The Thundering Herd football team ended a two-game losing skid Saturday with a 47-14 victory over Buffalo. Marshall is in action again at 8 p.m. Thursday as it plays host to MAC foe Western Michigan. Photo by Terri Blair.

Marshall football rips Buffalo

by JILL C. NETTLES
reporter

With 26 seconds left in the first half of its conference opener against Buffalo, Marshall had a 3-point lead at 17-14.

Something inspirational needed to happen for a Thundering Herd team who was looking to put an end to a two-game losing skid.

The inspiration came in the form of Coach Bob Pruett's halftime speech. However, he would not take credit for the third quarter success that led the Thundering Herd to a 47-14 victory.

"I just wandered around in the locker room," he said.

But the talk Pruett gave the team left some impression.

"Coach Pruett gave us that talk at halftime and we had no choice but to come out and play," sophomore quarterback Byron Leftwich said.

Leftwich made a good choice. He threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns. "I don't know if it's a career night or not. I just want to play better than I did last week," he said.

Freshman receiver Darius Watts was the recipient of a 61-yard touchdown pass from Leftwich.

"He gets better each week," Leftwich said of Watts. "Once the ball is in the air he knows how to go get it."

"The halftime talk was very....inspirational," Watts said, with a laugh. "It made you want to go out and do good."

In the third quarter, the Thundering Herd scored three touchdowns. The first score by, Watts, took two plays.

Sophomore running back Franklin Wallace scored on a one-yard run giving Marshall a 31-14 edge.

Wide receiver Lanier Washington caught a three- yard pass from Leftwich for the third touchdown of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Washington took a short swing pass from Leftwich and turned it into a 90-yard touchdown jaunt down the left sideline, giving Marshall its final score of the game and improving its record to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in Mid-American Conference play.

The Thundering Herd will be in action again at 8 p.m. Thursday as it plays host to MAC foe Western Michigan. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Marshall came back from a 23-0 deficit to claim a 34-31 last-second victory over the Broncos in the teams' last meeting, the 1999 MAC Championship game.