COLUMN
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.— Marshall’s 2014 season will not be defined by games in which Cato throws for 350 yards and five touchdowns, rather by games in which everything goes wrong.
The “ugly win” where Marshall escapes with a victory despite making mistakes could be he turning point in a season in which the perfection is the expectation.
The Herd is yet to prove it can still win the game despite not playing its best.
Last year against Ohio, Marshall outgained the Bobcats by 100 yards, but turned the ball over four times and the defense could not slow down quarterback Tyler Tettleton and the Ohio offense. The Bobcats pulled out a 34-31 win.
The Herd’s defense had a letdown on the road at Middle Tennessee and allowed the Blue Raiders to march up and down the field with little resistance. Special teams miscues and turnovers doomed Marshall in a game it should have won.
And in a nearly empty Rice Stadium, Marshall fell flat in the conference championship game.
There is a reason undefeated seasons are special.
They are incredibly difficult to achieve under the best circumstances. Even with the schedule presumably weaker than years past, games at Akron, Old Dominion, Southern Miss and UAB all have he potential to be stumbling blocks that derail the dream seasons Herd fans have in mind.
College football experts are basing their predictions on last year’s results and Marshall’s returning players.
They see Cato’s 3,916 yards passing and 39 touchdowns last year and a defense that went from one of the worst in the country in 2012 to one of the top units in 2013. They see a fairly weak schedule with no “BCS” opponents to trip up The Herd.
Prognosticators are already releasing bowl projections for the 2014 season and have mentioned Marshall as a possible opponent for Georgia or Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Of course, that’s only if The Herd can pull off an historic season.
We know how good Marshall can be when it plays at its best. The question is, how good is Marshall when it is at its worst?
Anderson Transferring
It’s not surprising to hear the news quarterback Kevin Anderson had decided to transfer to Fordham. Anderson had clearly dropped on the depth chart as spring practice progressed.
While Doc Holliday and Bill Legg said no one had taken control of the backup quarterback job, the pecking order had clearly been established. Sophomore Gunnar Holcombe had a slight edge over freshman Cole Garvin and Anderson was a distant third, at best.
Quarterback is a unique position, you either play or you don’t. There’s no rotation like there is at other positions and quarterbacks want to play.
Anderson is looking for a chance to play just as Blake Fronhapfel was when he opted to transfer to UMass.