HUNTINGTON W.Va.—Marshall sent a message last week against Southern Miss that the defense that gave up 585 yards to Middle Tennessee State did not make the trip back from Murfreesboro.
The Herd looked like a team on a mission right out of the gates, forcing a fumble on the second play of the game and making life miserable for Southern Miss quarterback Nick Mullins. Mullins was sacked four times and hit, knocked down and beat on countless others.
“The team sent a little notification out there that the Middle Tennessee State game is over with,” says Bazzie. “But the statement is really going to be made this week.”
The statement this week will be two fold. First, Marshall is again looking to redeem itself from last year’s disaster in Birmingham. UAB had 406 yards of total offense in the 38-31 win over Marshall. Running back Darrin Reaves rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns for the Blazers, but safety Evan McKelvey says that was then.
“It’s a whole different defense now than last year. The thing we try not to do is let people run on us, so we have something to prove Saturday.”
McKelvey and the rest of the defense may just get its wish as UAB is expected to pound the football in much the same way Middle Tennessee State did against The Herd. The Blue Raiders ran 19 consecutive running plays in the second half. Last week, Middle Tennessee got a little taste of its own medicine from UAB which ran the ball 26 straight times before attempting its first pass of the day.
“The scheme is just a scheme where you try to knock people back off the ball and try to bleed you out for five or six yards at a time,” says defensive coordinator Chuck Heater. “It’s not a bad way to play.”
Reaves is the workhorse for UAB. He’s rushed for 678 yards this season and Bazzie says Reaves has the respect of the Marshall defense.
“He made a statement last year. He ran the ball hard and he did what he had to do. This year we want to limit that. We know how strong of a running back he is.”
Reaves isn’t the only back who can do damage. True freshman Jordan Howard is a 228-pound bruiser in the backfield that has powered his way to 650 yards on the year.
“It’s like any other game you play, if you can’t stop the run you’re going to have major problems,” says Holliday.
Last week, quarterback Jonathan Perry made his first start of the season. He didn’t have to do much except turn and hand the ball off, attempting just nine passes, completing six for 57 yards.
“He’ll hurt you a little bit more with his feet and you can see where he gets on the parameter sometimes, plus he’s older, he’s a senior,” says Holliday.
When Perry does throw the ball, his big playmaker is Jamarcus Nelson. Nearly a third of Perry’s passing yards last week came on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Nelson with 1:50 left in the game.
“He’s a tremendous player. I’ve watched him run by LSU, watched him run by Vanderbilt. If you run by those Southeastern Conference guys your pretty good,” praises Heater.
Nelson has 492 yards receiving on the year and six touchdown receptions.
The Blazers are also dealing with a plethora of injuries this season. UAB lost three more starters last week including starting right guard Roscoe Byrd who broke his leg against MTSU.
There’s no doubt that UAB wants to turn the game into a grind it out battle and control the ball. It held on to the football for nearly 40 minutes last week against MTSU and would like to keep the Marshall offense on the sidelines as much as possible. Doc Holliday has warned his team it had better come ready to play.
“I told them to put their big boy pads on. If that offensive line is able to get after our defensive line it’s going to be a long afternoon.”
Defensive Alex Bazzie told freshman Corie Tindal this game reminds him of a classic AFC North battle.
“This is going to be the Ravens vs. the Steelers right here. It’s going to be that type of game.”