October 8, 2018,  Football  No comments

Alex Thomson the Answer for the Herd?

By Michael Morgan

The Marshall Thundering Herd football team were quarterbacked by junior-college transfer, Alex Thomson in the 34-24 loss to Middle Tennessee University on Saturday.

Thomson, starting for the injured Isaiah Green, completed 17 of 33 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns, accompanied by two turnovers. This was Thomson’s first game action in 13 months, where he last played healthy at Wagner University in New York.

Thomson had been previously regarded as a “No question” NFL quarterback by NFL hall of famer Phil Simms, who was unreachable over the weekend in efforts to get his opinion on Thomson’s Marshall debut.

The first career touchdown pass in a Herd uniform came late in the second quarter, an 11-yard strike to tight end Armani Levias which gave Marshall a 17-10 lead at the half.

After halftime, Thomson was sacked four times and completed just one pass in the third quarter for three yards. His numbers were padded a bit when he threw a late touchdown to receiver Obi Obialo while playing catch-up.

Thomson was not pleased with the result of the game, but getting to play football again meant more to him than anything. “Being able to play football again, that’s a special moment for me, but it didn’t go as planned,” Thomson said in a post-game interview.

Marshall Head Coach Doc Holliday supported his quarterback and looked at the positive aspects of his performance. “At the end of the day, he just hasn’t played in a long time. He had a little rust out there on him, but I felt like he hung in there and did some good things,” Holliday said.

Thomson has his eyes on the next game in efforts to help his team get back to winning. “We have to regroup, put this one behind us and move forward,” Thomson said.

The timetable for the return of Isaiah Green, who was wearing a knee brace on his left knee during the game, is uncertain. Thomson may be the starting quarterback for the next couple of games.

Having a solid running game can take some of the pressure off of Thomson in the coming weeks. Sophomore running back Tyler King, starting for the injured Keion Davis, ran for a career-high 165 yards in the loss to MTSU.

The Herd was missing four starters in the game with undisclosed injuries, which may have played a part in the Herd’s struggle to keep the offense moving in the second half.

Throwing for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns provides a base in which Thomson can build upon in the weeks to come. Marshall is still in contention for the conference title, being just one game behind the first place Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee.

Marshall, now 3-2 with a 1-1 record in Conference USA, has eight days to recover and regroup before traveling to Virginia to play the 1-5 Old Dominion University who are 0-3 in Conference USA.