HUNTINGTON, W.Va.— Marshall was looking to make a point at the start of the third quarter last week. Leading by 11 against Middle Tennessee at the half, the offense had sputtered in the final minutes of the second quarter. So, the Herd turned to an old standby in football to take over the game.
It ran the ball
“They had a pretty good front and nobody had really run the ball on them much so we wanted to come out and run the ball and dominate the line of scrimmage,” said center Chris Jasperse.
Marshall rushed for 252 yards against the Blue Raiders, who came into the game allowing 161.2 yards per game on the ground.
“That’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to play the second half like it was the inside drill. We just ran the ball and pounded them then Cato pulled the ball and threw it and it worked,” said Devon Johnson who has rushed for 814 yards and is averaging 7.8 yards per rush.
Marshall’s running game has a bit of a throwback feel, with Devon Johnson’s punishing style, but it is far from the “four yards and a cloud of dust” offenses of old. The Herd had ten running plays that went for ten yards or more on Saturday. As a team, Marshall is averaging 6.53 yards per car, that’s third best in the country.
“The line does a great job of opening holes and I just try to run with great pad level and keep my feet moving,” explained Johnson.
While a 60-yard pass play can electrify the crowd, physically dominating a defense all day will sap its will. And lineman will tell you they love run blocking. It is less about schemes and finesse and all about dominating the man in front of you.
“We wanted to be physical in this game and dominate up front. That’s something we really pride ourselves in, being physical and dominating up front,” said Jasperse. “We love blocking for those guys. They do a good job and all we have to do is get them to the second level, and they can break tackles and make things happen.”
The rushing attack has made it much more difficult for defenders to be overly aggressive. The moment the defense keys on Johnson or Remi Watson, Cato simply pulls the ball back and has wide open running lanes, just as he did on his 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter against MTSU. Or, if the defense wants to creep up and stop the run, Marshall has the athletes outside to win one-on-one matchups.
Marshall has the ability to change the momentum in a game on a single play when Cato takes a shot down field. However, when it wants to take over a game it will turn to the offensive line and its compliment of running backs.