Marshall University Athletics

Box Score

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Football's first home game of the 2026 season turned out to be a thriller for the 25,662 fans in attendance as the Herd outlasted Middle Tennessee, 28-26, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday.

With the win, the Herd evens its record at 1-1 on the season.

"Football is hard to win, and I'm never going to be disappointed with a win," Marshall head coach Tony Gibson said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but what I love is the next-man-up mentality tonight."

As with most games in the Marshall-Middle Tennessee series, this one went to the wire with Marshall's defense getting a stop on a 2-point conversion with 50 seconds left to maintain a lead before an errant onside kick attempt.

It was the final big play for the Herd in a fourth quarter full of them as the new lights show at Joan C. Edwards Stadium showed its momentum-changing prowess quickly.

"The first thing I want to do is thank our fans," Gibson said. "I thought our stadium was electric tonight…," Marshall head coach Tony Gibson said. "The kids feed off of it. When (Middle Tennessee) missed that field goal, there was a whole different vibe about it. It got loud and stayed loud.

After Middle Tennessee missed a field goal late in the third quarter, Marshall used the crowd's energy to its advantage between quarters with Zion Turner leading a 10-play, 68-yard scoring drive to produce the lead.

The end of the drive came with plenty of excitement, though, as Turner reached for the goal line, but fumbled into the end zone with wide receiver Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw recovering for the score that led to the Herd's 21-20 lead.

The game stayed there until the biggest play came from Huntington native Zah Jackson, who stepped in front of a Roman Gagliano pass before returning the interception 54 yards to set up T.J. Lester's first touchdown with the Herd – a 2-yard run that made it 28-20.

"Coach KJ (Dillon) told me to stay ready on the sidelines," Jackson said. "He called my number and I saw (Camron Lacy) run a dig and I just looked right at him. I knew they were fittin' to throw it, so I just jumped it and got the pick."

The back-and-forth affair featured plenty of twists and turns with neither team producing more than a one-score lead throughout.

Marshall's first points of the season came less than five minutes into the game on Saturday as Carlos Del Rio-Wilson connected with Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw for a slant that Turner-Bradshaw took for a 69-yard score – his first touchdown with the Herd, but the first of two he'd have on the night.

After Middle Tennessee scored 10 straight points to take a lead, Del Rio-Wilson led an 11-play, 75-yard drive that chewed up more than six minutes of clock, capped by the senior quarterback's 4-yard touchdown run that produced a 14-13 halftime lead.

Del Rio-Wilson finished 7 of 8 passing for 92 yards and a score while rushing for 43 yards and another score while Turner was 5 of 9 for 66 yards. Adrian Norton caught seven passes for 43 yards to lead the receivers in catches.

Defensively, Cannon Lewis finished with a career-high 14 tackles for the Herd while Caleb Clark-Glover added nine tackles and two pass breakups.

Punter Cooper Heimbach also continued the strong start to his season, averaging 48.8 yards on six punts with career-longs of 54 and 52 yards in the win.

During the game, Marshall honored the Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2026 as nine inductees were enshrined into the Hall of Fame during a luncheon at the Foundation Hall earlier in the day.

Marshall turns its attention to next Saturday's road contest at Missouri State, which is slated for a 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff from Springfield, Mo.

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