New Mexico Bowl 2017: 3 takeaways from Marshall’s upset of Colorado State

3. Do penalties even matter for teams like Marshall that commit so many?

Entering the New Mexico Bowl, Marshall was one of the most penalized teams in the country. The Thundering Herd incurred an average of 7.5 penalties and 77 penalty yards per game over the course of the regular season. Likewise, Colorado State was one of the two worst teams in the Mountain West at seeing flags.

On Saturday, the Rams tempered their style of play and took far fewer penalties than usual. Colorado State finished the New Mexico Bowl with only three penalties called against them all day for 15 lost yards. Meanwhile, Marshall continued its line-crossing ways and took even more penalties than usual.

But it didn’t seem to matter, as the Thundering Herd played with an edge through the first three quarters that allowed them to build up a big lead. On one hand, penalties against Marshall allowed Colorado State to extend drives after flags against the Thundering Herd negated critical defensive stops. On the other hand, the tenacity that came with taking a large number of defensive penalties was a defense that made Colorado State one-dimensional.

Marshall took 11 penalties, including four in the final quarter that helped facilitate Colorado State’s comeback. There were two foolish special-teams penalties, and two run-of-the-mill offensive penalties. But with seven plays for 67 yards conceded, it was defensive penalties that nearly cost the Thundering Herd the game in Albuquerque.