Final Stats (PDF)
LAFAYETTE, La. – Marshall used a dominant performance on offense and defense to defeat Louisiana, 31-3, in the 2024 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game at Cajun Field.
In its first Sun Belt title game appearance, the Thundering Herd (11-2) collected its seventh-straight victory and became the first visiting team to win the Sun Belt crown.
“There’s a lot of individual attention and a lot of individual gains, I get that, and I support that,” Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. “There’s a place for that, but in order to win a championship, you’ve got to give up a little of yourself and buy into something bigger. These guys deserve the utter most respect, utter most praise, utter most buy-in. They deserve a statue for what this team was able to do.”
Redshirt junior quarterback and 2024 Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year Braylon Braxton completed 18-of-26 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 75 yards on 16 rushing attempts on his way to being named the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game Most Valuable Player.
Marshall redshirt senior offensive lineman Logan Osburn received the Sun Belt’s Elite Award which recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition while also achieving the highest academic standard. The award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing on the final day for each of the Sun Belt Conference’s championships.
“That’s the reason I came back, to be honest,” Osburn said regarding the victory. “I’m just so proud of this team. I’m proud of these coaches. We blocked out the noise and went out there and executed at a high level and that’s how we won this game.”
Redshirt senior running back Jordan Houston rushed 17 times for 117 yards and one touchdown, while redshirt sophomore wide receiver Tychaun Chapman hauled in a game-high eight catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (10-3) got on the scoreboard first during their second possession of the evening after a 47-yard catch by wide receiver Lance LeGendre on the first play of the drive set up a 40-yard field goal by Kenneth Almendares four plays later.
The Thundering Herd responded and took a lead it would not relinquish on its next possession when Chapman got behind the secondary before Braxton found him alone in the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown pass to cap a seven-play, 75-yard drive with 4:04 remaining in the first quarter.
“After I threw the long touchdown, I kind of settled in,” Braxton said. “Early on, I was doing some boneheaded stuff that I shouldn’t have done (like) throwing the ball up and trying to make plays that weren’t there. But I stayed the course, settled down and got the win like we needed to do.”
The Herd imposed its will on both sides of the ball in the second quarter, extending the lead on a 32-yard field goal by Rece Verhoff with 7:54 to go. After forcing the Cajuns into a three-and-out, Marshall used the good field position to construct a seven-play, 56-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard rushing touchdown by running back Ethan Payne with 2:47 left to increase its advantage, 17-3.
Following an injury to starting quarterback Chandler Fields, Louisiana made a late push down to Marshall’s 35-yard line with just over one minute remaining. However, on the fifth play of the drive, freshman quarterback Daniel Beale lofted a pass to his right along the sideline that was intercepted by defensive back Josh Moten inside the 10-yard line to end the threat and subsequently send the Herd into halftime ahead by 14.
Marshall outgained Louisiana, 266-150, in the first half and picked up 15 first downs while holding the Ragin’ Cajuns to just four.
Both sides went three-and-out on their first possessions of the second half, before the Herd completed a nine-play, 56-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Braxton to wide receiver Bralon Brown, increasing the lead to 24-3 with 7:43 remaining in the third quarter.
Marshall continued to get stops on defense before its offensive surge picked up again in the latter part of the fourth quarter with an eight-play, 86-yard drive covering nearly six minutes ended with a nine-yard touchdown run by Houston with 2:04 to go.
NOTABLES:
- Marshall defensive lineman Mike Green broke the Sun Belt’s single-season record with his 17th sack, surpassing the standard set by Troy’s Javon Solomon in 2023.
- Marshall wide receiver Tychaun Chapman’s eight receptions were the second most by a player in Sun Belt Conference Championship Game history.
- Marshall running back Jordan Houston became the fifth 100-yard rusher in Sun Belt Conference Championship Game history.
- Jordan Houston’s 117 rushing yards tied Louisiana’s Emani Bailey (2021) for the second most in Sun Belt Conference Championship Game history.
- Marshall quarterback Braylon Braxton’s 268 total yards were the fourth most by a player in Sun Belt Conference Championship Game history.
- Marshall and Louisiana’s 34 combined points were the fewest in Sun Belt Conference Championship Game history.
- Louisiana’s three points were the fewest scored by a team in Sun Belt Conference Championship Game history.