ANNAPOLIS, Md.--Freshman Rasheen Ali scored the first four touchdowns of his collegiate career as Marshall defeated Navy 49-7 in the season opener for both teams.
Ali scored his first TD from the 2, capping the game-opening drive. He added two more scoring runs - from the 3 and the 4 - staking Marshall to a 21-0 halftime lead. Ali scored a final touchdown with a plunge from the 1 midway through the fourth quarter.
"We got our butts whooped in all facets – coaching, offensively, defensively and special teams. No excuses," said Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo. "We were prepared. We didn't look like we were prepared having penalties to start drives and inexplicable things happening. Delay of game on the punt. Kicks blocked. It is the worst that we have been on special teams in a long time. We got our butts whooped."
Sheldon Evans scored Marshall's other two touchdowns with runs of 9 and 1 yards.
Xavier Arline scored early in the fourth, crashing over from the 1, as Navy avoided the shutout thanks to 337 yards rushing.
The biggest story of the game was the red zone. Marshall made it to the red zone six times and scored six times, all of them touchdowns, while Navy scored just once in five opportunities.
"You have to finish drives. A team like that is so potent on offense. We have to be able to finish those drives to stay close to them," said Niumatalolo. "When you don't finish those drives, that is hard. I feel like we moved the ball, but it doesn't matter if you are not finishing and scoring. We killed ourselves and killed ourselves in the red zone. Against a team like that who is so potent on offense, that can't happen."
Marshall held a 464-398 edge in total yards, largely thanks to Grant Wells completing 20 of 30 passes for 333 yards before being replaced by backup Luke Zban late in the game. Zban threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to E.J. Horton with 2:01 remaining.
Senior safety Kevin Brennan led the Navy defense with six tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception, while James Harris rushed for a career-high 80 yards on 11 carries. Navy's 337 yards rushing was its most in a game since the 2019 Army game when Navy rushed for 395 yards.
"Kevin is Kevin. He has been one of our leaders for the last three years. He has worked hard. He comes to work the same every day. We are going to need him as we press forward. We are going to need him," said Niumatalolo.
Navy will play host to Air Force next Saturday at 3:30 PM in the first leg of the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy. The game was moved from its usual date of the first Saturday in October to Sept. 11 in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
