Marshall vs. Louisiana: Box score, stats, game summary and more ft. Braylon Braxton

Marshall and Louisiana faced off for the Sun Belt Conference crown. Both teams entered assured of bowl games and are far outside the scope of the College Football Playoff. But neither school had won a Sun Belt Conference title since the league began playing a conference title game in 2019.

Marshall claimed an easy 31-3 victory on the strength of a solid game from QB Braylon Braxton, who had over 250 total yards and two touchdown passes. Louisiana now has an 0-4 mark in league title games. The Ragin' Cajuns did share a league title in 2005 and 2013. Marshall had never played for the Sun Belt title, although 2024 is only its third year in the league.

Louisiana (10-3) won the West division by two full games, carrying only losses to Tulane (by eight points) and South Alabama (by two points) before taking a thumping from Marshall.

Marshall (10-3) outlasted Georgia Southern to win the East division. The Thundering Herd took early losses to Virginia Tech and Ohio State, and their only conference loss came at Georgia Southern by a single point.

Marshall vs. Louisiana Box Score

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Marshall	7	10	7	7	31
Louisiana	3	0	0	0	3

Marshall Passing Stats

Player	Comp.	Att.	Yards	Pass TDs
Braylon Braxton	18	26	193	2

Marshall Rushing and Receiving Stats

Player	Rushes	Yards	Rush TDs	Rec.	Yards	Rec. TDs
Braylon Braxton	16	66	0	0	0	0
Jordan Houston	17	117	1	0	0	0
Ethan Payne	9	39	1	1	0	0
Tychaun Chapman	0	0	0	8	86	1
Carl Chester	0	0	0	1	25	0
Christian Fitzpatrick	0	0	0	2	7	0
Toby Payne	0	0	0	1	5	0
Chuck Montgomery	0	0	0	4	50	0
Bralon Brown	0	0	0	1	20	1

Marshall Kicking Stats

Player	XP-XPA	FG-FGA	Long
Rece Verhoff	4 for 4	1 for 1	32

Louisiana Passing Stats

Player	Comp.	Att.	Yards	Pass TDs
Chandler Fields	4	8	104	0
Daniel Beale	9	24	95	0

Louisiana Rushing and Receiving Stats

Player	Rushes	Yards	Rush TDs	Rec.	Yards	Rec. TDs
Chandler Fields	2	14	0	0	0	0
Dre'lyn Washington	8	19	0	2	13	0
Zylan Perry	6	25	0	0	0	0
Daniel Beale	8	2	0	0	0	0
Bill Davis	4	-2	0	0	0	0
Lance LeGendre	0	0	0	4	81	0
Harvey Broussard	0	0	0	4	80	0
Tavion Smith	0	0	0	1	13	0
Jacob Bernard	0	0	0	1	6	0
Caden Jensen	0	0	0	1	6	0

Louisiana Kicking Stats

Player	XP-XPA	FG-FGA	Long
Kenneth Almendares	0 for 0	1 for 1	40

After the teams traded punts, Louisiana drove 52 yard for a 40-yard field goal by Kenneth Almendares. That was as good as things got for the Ragin' Cajuns, as Marshall rolled from there.

QB Braylon Braxton was solid throughout the game for Marshall, and his 37-yard TD pass to Tychaun Chapman late in the first quarter gave the Herd a lead they would not relinquish. A short second-quarter field goal and a 15-yard scoring run by Ethan Payne stretched the edge to 17-3 at the half.

Marshall scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half to pull away. Louisiana's day might have been most typified by a 20-play, 66-yard drive in the fourth quarter that ended without any scoring.

Both Marshall and Louisiana have now completed 10-win seasons and each will nab a bowl berth representing the Sun Belt Conference. Marshall picks up its first-ever Sun Belt Conference crown.

• Louisiana: 40-yard field goal by Kenneth Almendares, 3-0, 6:42 remaining in 1st quarter
• Marshall: 37-yard TD pass to Tychaun Chapman from Braylon Braxton (Verhoff XPT), 7-3, 4:04 remaining in 1st quarter
• Marshall: 32-yard field goal by Rece Verhoff, 10-3, 7:54 remaining in 2nd quarter
• Marshall: 15-yard TD run by Ethan Payne (Verhoff XPT), 17-3, 2:47 remaining in 2nd quarter
• Marshall: 20-yard TD pass to Bralon Brown from Braylon Braxton (Verhoff XPT), 24-3, 7:43 remaining in 3rd quarter
• Marshall: 9-yard TD run by Jordan Houston (Verhoff XPT), 31-3, 2:04 remaining in 4th quarter