EL PASO, Texas - It was a long trip, and an even longer afternoon for the Thundering Herd.
EL PASO, Texas - It was a long trip, and an even longer afternoon for the Thundering Herd.
Quarterback Trevor Vittatoe woke up from his season-long slump to throw for 517 yards and five touchdowns Saturday as UTEP closed its season by thumping Marshall 52-21 in front of a crowd of 19,736 at the Sun Bowl.
The loss dropped the Herd to 6-6, 4-4 in Conference USA, but it is still expected to receive a bowl bid, most likely to the EagleBank Bowl in Washington.
No word was available on the status of embattled Herd coach Mark Snyder late Saturday, but it was widely expected he had coached his last game at Marshall. An announcement is expected today.
Snyder's five-year record with the Thundering Herd falls to 22-37 and the program failed to wrap up its first winning season since 2003. Marshall is also now 0-6 all-time in the state of Texas.
Snyder said after the game that his coaching staff would hold a meeting Monday to discuss recruiting and that the younger players were scheduled for a workout on Tuesday in anticipation of a bowl bid.
"Until we find out where we're headed,'' Snyder said, "we're not going to practice.''
Vittatoe, a third-year starter who came into the game completing just 53 percent of his passes and had more interceptions than TDs, wound up 28-of-40 Saturday with scoring passes to five different receivers. He was not sacked and threw no interceptions as the Miners (4-8, 3-5) suffered no turnovers.
"The question was whether Vittatoe was going to show up,'' Snyder said, "and he showed up today. He had an outstanding game. Their wide receivers stepped up and got after our corners big-time. They won on the edges. We're a man coverage team, and their wide receivers dominated us today.''
Marshall's offense had a few bright moments, as it rolled up a season-high 493 total yards, bettering the 475 it produced last week against SMU. Brian Anderson threw for 347 yards and three TDs, but was also picked off three times.
Freshman receiver Aaron Dobson from South Charleston caught another touchdown pass - his fourth of the season - on a 34-yard hookup with Anderson in the second quarter. Antavious Wilson led the Herd receivers with nine catches for 153 yards, and Dobson grabbed four balls for 61 yards.
However, running back Darius Marshall, who still ranks 13th in the country in rushing yards per game, again did not play for the Herd because of an ankle injury. The Herd managed 146 yards on 33 carries, led by Martin Ward (13 carries, 57 yards).
"We kept putting our offense in bad situations,'' Snyder said. "They have to play catch-up the whole football game, and that's not who we are. We just have to play good defense, and we didn't do that today.''
It went badly from the opening possession for the Herd, when a false start on first down made it first-and-15 and a shotgun snap on third down came in too hot for Anderson, who bobbled the ball and was sacked. Following a punt, UTEP used the short field to take a 6-0 lead on a 4-yard run by James Thomas, the backup QB who runs the Miners' Wildcat offense.
UTEP's lead grew to 20-7 in the first half and although the Herd cut it to 20-14 by halftime, the Miners kept burning the Marshall secondary.
Vittatoe threw scoring passes of 23 yards to Tufick Shadrawy, 10 yards to Kris Adams, 2 yards to tight end Jonny Moore, 13 yards to Donavon Kemp and 80 yards to Jeff Moturi, who ended with seven grabs for 179 yards. The previous high allowed by Marshall's defense this season was 383 yards to Bowling Green's Tyler Sheehan.
Marshall held UTEP's Donald Buckram, the country's second-leading rusher, to 25 yards on eight carries before he left with a possible torn ACL.
"It's pick your poison,'' Snyder said. "We stopped the run game with Buckram. They just blistered us on the edges all day long. We had too many penalties to go with that [seven for 82 yards], and that's not a good mix.''
The Miners extended their lead to 42-21 by the end of the third quarter on three more TD tosses by Vittatoe and coasted home.
"Breaks went our way," UTEP coach Mike Price said. "That's a good football team. They're a strong, physical bunch of guys. I think the trip takes a toll, coming out here from Marshall. It seemed to me like it did. Of course they didn't have their running back in the game, either.
"I know that other team is going to a bowl game and they're a good football team but I'd rather be in this locker room with these guys. For us to score that many points against Coach [Rick] Minter's defense is saying quite a lot. Next time we go back there, it's going to be a real competitive situation. It's a tough place to play, and so is this.''
Marshall 0 14 7 0-21
UTEP 13 7 22 10-52
First quarter
UTEP-J.Thomas 4 run (kick blocked), 10:36.
UTEP-Buckram 12 run (Barrett kick), :28.
Second quarter
EL PASO, Texas - It was a long trip, and an even longer afternoon for the Thundering Herd.
Quarterback Trevor Vittatoe woke up from his season-long slump to throw for 517 yards and five touchdowns Saturday as UTEP closed its season by thumping Marshall 52-21 in front of a crowd of 19,736 at the Sun Bowl.
The loss dropped the Herd to 6-6, 4-4 in Conference USA, but it is still expected to receive a bowl bid, most likely to the EagleBank Bowl in Washington.
No word was available on the status of embattled Herd coach Mark Snyder late Saturday, but it was widely expected he had coached his last game at Marshall. An announcement is expected today.
Snyder's five-year record with the Thundering Herd falls to 22-37 and the program failed to wrap up its first winning season since 2003. Marshall is also now 0-6 all-time in the state of Texas.
Snyder said after the game that his coaching staff would hold a meeting Monday to discuss recruiting and that the younger players were scheduled for a workout on Tuesday in anticipation of a bowl bid.
"Until we find out where we're headed,'' Snyder said, "we're not going to practice.''
Vittatoe, a third-year starter who came into the game completing just 53 percent of his passes and had more interceptions than TDs, wound up 28-of-40 Saturday with scoring passes to five different receivers. He was not sacked and threw no interceptions as the Miners (4-8, 3-5) suffered no turnovers.
"The question was whether Vittatoe was going to show up,'' Snyder said, "and he showed up today. He had an outstanding game. Their wide receivers stepped up and got after our corners big-time. They won on the edges. We're a man coverage team, and their wide receivers dominated us today.''
Marshall's offense had a few bright moments, as it rolled up a season-high 493 total yards, bettering the 475 it produced last week against SMU. Brian Anderson threw for 347 yards and three TDs, but was also picked off three times.
Freshman receiver Aaron Dobson from South Charleston caught another touchdown pass - his fourth of the season - on a 34-yard hookup with Anderson in the second quarter. Antavious Wilson led the Herd receivers with nine catches for 153 yards, and Dobson grabbed four balls for 61 yards.
However, running back Darius Marshall, who still ranks 13th in the country in rushing yards per game, again did not play for the Herd because of an ankle injury. The Herd managed 146 yards on 33 carries, led by Martin Ward (13 carries, 57 yards).
"We kept putting our offense in bad situations,'' Snyder said. "They have to play catch-up the whole football game, and that's not who we are. We just have to play good defense, and we didn't do that today.''
It went badly from the opening possession for the Herd, when a false start on first down made it first-and-15 and a shotgun snap on third down came in too hot for Anderson, who bobbled the ball and was sacked. Following a punt, UTEP used the short field to take a 6-0 lead on a 4-yard run by James Thomas, the backup QB who runs the Miners' Wildcat offense.
UTEP's lead grew to 20-7 in the first half and although the Herd cut it to 20-14 by halftime, the Miners kept burning the Marshall secondary.
Vittatoe threw scoring passes of 23 yards to Tufick Shadrawy, 10 yards to Kris Adams, 2 yards to tight end Jonny Moore, 13 yards to Donavon Kemp and 80 yards to Jeff Moturi, who ended with seven grabs for 179 yards. The previous high allowed by Marshall's defense this season was 383 yards to Bowling Green's Tyler Sheehan.
Marshall held UTEP's Donald Buckram, the country's second-leading rusher, to 25 yards on eight carries before he left with a possible torn ACL.
"It's pick your poison,'' Snyder said. "We stopped the run game with Buckram. They just blistered us on the edges all day long. We had too many penalties to go with that [seven for 82 yards], and that's not a good mix.''
The Miners extended their lead to 42-21 by the end of the third quarter on three more TD tosses by Vittatoe and coasted home.
"Breaks went our way," UTEP coach Mike Price said. "That's a good football team. They're a strong, physical bunch of guys. I think the trip takes a toll, coming out here from Marshall. It seemed to me like it did. Of course they didn't have their running back in the game, either.
"I know that other team is going to a bowl game and they're a good football team but I'd rather be in this locker room with these guys. For us to score that many points against Coach [Rick] Minter's defense is saying quite a lot. Next time we go back there, it's going to be a real competitive situation. It's a tough place to play, and so is this.''
Marshall 0 14 7 0-21
UTEP 13 7 22 10-52
First quarter
UTEP-J.Thomas 4 run (kick blocked), 10:36.
UTEP-Buckram 12 run (Barrett kick), :28.
Second quarter
Mar-Dobson 34 pass from Anderson (Ratanamorn kick), 12:55.
UTEP-Shadrawy 23 pass from Vittatoe (Barrett kick), 4:00.
Mar-C.Walker 9 pass from Anderson (Ratanamorn kick), 1:21.
Third quarter
UTEP-Adams 10 pass from Vittatoe (Vittatoe run), 12:04.
Mar-A.Wilson 50 pass from Anderson (Ratanamorn kick), 7:00.
UTEP-J.Moore 2 pass from Vittatoe (Barrett kick), 3:24.
UTEP-Kemp 13 pass from Vittatoe (Barrett kick), 1:17.
Fourth quarter
UTEP-Moturi 80 pass from Vittatoe (Barrett kick), 13:17.
UTEP-FG Barrett 28, 9:04.
A-19,736.
Mar UTEP
First downs 27 26
Rushes-yards 33-146 21-72
Passing 347 517
Comp-Att-Int 25-47-3 28-42-0
Return Yards 13 77
Punts-Avg. 5-41.2 4-39.5
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 7-82 3-30
Time of Possession 34:43 25:17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Marshall, Ward 13-57, Edwards-Maye 11-49, Anderson 6-21, P.Taylor 1-10, And.Booker 2-9. UTEP, J.Williams 8-44, Buckram 8-25, Farrar 3-6, J.Thomas 2-(minus 3).
PASSING-Marshall, Anderson 25-47-3-347. UTEP, Vittatoe 28-40-0-517, K.Wright 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING-Marshall, A.Wilson 9-153, Smith 6-99, Dobson 4-61, C.Walker 4-30, Ward 2-4. UTEP, Moturi 7-179, Adams 5-97, J.Moore 4-28, Buckram 3-65, Shadrawy 3-45, Kemp 2-23, Davis 2-16, Frye 1-56, Carr 1-8.
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