— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall hopes to get a Conference USA win streak started when the Herd heads to sunny Palm Beach County take on Florida Atlantic University.
Friday’s game kicks off at 6:30 p.m., at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla., and the game will be shown on CBS Sports Network.
The Herd and Owls both picked up wins last Saturday. Marshall (3-3, 1-1) recorded eight sacks on the way to a 31-17 home win over Old Dominion, while FAU (4-2, 2-0) knocked off Middle Tennessee, 28-13.
Marshall leads the all-time series with the Owls 5-1, including a 31-7 Herd win last season at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
The Herd will be facing an athletic dual threat quarterback again this week as Marshall’s defense will be challenged by FAU sophomore signal caller Chris Robison. Robison is second in Conference USA in touchdown passes with 13 and yards with 1,557. He was the league’s 2018 co-Freshman of the Year.
Marshall head coach Doc Holliday says Robison is part of a new-look Owls team that is no less talented or dangerous.
“He’s done a good job throwing the ball and they’ll sometimes bring another quarterback in for run situations. You can see he’s matured,” Holliday said. “He was a freshman a year ago, as our guy was (Isaiah Green).You don’t see (Devin) Singletary out there or the other back (Kerrith Whyte, Jr.), but you do see some really talented young players that they have there.
“Robison is a year older and more comfortable in Lane’s (Kiffin) system and is doing a good job running the offense.”
After opening the season with losses to Top 25 opponents Ohio State and UCF, the Owls have won four straight.
Third-year FAU head coach Lane Kiffin knows his team has plenty of momentum, but it will be in for a battle this week with a suddenly confident Marshall team.
“To be on a four-game win streak, we’ve got to get ready on a short week here for a team that is always very talented,” Kiffin said. “I have always said and thought in our two years playing here that these guys look as good or better than anybody in the conference from a players’ standpoint. I know they started off a little slow on offense, but they really did move the ball lately and have a lot of really good players.”
In preparing to face FAU, Marshall’s defense is working on stopping a potent multiple tight end attack led by preseason all-conference player Harrison Bryant. Bryant is second among FBS tight ends in receiving yards with 413 and is a John Mackey Award watch list member.
Holliday says with Marshall often lining up in similar formations with tight ends Armani Levias and Xavier Gaines, the Herd defense should be ready for what the Owls put on the field.
“(Harrison Bryant) is first-team all-conference and a good player and they’ll play just two receivers at times, whether that’s because of injuries or just what they want to do,” Holliday said. “They have talented tight ends and are in 12 personnel (two tight ends) a little more than they have been in the past. Our (defensive) guys have gone up against that all camp and in practice because they’ve seen us do that.”
There are 32 Florida natives on Marshall’s roster and those Floridians look forward to the annual visits to their home state to face either FAU or FIU. Those games always include time with family and friends, but Holliday, who is 12-3 at Marshall since 2013 against Florida teams or in games played in the Sunshine State, also considers the contests as business trips.
“Any time you play FAU or FIU or any south Florida team, you know they’re surrounded by great athletes,” he said. “They have a bunch of guys who can run, catch and tackle in space and do all of those things. It will be a great challenge for us and I know we have a lot of Florida guys who are looking forward to going down and playing that game. We’re looking forward to having a great week of preparation.”
Even though Marshall is playing only its third Conference USA game this season, Holliday knows Friday’s game is crucial to the Herd’s title hopes since MU already has a league loss.
“In this conference, every week is important and is a championship game, so to speak,” Holliday said. “Our kids just have to focus on learning from what we did last week and getting better. If we can do that every week, then at the end, we’ll look up and see where we are. We can’t get ahead of ourselves. We have to worry about FAU and finding a way to win that game.”