For the second consecutive week, Cam Fancher and Marshall’s wide receiving core put together significant numbers.

However, for the second consecutive week, the Marshall defense gave up big numbers themselves.

Marshall ultimately took a 24-21 lead into the halftime break, but couldn’t maintain the advantage as the Thundering Herd gave up 27 second-half points – including 13 unanswered at one point – in a 48-41 setback to North Carolina State Saturday.

A review of the offense’s grades are below.

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK

Fancher, who threw for 278 yards against Sun Belt Conference foe Old Dominion, posted his second consecutive outing with over 250 yards through the air as the redshirt sophomore threw for 315 yards and collected a pair of touchdown strikes to Caleb Coombs and Jayden Harrison.

Fancher did still have his struggles at different points with a 6.2-yard-per-pass completion average, two fumbles including one that was lost, just 25 yards rushing on 20 carries, and a 43.9 QBR rating, but dispersed the football to 10 different receivers even without the availability of standout tight end Cade Conley, who missed the contest with an ankle injury.

The Huber Heights, Ohio product ultimately finished with a 58.6 PFF grade.

RUNNING BACKS

Nagging injuries have kept Rasheen Ali from breaking out in his typical form over the past couple of weeks, and on Saturday, Ali ran for just 63 yards on 14 carries and posted a PFF grade of 60. Backup running back Ethan Payne ran for 17 yards on three carries, but got 20 yards on one run and therefore was held to negative-three yards on the additional two gives, posting a 50.4 PFF as a result. Both players caught two passes for nine yards apiece.

After tallying more than 100 all purpose yards through the air in each of Marshall’s first three contests, Ali has been held to under 100 in each of the last two weekends against Old Dominion and North Carolina State. He’s run for 142 yards and two touchdowns on 42 carries over the last two weekends after rushing for 396 yards and seven touchdowns on 63 carries in Marshall’s victories over Albany, East Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Payne has notched 64 yards on 20 carries in 2023.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS

The wide receiving core had another productive outing in terms of yards, with Darryle Simmons being a leader in the group with 87 yards receiving on eight catches, notching a 69.1 overall PFF grade in the process. Mason Pierce, who caught three passes for 27 yards, led the receiving corps with a 71.3 PFF.

Behind the pair, none of the additional targets graded out highly. DeMarcus Harris’ lone catch, which went for 27 yards, led to a 62.6 PFF, while Christopher Mottillo, who has seen time at various points throughout the season and became Fancher’s top tight end target with Conley out, caught three passes for 40 yards, which led to a 61.7 PFF.

Fellow tight ends Luke Soto and Sean Sallis each played four snaps in the game and posted grades of 60.2 PFF and 59.2 PFF, while Ishmael Roy (57.9 PFF) and Talik Keaton (56.7 PFF) played sparingly at wide receiver in the contest.

Harrison’s 27-yard touchdown catch in 51 snaps played led to a 53.7 PFF, while Chuck Montgomery (three catches, 24 yards), Caleb McMillan (two catches, 17 yards) and Caleb Coombs (four catches, 47 yards) posted grades of 53.1, 49.4, and 45 PFF on the sheet, respectively.

OFFENSIVE LINE

The offensive line received arguably the best collective grade of any group on the Marshall roster, with three of the six linemen who played notching grades of 66.4 PFF or better.

Logan Osburn’s 71.3 PFF grade led the offense, but unfortunately, his lone penalty is one that will be a sore spot with some Marshall fans as the center, taking up for Fancher after the signal-caller was hit late after getting a first down on a quarterback slide, got the Thundering Herd a 15-yard penalty in the process.

Dalton Tucker’s 69.4 PFF, Altrique Barlow’s 66.4 PFF, Trent Holler’s 62.9 PFF, Lloyd Willis’ 60.9 PFF and Ethan Driskell’s 56 PFF rounded out the offensive line’s work.

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE LINE

It was a struggle for the down linemen much of the day as only Jalil Rivera-Harvey finished with a grade above 60 PFF. Rivera-Harvey, who finished with two tackles and a tackle for loss, notched a 67.7 PFF, while Isaiah Gibson notched three tackles and a 59.6 PFF.

Kylen McCracken and TyQaze Leggs each finished with grades below 50 PFF, posting 49.8 and 49.6 PFF marks after notching tackling marks of just 22.7 and 29.7 PFF, respectively.

LINEBACKERS

For the second time in 2023, Stephen Dix, who had two tackles Saturday, showed out defensively but despite his efforts, has not received major playing time through five games. Dix, who had the best defensive grade on Marshall’s unit with a 90.6 PFF mark in Week 1, notched an 84.2 PFF grade in just 11 defensive snaps.

His overall defensive grade of 81.8 is the second-best mark on the entire roster through Marshall’s first five contests. Dix also added in an 80.3 run defense grade PFF grade as well as a 76.1 PFF tackling grade.

Behind Dix, Elijah Alston, who holds the highest defensive grade for the Thundering Herd through the first five weeks, Alston posted four tackles and a sack in 42 defensive snaps.

Eli Neal notched a 66.8 PFF while making seven tackles, but gave up four catches while being targeted five times for 26 yards and a touchdown, while Sam Burton collected four tackles and a half-tackle for loss en route to a 65.2 PFF grade.

J’Coryan Anderson’s five stops led to a 64 PFF mark while Jabari Ishmael notched a 57.4 PFF in five snaps defensively.

Owen Porter (four tackles, two for loss), Mike Green (two tackles, half-tackle for loss) and KeSean Brown (four tackles, sack) finished with grades of 54 PFF, 50.2 PFF and 43.9 PFF, respectively. Green had just a 19.3 PFF tackle grade while Porter posted a 46 PFF against the run.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

The back end of the defensive received the highest marks from any positional group for the Thundering Herd, as three of the top four and four out of the top six players were all defensive backs – and all cornerbacks.

Texas A&M transfer Josh Moten’s 85.4 PFF in 43 snaps worked out to be the highest mark. Moten did allow a 62-yard touchdown reception but that was the only reception that he allowed in his three targets, and the corner also picked off a pass.

Dyoni Hill, who was the only Marshall defensive player to play all 66 of the snaps on the defensive side of the ball, posted a 79.9 PFF. Hill made a team-high eight tackles, allowed three receptions in six targets for 57 yards, notched an interception, and had a pass breakup. Jacobie Henderson added in a 79 PFF in his 21 snaps, not allowing a reception in three targets in Saturday’s seven-point setback.

Micah Abraham was only targeted once and didn’t allow a completion – notching a 67.6 PFF grade in 55 snaps for the Thundering Herd – while Jahsen Wint, in 11 snaps, made a tackle and wasn’t targeted from a passing standpoint for a 64.4 PFF mark. Kerion Martin, who made six tackles defensively, notched a 63.5 PFF and gave up a 17-yard touchdown reception in his three targets.

J.J. Roberts and AG McGhee posted PFF grades of 49 and 29.5, with Roberts giving up a 14-yard touchdown pass in three targets. McGhee played just two defensive snaps and gave up a 39-yard touchdown pass in the only rep where he was targeted.