— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall’s stretch drive for a possible Conference USA East Division title begins on the road Saturday against a long-time league opponent in Southern Mississippi.
The Herd (5-2. 3-1) enjoyed a bye week last weekend, while Southern Miss (3-4, 2-2) lost at Charlotte 20-17.
Saturday’s game will start at 3 p.m. at Roberts Stadium and the game is being televised nationally online on the Stadium Facebook page.
Marshall is still tied for second with Middle Tennessee in the C-USA East standings, with both teams one game in the loss column behind FIU. The Herd’s recipe for a division title is clear at this point — win all four games in November while MTSU must lose to one of its three remaining league foes.
Marshall ends the regular season in Miami with a Nov. 24 matchup at FIU.
Herd junior transfer quarterback Alex Thomson believed the team had a produtive bye week and is ready to jump back into action.
“We got a chance to focus on ourselves and get back guys who were injured,” Thomson said. “I think we had a really good week of practice because we weren’t getting ready for a particular team, but we were getting better and took advantage of the bye week.”
The Herd and Golden Eagles feature two of the stingiest defenses in C-USA. Marshall’s specialty is stopping the run, while Southern Miss is equally-effective at limiting the pass.
“I watched their game against Charlotte last week and they do bring a lot of different looks,” Thomson said. “As long as we’re able to identify where the blitzes are coming from and check to the proper runs, we’ll be fine. Having the extra week was helpful.”
With the exception of offensive lineman Alex Mollette, who is out for the year due to injury, a relatively-healthy Marshall team will be traveling to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. That includes the Herd’s red-hot sophomore running back Tyler King, who suffered a leg injury late in the recent home win over Florida Atlantic.
“It was great getting our bodies back and healthy and spending some time in the training room,” senior offensive lineman Jordan Dowrey said. “It was also a good time to focus on ourselves and on the little things involving technique and our scheme.”
The Golden Eagles are young offensively, led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Abraham. They feature one of the conference’s top receivers in sophomore Quez Watkins.
Marshall senior linebacker Artis Johnson and his teammates hope to challenge the Southern Miss offense, especially since the Golden Eagles have been turnover-prone in recent games.
“We just need to be locked in and focus on the task at hand”, Johnson said. “We need to have great practices and as long as we take those lessons onto the field, it should be a pretty good game for us.”
The Herd is having to deal with an extra distraction as President Donald Trump has scheduled a political appearance Friday at Huntington’s Tri-State Airport near the usual time of Marshall’s usual charter flight departure.
Marshall Athletic Director Mike Hamrick says adjustments are being made as to when the Herd’s charter departs as well as how the traveling party will reach the airport, which will be under security lockdown before and during Trump’s visit.