CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Marshall football is 1-0 after winning their home opener Saturday.

The the defense had a strong performance, holding Albany to just a field goal in the first half.

One guy posted his career-high sacks, defensive lineman Sam Burton.

Burton finished with 2.5 sacks for 30 yards and 3 quarterback hurries. 

The defense proved once again to be a strong front. In total, they racked up 7 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 20 QB hurries.

Defensive lineman Owen Porter says he couldn’t be more proud of his guy, Sam, for attacking the offense the way he did.

“I’m so proud of him, I was telling him the whole time on the sideline,” said Porter. “One of ‘em I tried to jump on and said ‘yeah that’s my crumb! I’m gonna get my half on that one!’ There’s no one I’m more proud of. With everything that kid goes through and how many times he’s had to sit out for injury or whatever else is goin’ on. We came in together, and I could not be more proud of that kid. I said it last year, he doesn’t get hurt, he leads the team in sacks and probably leads the conference in sacks. And I told him tonight ‘I’ll take every run play, I’ll take every tackle. You just go pass rush my boy that’s all I care about.’ You get pressure on the quarterback, I’ll stop the run and we’ll be fine.”

“I put a lot of work in the offseason, so feels good to see it pay off,” said Burton. “Just gotta keep working how we do. We try to prepare for every opponent the same. Even if we’re facing an NFL team, got to prepare the same.”

Tight end Cade Conley had an incredible showing, posting seven targets for 79 yards and 43 YAC.

His recap here.