Marshall Football: 3 takeaways from upset loss to Rice

Rice won an ugly game against the ‘Herd

The Owls were without two of their best offensive players –quarterback Mike Collins and wide receiver Austin Trammell– and had to make this game ugly to win. Despite running the ball poorly, Rice ran the football 46 times, taking the air out of the ball. The Owls dominated time of possession, keeping the ball for 36 minutes.

With their starting quarterback and best wide receiver out of this game, head coach Mike Bloomgren and his coaching staff did not ask JoVoni Johnson to do much in the passing game, throwing the ball just 14 times for 86 yards.

The Owls threw the kitchen sink at the Thundering Herd defensively. When Grant Wells dropped back to throw, Rice disguised coverages most of the game. The Owls would drop eight and nine players into zone coverage, forcing Wells to find the soft spot in the zones. When Rice rushed four linemen, it put pressure on Wells consistently.

The Owls sacked Wells three times with five quarterback pressures. Rice limited Marshall’s possessions and played solid defense when the Herd had the football. Offensively, Rice found ways to manufacture points and got a pick-six in the third quarter.