Marshall shepherds 21-3 victory at Silverdome By Chris Duprey Daily Sports Editor PONTIAC, Mich. - Chad Pennington's last pass in a Marshall uniform had to be one of his worst. The telegraphed throw by the senior was almost intercepted and returned for a touchdown - an unfitting end for one of college football's most threatening quarterbacks. Fortunately for No. 11 Marshall, and unfortunately for Brigham Young, it didn't matter. By that point, the Cougars had played their way out of a chance at victory in the Motor City Bowl on Dec. 27, falling miserably, 21-3, at the Silverdome. In finishing 13-0, Marshall repeated the feat of Tulane last year - teams not invited to a Bowl Championship Series bowl, but finished undefeated anyway. "We just kept believing that something would happen," Brigham Young's Setema Gali said. "There's miracles that happen out there in games. Unfortunately, not for us today." The contest wasn't the aerial attack that many had expected. Pennington had a relatively tame day, completing 17 of 28 passes for 207 yards and one score. The Heisman finalist didn't embarrass himself, but he didn't dominate either. His counterpart, Kevin Feterik, had a much rougher road. The senior was manhandled by the blitzing Thundering Herd defense throughout the first half and got quite tired of picking himself up off the Silverdome turf. At one point Feterik verbalized his complaints, confronting lineman Matt Johnson in the huddle for allowing a weak-side blitzer a free hit. Feterik took one too many hits, and was forced out of the game permanently in the third quarter with a broken collarbone. And although things weren't necessarily running smoothly with him in the game, they certainly didn't improve under the direction of backups Bret Engemann (6-for-11, 45 yards, one interception) and Charlie Peterson (4-for-7, 50 yards, one interception). In between the mistakes by both teams that littered the afternoon, Marshall's Doug Chapman pieced together an impressive three-touchdown performance with quick strikes, earning him the Most Valuable Player award. A 30-yard reception over the middle from Pennington with 8:18 remaining in the second quarter put Marshall ahead to stay, 7-3. An 87-yard breakout run at the end of the third quarter gave the Herd a 14-3 lead, and a one-yard plunge was enough to give Chapman and Marshall their third touchdown. "Doug stepped up," Marshall coach Bob Pruett said. "In every big ballgame we've had, Doug Chapman's done some great running." They may not be Sugar Bowl-bound, but the undefeated Thundering Herd will almost surely rise into the top 10 - only part of the legacy left by Pennington, Chapman and the rest of the Marshall seniors. Originally on page 2B in the 1-5-2000 issue of the Daily.