Phillips, Klugh lead Charlotte over Marshall 27-24

 Kalif Phillips had 123 yards rushing and two touchdowns, Hasaan Klugh ran in the go-ahead score and Charlotte held on for a 27-24 win over Marshall on Saturday night.

Klugh put the 49ers (3-5, 2-2 Conference USA) ahead on a 2-yard keeper with 8:32 left in the game. Charlotte forced a punt on Marshall's next possession, and the Thundering Herd's Amoreto Curraj missed a 40-yard field goal with 1:13 left that allowed Charlotte to run out the clock.

Phillips had his fifth straight game with over 100 yards from scrimmage and Klugh was 17 of 31 for 203 yards with another 41 yards rushing. Charlotte outscored Marshall 17-3 to finish the game.

Chase Litton passed for 262 yards and Keion Davis ran for 90 yards. Litton's 5-yard TD pass to Justin Huntearly in the second quarter gave the Herd (2-5, 1-2) a 21-10 lead.

Marshall overtakes Florida Atlantic in 27-21 win

 Keion Davis ran in two touchdowns, including the winning score late in the fourth quarter, to lift Marshall past Florida Atlantic in a 27-21 win Saturday night.

Trailing 21-19 late in the fourth quarter, Marshall (2-4, 1-1 Conference USA) drove 80 yards in 14 plays to set up Davis' go-ahead touchdown run from the 1, and Chase Littonconnected with Josh Knight for the 2-point conversion. Florida Atlantic then drove to Marshall's 10 before Jason Driskell's pass to Kalib Woods fell incomplete on fourth-and-3 with 1:11 left, and the Thundering Herd took over on downs to seal the win.

Litton finished 27 of 39 for 330 yards passing, including a 65-yard touchdown throw to Knight in the second quarter. Knight had 128 yards on nine catches. Amoreto Curraj had two field goals.

Florida Atlantic (1-6, 0-3) got 111 yards rushing and a touchdown from Devin Singletary and 109 yards rushing from Greg Howell, who also had a touchdown.

North Texas pulls away from Marshall 38-21

Mason Fine passed for one touchdown and ran for another, Jeffrey Wilson had the go-ahead score and North Texas pulled away from Marshall 38-21 on Saturday night.

Fine's 11-yard TD strike to Tyler Wilson put the Mean Green (3-3, 2-1 Conference USA) up 21-14 in the third quarter. Fine also scored on an 8-yard run in the first quarter.

Chase Litton replied with a 1-yard scoring pass to Ryan Yurachek on Marshall's next possession to tie it at 21.

Jeffrey Wilson's 72-yard TD run in the third quarter iced it for North Texas. He gained 188 yards on 26 carries and also scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter. Eric Jenkins intercepted a pass by Litton and returned it 52 yards for a score.

Litton ran six yards for a touchdown for Marshall (1-4, 0-1). Keion Davis returned the second half's opening kickoff 99 yards for a score, the third-longest kickoff return in school history.

Pitt holds off rally, tops Marshall 43-27

A once seemingly insurmountable four-touchdown lead gone against resilient Marshall on Saturday night, Pittsburgh could have played it safe and tried to hold on.

Not this time.

Up by just a field goal and facing third down near midfield, Pitt quarterback Nate Peterman lobbed a deep ball to Jester Weah down the sideline. The junior wide receiver pulled it in over a defender and raced to the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown with 1:04 remaining and the Panthers pulled away late for a 43-27 win.

"I loved it when they called the play," Weah said. "I knew I had the ability to make the play. I just had to go out there and just do it."

And help Pitt (3-2) avoid another late meltdown. Two weeks after giving up the go ahead touchdown with 2:18 to play in a loss at Oklahoma State and seven days after a 13-point fourth-quarter lead turned into a last-second loss at North Carolina, the Panthers appeared in trouble again when Marshall's Keion Davis scored on a 1-yard run with 4:01 to play to pull the Thundering Herd (1-3) within 30-27.

After falling to the Tar Heels, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said his team couldn't afford to become predictable in late-game situations. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada was listening. Peterman hit Scott Orndoff on third down to extend the drive before Peterman's second touchdown of the game let the Panthers exhale.

"The best thing is we made plays when we needed to at the end," Narduzzi said.

Peterman finished with a season-high 280 yards passing and two scores. Weah caught seven passes for 176 yards and freshman Chawntez Moss ran for 97 yards. Pitt outgained the Thundering Herd 532-344.

Still, it wasn't exactly easy.

Marshall quarterback Chase Litton returned after missing a loss to Louisville last week and threw for 240 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Michael Clark caught four passes for 147 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown as part of Marshall's methodical rally, one that hardly seemed possible after an opening 30 minutes in which Pitt did whatever it wanted.

PAYING TRIBUTE

Pitt held a moment of silence before the national anthem in honor of golfer Arnold Palmer. The native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania (about an hour from Heinz Field) passed away at 87 last week.

The Panthers also saluted Dr. Stanley Marks following the first quarter. Marks served as Pitt running backJames Conner's oncologist while the 2014 ACC Player of the Year underwent treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma discovered last Thanksgiving. Conner, who ran for 39 yards and a touchdown, ran in to give Marks a hug and Narduzzi jogged onto the field to follow suit.

WELCOME RETURN

Pitt entered the game with the 127th-ranked pass defense in the nation, next-to-last in the FBS. While Litton and Clark heated up in the second half, the Panthers got in the final word. Cornerback Avonte Maddox - picked on repeatedly by opponents over the last three weeks - returned a Litton pass 33 yards for a score on the game's final play.

"Avonte Maddox needed that," Narduzzi said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Marshall: Litton appears to be just fine and may have one of Conference USA's better wide receivers in Clark. The 6-foot-7 sophomore will be a matchup nightmare down the road.

Pitt: The kids are starting to deliver. Narduzzi gave considerable playing time to a handful of freshman, including Moss and freshman wide receivers Tre Tipton and Maurice Ffrench, with promising results. The trio combined for 156 yards of total offense and a pair of touchdowns. "That's what we expect," Tipton said. "

UP NEXT

Marshall: Opens Conference USA play on the road at North Texas next Saturday. The Thundering Herd beat the Mean Green 30-13 last year.

Pitt: Gets back into ACC action when it hosts Georgia Tech next Saturday. The Panthers edged the Yellow Jackets 31-28 in 2015 on Chris Blewitt's 56-yard field goal with 1:11 to go.

Jackson shines again, No. 3 Louisville beats Marshall 59-28

 Lamar Jackson's latest fantastic performance didn't live up to his own lofty standards.

Jackson capped off a September to remember with another solid effort against an overmatched opponent, throwing for a career-high 417 yards and accounting for seven touchdowns in No. 3 Louisville's 59-28 win over Marshall on Saturday night.

The sophomore threw five touchdown passes and ran for two more scores. He completed 24 of 44 passes against a Marshall secondary whose most experienced player had five starts.

Some of those incompletions stuck with him after the game and he gave himself a failing grade.

"I was overthrowing my receivers," Jackson said. "I'm hot about that right now."

Louisville (4-0) didn't slow down against a nonconference opponent on the road a week after beating Florida State 63-20 at home.

After a punt and a missed field goal on two of their first three series, Jackson said the Cardinals "got mad at ourselves. We're used to going out there and executing everything right.

"We started off bad and in my mind I was like we need to make something happen. We got into our groove."

The Cardinals raced to a 35-7 halftime lead on Marshall and cruised in the second half to break a four-game losing streak to the Thundering Herd. Jackson's scoring passes covered 71, 8, 30, 8 and 51 yards.

"The things we wanted him to do, he did a good job with," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "I think we had to earn it tonight."

Louisville surpassed 600 yards of offense for the third time this season.

Marshall (1-2) was limited to 207 yards in the first start for freshman quarterback Garet Morrell. Chase Litton missed the game with an undisclosed injury that was announced an hour before kickoff. Marshall coach Doc Holliday said Litton didn't practice all week.

Marshall has lost 15 straight to ranked opponents and has yet to beat a ranked team at home since joining the FBS in 1997.

"There is no question, that's an excellent football team," Holliday said of Louisville. "That quarterback is a special guy."

THE TAKEAWAY

LOUISVILLE: Jackson simply hasn't been stopped, although Marshall's pass rush at times forced him into inaccurate throws. His 62 rushing yards meant that his streak of five straight 100-yard rushing games dating to last season came to an end. After four games, he's thrown 13 TD passes and run for 12 more scores.

MARSHALL: The Thundering Herd need Litton back in a hurry and could use some help on defense after allowing 124 points in their last two games. Holliday said the only positives he took away from the game were the play of running backs Anthony Pittman (54 yards) and Anthony Anderson (46).

"We've need to get better in all three phases, come back (Sunday) and go to work," Holliday said.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

With No. 2 Ohio State idle, Louisville could gain some votes in the AP Top 25 poll but it might not be enough to overtake the Buckeyes.

RUNNING RADCLIFF

Jackson hasn't done it alone. Brandon Radcliff had his third straight 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 131 yards on 19 carries.

PENALTIES GALORE

Louisville was penalized 12 times for 143 yards. Marshall, which entered the game averaging an FBS-worst 12.5 penalties per game, was flagged nine times for 95 yards. Kendall Gant was ejected in the second quarter for targeting during a punt return.

UP NEXT

LOUISVILLE: Heads to No. 5 Clemson with a chance to strengthen its perch at the top in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Atlantic Division after beating No. 13 Florida State last week.

MARSHALL: Closes out nonconference play at Pittsburgh.

Woodson, defense carry Akron to 65-38 win over Marshall

Thomas Woodson threw two of his four touchdown passes in the second quarter and Akron rolled to a 65-38 victory over Marshall on Saturday.

The Zips (2-1) also returned a fumble and a blocked punt for touchdowns in the 34-point second quarter that produced a 41-21 halftime lead.

Marshall (1-1) led 21-7 after one quarter on the strength of three touchdown passes by Chase Litton. Litton finished 32 of 57 for 413 yards and four touchdowns but had three interceptions, the last one returned 31-yards for a touchdown by DeMarcus Lloyd to close the scoring.

Woodson completed 21 of 32 for 379 yards with JoJo Natson having career highs of seven receptions for 134 yards. Manny Morgan ran for a career-high 130 yards on 18 carries as Akron piled up 524 yards.

Marshall finished with 560 yards, 31 first downs and a 13 1/2 minute advantage in time of possession but had four turnovers.

Litton throws 6 TD's, Marshall blasts Morgan St 62-0

 Chase Litton completed 13 of his 16 passes for 309 yards with six first half touchdown passes and Marshall cruised past Morgan State 62-0 on Saturday night.

Four of Litton's six TD strikes were from 30-plus yards out. Michael Clarkcaught a pair of touchdowns, while Deon-Tay McManus, Emanuel Byrd,Justin Hunt, and Ryan Yuracheck each caught one.

Tony Pittman carried nine times for 81 yards and touchdown for the Thundering Herd, who piled up 530 yards of total offense and forced four Morgan State fumbles, recovering three.

Marshall scored 21 points in the first and 28 in the second for a 49-0 lead at the half. Marshall has now won 27 straight when leading at the break.

DeAndre Harris threw for 91 yards for the Bears (0-2).

It was the season opening game for Marshall, the latest the Thunder Herd have opened the season since 1981.

Marshall Thundering Herd Season Preview

Marshall finished last season 13-1 (tying the C-USA record for victories), won its first C-USA Championship and defeated MAC Champion Northern Illinois in the Boca Raton Bowl, 52-23. The Herd finished the season as the only FBS team ranked in the top 20 nationally in both rushing offense (No. 8, 271.9 yards per game) and passing offense (No. 17, 287.3).

Head coach Doc Holliday’s last two Marshall teams have posted a 23-5 record. The only teams with more wins in 2013 and ’14 were Florida State (27-1), Ohio State (26-3), Michigan State (24-3) and Oregon (24-4).

Marshall tied national runner-up Oregon for the most touchdown receptions by freshmen (17). The Herd ranked No. 5 in FBS in freshmen receiving yards, with 1,315, on 82 catches by wide receivers Angelo Jean-Louis, Deon-Tay McManus, Hyleck Foster and tight end Ryan Yurachek.

Senior RB Devon Johnson topped the 100-yard mark 10 times during the 2014 season, reaching the century mark in 10 of the 11 games he played in from start to finish. The converted tight end led C-USA with 1,767 yards and had 17 rushing TDs in 13 games. Johnson finished among the FBS leaders in total rushing yards (sixth), average per game (fifth at 135.2 yards per game), yards per carry (fifth at 8.58) and scoring (24th with 8.8 points per game). He also had seven runs of 50 yards or longer last season.