Marshall Wins MAC East Title
Nov. 10, 2001
Running back Brandon Carey passed for two touchdowns to lead Marshall to a 27-21 victory over Miami on Saturday.
The win gave Marshall (8-1, 7-0 Mid-American Conference) the East Division title for the fifth consecutive year. Marshall has been the MAC champion every year since rejoining the conference in 1997.
Miami (7-3, 6-1) scored first on a 15-yard run by Steve Little at 11:01 in the first quarter. But Marshall tied the game at 6:33 on a 6-yard run by Franklin Wallace and took the lead at 1:59 on a 30-yard field goal by Curtis Head.
The Thundering Herd led the rest of the way.
Both teams went in with a seven-game winning streak, and with Marshall averaging 526 yards and 38 points a game. The only loss for the Thundering Herd has been a season-opening loss to then-No.1 Florida.
Marshall went ahead 17-7 on a 37-yard pass from Carey to Denaro Marriott five minutes into the second quarter, and Carey hit quarterback Byron Leftwich with an 11-yard scoring pass in the third quarter.
Marriott had seven catches for 132 yards, and Josh Davis had nine catches for 102 yards. Wallace rushed 26 times for 91 yards.
Leftwich was 28-of-41 for 285 yards. Miami's redshirt-freshman Ben Roethlisberger was 16-of-29 for 210 yards but was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in his career.
Leftwich went into the game with three straight 400-yard passing games. Roethlisberger's 2,415 yards and 21 TD passes are the most in league history for a freshman.
Little added a 17-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He rushed 13 times for 65 yards.
Marshall will defend its MAC Championship in the title game scheduled for Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. (EST) at the site of the West Division champion, which will be either Ball State, Toledo or Northern Illinois. The MAC Championship game will be televised live on ESPN.
