Bad start haunts Marshall in 43-27 loss to Pitt

Marshall’s Willie Johnson (3) is tackled Pitt’s Ryan Lewis (38) on a kickoff return.PITTSBURGH — After getting badly outclassed in the first half, Marshall sprang to life Saturday night and nearly dumped the Pittsburgh Panthers into the nearby Ohio River.

But in the end, a brutally bad first quarter sank the Thundering Herd, which lost 43-27. The game was much closer than it sounds, as the Panthers scored twice in the final 1:04.

But the Herd has a three-game losing streak, and it hurts.

“You can’t expect to win a game going down 27-0 at halftime, and not scoring,” said MU quarterback Chase Litton. “We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to improve. That’s a team out there, we should have won that…