Byron Leftwich (left) throws a pass to wide receiver Nate Poole during Marshall's 63-7 victory over Southeast Missouri State. The Thundering Herd plays Michigan State on Saturday. The Spartans finished last season ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press poll, with a 10-2 record and a Citrus Bowl victory over Florida. Photo by Mike Andrick

Leftwich, new players share stage

by JILL C. NETTLES
reporter

In the fourth quarter of Marshall's 2000 football debut against Southeast Missouri State on Thursday night, quarterback Byron Leftwich turned to the fans in the west grandstand in his bright yellow undershirt smiled and gave the thumbs up.

The Thundering Herd faithful may get to see the new quarterback do much more of that during this season.

The fans gave their approval of Leftwich's performance with a standing ovation after he played his last down in the third quarter. His final statistics were 13-of-20 passes completed for 205 yards and two touchdowns, which helped lead the Thundering Herd to a 63-7 victory over Southeast Missouri State University.

Marshall extended the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games and the nation's longest home win streak to 32.

The win against the Indians gave Marshall Coach Bob Pruett a 51-4 record. No coach in college football has posted a better record after his first four seasons than Pruett. His legacy began in 1996 when he became the third coach in college football history to go unbeaten in his first season.

Southeast Missouri quarterback Rashad West was im-pressed by Marshall's reserve players.

"They wore us out with their depth," he said.

West may have been referring to the three-pronged running attack of Brandon Carey, Chanston Rodgers and Ernest Pitts who combined for 146 yards on 29 carries. Rodgers also scored three touchdowns.

"We do have a lot of depth and I am lucky to be part of it," Pitts said.

One notable reserve was safety Larry Davis, who took the place of starter Doug Hodges, who was suspended for one game for disciplinary reasons.

Another reserve, quarterback Stephen Galbraith, came in to throw two touchdown passes, one to John Cooper for four yards and the other to Andrew Cowan for 10 yards.

The game's outcome was determined fairly early, but it did give fans a chance to see how Leftwich would do as the replacement for 1999 Heisman Trophy Finalist Chad Pennington.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound redshirt sophomore from Capitol Heights, Md. showed former Marshall defensive coordinator and current Indians Coach Tim Billings he is a solid player.

"Leftwich threw the ball well and made good decisions," Billings said.

The Thundering Herd will be in East Lansing, Mich., Saturday to square off with Michigan State.

The Spartans finished finished the season ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press poll. The Thundering Herd was ranked at No. 10