Aaron Dobson continues to step up,” Snyder said. “We put him in the place of Cody Slate. We did with Aaron tonight what we normally do with Cody.
“That was the game plan all week. We wanted to create those mismatches that we do with Cody.”
Mission accomplished. Although not as physical as Slate, Dobson proved certainly as capable. All four of his catches came in traffic, including a grab on the other end of an Anderson flea-flicker that set up the Herd’s first touchdown.
“I didn’t even see Brian throw the ball,” Dobson said. “I just kind of saw the ball go up in the air and I was like, ‘OK, this is my time. I have to make a catch.’
“And that’s what I did.”
Ward did his work with help. His backfield mate, sophomore Terrell Edwards-Maye, had 113 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
No Darius, no problem.
“Those two young tailbacks played extremely well tonight,” Snyder said. “The national media was getting a hold of me, asking me about Darius Marshall.
“I was excited to see these two tailbacks because they have fresh legs, they are big and have speed.
“They showed it tonight. I thought they played well.”
They helped out Anderson too. An effective running game helped keep a SMU pass rush at bay. Marshall’s quarterback was 13 of 22 for 213 and those two tosses to Dobson for touchdowns.
Contrary to SMU’s Conference USA title hopes, he was never sacked.
“It is very disappointing in losing,” said Mustang head coach June Jones. “But the kids played hard. Right up until the very end, everyone believed we were still going to win.
“I am proud of the way we played, but, physically, we weren’t as good as we needed to be on either side of the ball today.”
SMU (6-5, 5-2 C-USA) had one lead, a 7-0 advantage in the first quarter.
Other game notes: Marshall (6-5, 4-3) can’t officially make plans for the EagleBank Bowl, where many bowl projectors have it going, until Army loses its seventh game. If the Black Knights (5-6) beat Navy (8-3) on Dec. 12, they are guaranteed that spot. If Army loses, the bowl opens up for an eligible team that can draw in the Washington, D.C. area. The Herd seems likely to fill that void ... Ward and Edwards-Maye’s big day made it the first time Marshall’s had two 100-yard rushers in the same game since Ahmad Bradshaw and Bernard Morris turned the trick against Hofstra in 2006 ... Slate received the biggest ovation during the pre-game Senior Day ceremony. Slate, who tore his ACL last week against Southern Miss, limped out to midfield before he embraced Snyder ... Ratanamorn’s perfect season is over. He missed a 36-yard field attempt with under three minutes remaining in the second quarter. He’s now 15 of 16 on field goals this season. He made a 50-yarder in the second quarter ... A Brown interception was taken away with 12:20 left in the fourth quarter after Ahmed Shakoor was called for pass interference ... The Herd was flagged 15 times for 144 yards.
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