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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- Doug Chapman wanted everyone to know
Marshall can play with the big boys. Now they know.
Chapman scored three touchdowns and Marshall's defense did the
rest as the No. 11 Thundering Herd completed an undefeated season
by beating BYU 21-3 on Monday in the Motor City Bowl.
|  | | Marshall's Doug Chapman goes over the top for a fourth-quarter touchdown. |
"It was a dream come true for the whole team," Chapman said.
Chapman, who rushed for 133 yards, ran for two TDs and hooked up
on a pass play with Chad Pennington for another as Marshall (13-0)
remained one of three unbeaten Division I teams in the country.
"Doug stepped up," Marshall coach Bob Pruett said. "In every
big ballgame we've had, Doug Chapman's done some great running."
Marshall, 35-4 since moving up to Division I, has played in the
Motor City Bowl all three years. It lost the inaugural game and won
the last two.
"So many heroes today," Pruett said. "It's unbelievable."
BYU (8-4), co-champion of the Mountain West Conference, got its
lone score on Owen Pochman's 28-yard field goal in the first
quarter. It was all Marshall after that and the Mid-American
Conference champions broke the game open with two touchdowns in a
1:44 span during the second half.
"We just kept believing something would happen," BYU defensive
end Setema Gali said. "There's miracles that happen out there in
games. Unfortunately, not for us today."
The game had been billed as a shootout between Pennington and
BYU's Kevin Feterik.
But Pennington, who came in with 3,799 yards passing and 37 TD
tosses, completed 17 of 28 passes for 207 yards with one interception.
Feterik, who passed for 3,554 yards and 25 TDs this season,
could never escape the pressure from Marshall's quick defenders. He
was 6-of-11 for 125 yards before being forced from the game early
in the third quarter with a fractured clavicle.
"It was pretty hard," Feterik said. "I threw about three more
passes after I got hurt. It just kept getting worse."
Freshman Bret Engemann and Charlie Peterson finished for the
Cougars, but they were no more successful than Feterik.
Marshall finished with 354 yards while holding BYU to 204 yards.
The Cougars had minus-16 yards rushing.
"Number one, we were unable to make plays," BYU coach LaVell
Edwards said. "They made a couple. That was the difference in the
ballgame."
The Cougars drove 57 yards in 10 plays on their second
possession and took a 3-0 lead on Pochman's field goal.
It looked like it might be BYU's day when Billy Malashevich
missed a field goal early in the second quarter for Marshall, but
the Cougars' luck soon went sour.
Pennington's underthrown pass was intercepted by Jared Lee at
the BYU 30 shortly after the first of Malashevich's three misses,
but Marshall's Nate Poole forced Lee to fumble on the return
attempt and Lanier Washington recovered for Marshall.
Given new life, Pennington and Chapman hooked up on a 30-yard
touchdown pass play with 8:18 left in the half -- on the first snap
-- to give the Herd a 7-3 lead.
"Credit Marshall. They did a nice job," Edwards said. "We get the interception, fumble it right back. Next play, they score."
Chapman caught the ball in traffic at the 25, made a nice move
at the 10 and angled across the goal line.
Chapman, the game's Most Valuable Player, broke a tackle near
the line of scrimmage, springing himself for an 87-yard TD run with
51 seconds left in the third quarter.
"I was running and hoping to God nobody caught me," Chapman
said. "I was getting tired, starting to cramp during the run."
It was the longest play in the three-year history of this bowl.
The old mark was an 80-yard pass from Pennington to Randy Moss
against Mississippi in 1997.
"He made a great run on the touchdown," Pruett said. "If you
saw the replay, he was hit two or three times, stepped over a guy.
It was just a great run. He's going to be a great pro."
A 16-yard interception return by Rogers Beckett set Marshall up
at the BYU 1 and Chapman dove in for the score two plays later for
final score with 14:07 left in the fourth quarter.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
BYU Clubhouse
Marshall Clubhouse
Defense makes Marshall's ending perfect
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Doug Chapman breaks a tackle and goes 87 yards for the TD.
avi: 1127 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Doug Chapman takes the Chad Pennington pass 30 yards for the score.
avi: 766 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Doug Chapman goes over the top for his third TD.
avi: 597 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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