Holliday not worried about rankings; looking forward to seeing Cato on ‘GameDay’

HUNTINGTON, W.Va.— Doc Holliday continued a familiar refrain Thursday morning when he was asked about his reaction to Marshall not being included in the initial top 25 ranking by the College Football Playoff Committee.

“We just worry about what we control and that is becoming a better football team every day, going out and preparing to play each game and take them one at a time. At the end of the day we’ll look up and see where we are.”

That’s been Marshall’s attitude since the preseason when hype of an undefeated season began to build momentum with prognosticators forecasting Marshall’s first perfect season since 1999. With two-thirds of the season in the books, Marshall is right where it expected to be. It is a perfect 8-0, is dominating opponents by an average of 30 points per game and is ranked 23rd in both the AP and Amway Coaches’ Polls.

However, it is still on the outside looking in when it comes to the poll that determines if the Herd is playing in a major bowl game on New Years’ Eve or another bowl around Christmas.

“We understand that rankings right now don’t mean a whole heck of a lot,” said Holliday. “What the important thing is, that five or six weeks down the road we are where we want to be. That’s when they are important and they are relevant.”

Despite being left off the initial rankings, Marshall has found itself back in the college football discussion nationally. ESPNU aired a half-hour All Access on Marshall’s campus this past week and coaches and players have made multiple appearances on national radio and television shows throughout.

Marshall will again be in the national spotlight this weekend when quarterback Rakeem Cato makes a live appearance on ESPN “College GameDay,” which just happens to be originating from Morgantown this weekend.

Obviously, that did not sit well with man WVU fans who took to social media to express their displeasure. When Holliday was asked if Cato appearing on “GameDay” in Morgantown, he didn’t see any issue with it.

“Here you’ve got a great success story who just happens to play for a football team in West Virginia, who has overcome a lot of adversity, and they’ve invited him to come up there and tell his story,” said Holliday.

This will be the second time “GameDay” has featured Cato. He was the subject of a piece voiced by ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi earlier this season documenting his upbringing in Miami and his journey to Huntington where he was become one of the top quarterbacks in the country.

Holliday doesn’t feel Cato being on the set of “GameDay” in Morgantown is in anyway an attempt to try to upstage WVU. In fact, he sees the success that Marshall and WVU are experiencing this season to be a positive for the entire state and an opportunity to showcase the best the West Virginia has to offer.

“I’m happy for the state of West Virginia. We’ve got hard working people that football is extremely important to them. What’s wrong with having two good football teams in the state? Their food tastes a little better, everybody is happy and there’s nothing wrong with that.”





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