Watts Lights Up Western Michigan
By Grant Traylor

Kalamazoo, Mich.--The Marshall Thundering Herd survived a quick start
by Western Michigan and settled down nicely to beat the Broncos
convincingly 41-21 on “Blackout Saturday” in Kalamazoo.

Western Michigan looked fired up as Kendrick Mosley returned a punt 54
yards to the Marshall two yard line after the Broncos defense held
Marshall to three-and-out on their first drive. A play later, Javon
Riley went in from two yards out to give WMU a 7-0 lead less than two
minutes into the game.

Marshall would quickly negate the score as the Herd took only two plays
and :36 to cover 80 yards and tie up the game. Butchie Wallace had a
26 yard TD run that was set up by a 54 yard play action pass from Stan
Hill to Darius Watts. With 12:36 to play in the first quarter it was
knotted at 7.

The next possessions proved to be costly for both teams. As Western
was driving into MU territory, J.T. Rembert swiped the ball from Riley
and returned it to the WMU 25. Rembert was seeing his first action in
four games due to a leg injury.

The Herd couldn’t capitalize due to a fumble of their own inside the
WMU 5. Earl Charles had caught a screen pass and raced inside the 10
when he was hit and the ball bounded to the WMU 1. The Broncos dodged
the bullet but couldn’t do anything with it. Tremel Guillory returned
a punt to the Western 37 where Hill and company took over.

Hill started out the drive with a play action pass to Watts that
covered 27 yards to the WMU 10. On the play Watts was matched up on a
linebacker which spelled big trouble for the Broncos. Two plays later,
it was Hill finding Watts again from nine yards out for the Marshall
touchdown. On the play, Watts was again matched up on a linebacker and
he snuck inside the defense as Hill delivered a perfect strike. At the
end of the first quarter, Marshall led 14-7 and was driving.

The next MU drive carried into the second quarter and covered 61 yards
before the Herd settled for a 42 yard FG from Nick Kelly. Once again
it was Hill to Watts on the drive as the Herd kept the Broncos defense
off-balance mixing run and pass.

After a missed 48 yd. FG by the Broncos, Hill found another target to
throw to in Josh Davis. On third and 7, Hill went up top to Davis for
52 yards that placed MU inside the Broncos 15. An end around to Davis
put the Herd at the 1 where Earl Charles punched it in to give MU a
comfortable 24-7 lead with 5:40 to go. Little did Herd fans know that
the rest of the half would be anything but comfortable.

After WMU went three and out, Marshal got the ball at their own 17. On
the drive’s first play, Hill tried scrambling to gain yardage, but he
lost the ball as he was running. The ball popped in the air where Hill
snagged it, but he landed awkwardly on his already injured left knee.
This injury would force Hill out of the game and bring Graham Gochneaur
in off the bench.

After this, WMU smelled blood and immediately went after Gochneaur. The
Broncos forced a punt two plays later and set up shop from the MU 37
yard line. Riley ran in his second TD of the game with :51 seconds left
to help shift the momentum the Broncos way before the half.

It looked as if even more momentum were going to be gained as Chris
Royal fumbled the kickoff at the MU 23. However, the Herd seized
momentum back by standing tall on defense. The momentum shift was
acclimated by Curtis Keyes acrobatic interception at the Herd 2. From
here, the Herd was content to go in the locker room up 24-14.

Sensing a definite urgency with the loss of Hill for the game, the Herd
defense dominated the second half and the offensive line was punishing
on the ground the rest of the way. The defense stopped the next two
WMU drives quickly and Gochneaur took over the offense of the Herd.

Starting from the MU 8, Gochneaur showed that he too enjoys throwing to
Watts. He connected with the MAC’s all-time leading receiver on plays
of 19, 10 and 41 yards to set up a five yard end around to Josh Davis.
This impressive 92 yard drive eased the minds of Herd fans, players and
coaches as Gochneaur didn’t miss a beat. With 3:01 left in the third,
Marshall led 31-14.

The rest of the game lulled as the Herd cruised behind its powerful
defense to the victory. Butchie Wallace ran in his second TD shortly
into the fourth quarter and Ben Lewis tacked on a late 25 yard field
goal to set the score at 41-14.

Although he played less than two quarters, Hill went 14-17 for 251
yards and a TD. Watts hauled in nine catches for 170 yards and a score
as well. With the win, MU moves to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the MAC.
Western Michigan continues to struggle as the fall to 3-5 and 2-3 in
MAC play.