HUNTINGTON, W. Va. — There has been a silver lining found for the Marshall football team after having it’s game cancelled last weekend against South Carolina due to Hurricane Florence. It’s health.
Marshall (2-0) welcomes N.C. State to Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday night with what will be a complete squad for the Herd.
“The only positive we took from not playing the game a week ago is we had four or five players banged up that we had an opportunity to get healthy,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline.” “We are as healthy as we have been all year going into this game with N.C. State on Saturday night.”
Having a fully healthy squad is key for Marshall every week, but certainly with a Power 5 conference team coming to town. N.C. State is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Wolfpack, also 2-0, are led by highly touted NFL prospect Ryan Finley at quarterback.
“If you just strictly blitz him (Finley), he’s going to get the ball out of his hands,” Holliday said. “You have to mix things up. You have to make plays when plays are there to be made.
“You watch the games over the weekend and N.C. State is probably one of the best teams in that league. We’ve got a great opponent coming in here and our players look forward to that.”
Saturday night’s game on CBS Sports Network will be the first time Marshall has hit the field since it’s 32-16 victory over Eastern Kentucky on September 8 in Huntington. Redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Green threw for 278 yards in that victory along with three touchdowns and one interception.
Green has answered many questions about the Herd at the quarterback position going into the season, having 550 total passing yards and five touchdowns in two games.
“We’ve got a quarterback that’s a young guy but he’s a little bit like (Rakeem) Cato was when he was young,” Holliday said. “He loves the environment, doesn’t get rattled, has tremendous poise, and he finds a way to make plays.
“We’ve got a lot of players back around him. Tyre Brady is playing extremely well, our offensive line is back intact. Keion (Davis) and Tyler King are doing a good job running the football. And it starts with playing defense and we played tremendous defense last game and we’ll have to do the same thing.”
Saturday night’s game is the Herd’s annual ‘Stripe the Stadium’ night with 10,000 shirts being given away at the gates. Fans are encouraged to visit herdzone.com for tickets and find out whether to wear green or white in the sections. Kick off is set for 7:00 p.m. at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.