Prior to Monday's Myrtle Beach Bowl, Marshall coach Charles Huff asked his team what their legacy would be when the game came to an end.
As the sun set on Brooks Stadium Monday evening, Huff knew what his team's legacy was.
Marshall's defense forced four turnovers, including a late Micah Abraham interception to seal things, and the Thundering Herd got 92 and 90 rushing yards respectively from running backs Rasheen Ali and Khalan Laborn to earn a 28-14 win over UConn in the Myrtle Beach Bowl in front of 12,023 fans at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina.
"These guys' legacy around here will stay along with some of the greats," Huff said. "There's been great teams and great leaders, but you look at all they've been through – COVID, coaching change, transfer portal. They could've hit the exit button, but they stayed committed to each other and this community."
The win gave Marshall five straight victories to end the season – the first time the Thundering Herd has ended a season with five consecutive wins since 2002.
Ali, who was honored as the game's Most Valuable Player, scored on a 2-yard run with 9:51 left in the third quarter to give Marshall a 28-0 lead.
"It just feels good. I'm super-happy we won and that we're champions," Ali said of winning game MVP honors. "It's the first championship I've ever gotten in my life!"
UConn got a pair of touchdown runs from Victor Rosa to end the third quarter which cut the deficit in half, but Abraham ended any comeback attempt when he stepped in front of a Zion Turner pass in the end zone for his sixth interception of the season.
That interception places Abraham in a tie for second in FBS in interceptions.
It was part of a banner day for the Marshall defense, which jumped to a 14-0 lead at the end of one quarter, thanks to a pair of forced turnovers.
Marshall opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game when Corey Gammage caught a 9-yard pass from Cam Fancher that was set up after Charlie Gray forced a Turner fumble that Isaiah Norman returned to the UConn 16.
Later in the first quarter, Marshall's pressure got to Turner again as Andre Sam forced Turner to hurry a screen pass and Damion Barber stepped in front of it. Barber returned the interception 34 yards to make it 14-0.
Marshall's defense came into the contest with the nation's top third-down defense and that trend did not change with the Huskies converting only three of 12 attempts.
UConn's quarterbacks combined for just 11 of 30 passing with three interceptions against Marshall's pass defense, which came into the game in the top-5 nationally in pass defense efficiency.
The Thundering Herd also finished with nine tackles for loss with 10 different players being credited for at least a half-tackle for loss.
"The chemistry on our team – when I say there were no clicks, we are all like that," said Marshall linebacker Eli Neal said, who finished with a team-high 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. "We were definitely our brother's keeper and our biggest playmakers were also our biggest cheerleaders. That's how a team should be. Nobody was about the spotlight and we didn't care who got the credit. All we wanted to do was win and hold ourselves to the same standard each week."
Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher finished 10 of 20 for 93 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
In addition to the touchdown pass to Gammage, Fancher connected with Devin Miller for a 10-yard score early in the second quarter.
