Marshall Football Recap
Sept. 14, 2025
By Ben Anderson, FM88 Sports’ Director
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — The game of football is all about momentum swings. The Thundering Herd took momentum from the opening play of scrimmage in a 38-7 victory over the Eastern Kentucky Colonials on Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium to earn head coach Tony Gibson his first win at the helm.
Senior defensive back Boogie Trotter got the ball rolling, picking off EKU quarterback Myles Burkett on the first play from scrimmage. The Thundering Herd failed to achieve points on the drive as it failed on a sneak play on fourth-and-two.
“We didn’t even have a play called,” Coach Gibson said during the postgame press conference. “We were just trying to hard count under center to get them (EKU) to jump. There was some miscommunication, I thought oh no here we go again but the boys recovered.”
Marshall hit a 19-yard field goal on its next drive from Lorcan Quinn to take a 3-0 lead with 8:10 remaining in the first half.
Trotter earned his second interception later in the first quarter. A 49-yard return to give Marshall the ball at the Colonels’ 21, becoming the first Herd player since Micah Abraham in 2023 against East Carolina to have two picks in a single game.
“I study the game more than anyone would imagine,” Trotter said during the postgame press conference. “I’m a ball hawk. I actually knew the quarterback was gonna come back and look at him. Coach said no. 19 (Dequan Stanley) and No. 3 (Marcus Calwise Jr.) were the key receivers. He had me solo their X. I figured he was gonna try me, so I knew I had to stand on (Burkett).”
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson found pay dirt for the time in the Kelly green & white with a 4-yard quarterback keeper to give the Herd a 10-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The first quarter stampede continued for the Thundering Herd as it finished the quarter with 17 points, capped off by a three-yard touchdown run from running back Justin Williams-Thomas with 0:25 remaining in the period.
Williams-Thomas, who had 7.6 yards per carry last week against Missouri State, scored his second touchdown of the game with a 30-yard reception to give Marshall a 24-0 advantage with 12:03 in the second quarter. The Thundering Herd ended the half up 31-0 following Adrian Norton scoring on a 30-yard reception for the second passing touchdown of the night for Del Rio-Wilson.
After allowing 131 rushing yards last week, Marshall’s defense stepped up to the challenge. It finished with five sacks, six quarterback hurries and 10 tackles for loss. Marshall held eastern Kentucky to 11 yards of rushing on 28 carries. It was the fewest rushing yards against Marshall since Louisiana Tech had 7 in 2020.
“I thought our defense was really, really good tonight,” Gibson said. “Those guys were rolling out there.”
North Carolina State transfer and Barboursville, W.Va. native Cannon Lewis led the team in tackles with nine.
“We look a lot more prepared out there, in my opinion,” Lewis said. “We did exactly what we needed to do. We fixed a bunch of the details I talked about that we needed to get better on. It was just like practice.”
JacQai Long came in at quarterback in the second half and lost a fumble in his first full drive. Eastern Kentucky took over on the Marshall 14 and capitalized to avoid the shutout on a 13-yard completion from Jordyn Potts, replacing Burkett. Eastern Kentucky now has nine forced turnovers, near the top nationally in Division I FCS.
Long had success in the run game, finishing with 50 yards rushing and a touchdown on 10 carries.
“I thought JacQai came in and had some nice runs as well,” Gibson said. “The kids are starting to get their feet under them a little bit. They understand how we need to practice and prepare, and that showed tonight.”
Zion Turner entered the game in the fourth quarter. He nearly scored on a quarterback keeper but fumbled on the Eastern Kentucky one-yard line.
Del Rio-Wilson finished the game for the Thundering Herd as the leading passer, going 7-9 for 109 yards and two touchdowns, while also leading the rushing attack for 58 yards and a score. Overall, the Thundering Herd had 11 different players run the ball which matched the most in school history when 11 Herd players ran the ball in a 30-0 win over West Virginia tech in 1985 and also against Southeast Missouri State in 2000.
“He had total command of that game,” Gibson said about Del Rio-Wilson’s performance. “There was no panic in him at all. He’s a tough kid as you can see. When we have him involved with that piece of it, running the ball, that’s a plus one run game. It’s hard on defenses and that’s what we need to continue to do.”
Marshall improved to 1-2 with the victory, Eastern Kentucky fell to 1-2.
Marshall travels on the road to Middle Tennessee State (1-2) Saturday for a 7 p.m. / 6 p.m. local time kick. Eastern Kentucky travels to West Georgia on the same date for a 6 p.m. game.
It was huge,” Gibson said about the win. “This town, this university, this football program has been through so much. We’re thankful for everything, all the support that we get. Every time we go out there, we play for the 75 and we do all those things. These kids are bought in, they want to win, they’re great kids, I love coaching them, and now we just have to keep getting them better.”