— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — It’s a tale of two teams trending in different directions Saturday afternoon when Marshall seeks its sixth win and bowl eligibility in a Conference USA battle at winless Rice.
Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m., and the game can be seen on Stadium Facebook.
Marshall (5-3, 3-1) is coming off a dramatic 26-23 Homecoming win over Western Kentucky last week thanks to kicker Justin Rohrwasser’s 53-yard field goal as time expired.
Rice (0-8, 0-4) lost at home lost week to Southern Miss, 20-6.
Marshall has a 4-2 series lead over Rice, but the Herd and Owls haven’t met since the 2014 season, when the Herd claimed a 41-14 win at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Marshall is 1-2 all-time in games at 70-year-old Rice Stadium.
Wins over Florida Atlantic and WKU the last two weeks have Marshall in control of C-USA’s East Division. All three teams have one league loss and the Hilltoppers have a half-game lead in the standings, but Marshall currently controls the tiebreakers if the teams are knotted at the end of the regular season.
Rice has been competitive in a lot of losses and has four setbacks by single digits, including a 21-13 contest against Baylor in non-conference play. The Owls also have an overtime loss to Louisiana Tech and fell to UTSA, 31-27.
Here are some key to the game:
1 — Avoiding overconfidence
Marshall has three straight Conference USA wins, including victories the last two weeks over the closest competitors in the league’s East Division, FAU and Western Kentucky. MU can clinch a third C-USA East title by running the table and winning the remaining four regular season games.
Thundering Herd doach Doc Holliday is warning his team this week that the Owls may not have a win, but they are dangerous since there is quality talent on the roster and incentive to pull off an upset of the Herd, especially with Saturday marking the 100th Homecoming game in Rice history.
To be successful, the Herd must win the battle on the field and ‘between their ears’ against an opponent that is hungry for a win and better than its record shows.
2 — Can Green continue to protect the ball and manage the game?
Saturday’s game is another chance for Herd sophomore quarterback Isaiah Green to grow as a team leader.
Green may have played his best game of the season last week. He made solid decisions and didn’t force throws into tight spaces, avoiding interceptions, which were a problem for him earlier this year — Green has six on the season, but only one in the last three games.
He also continued to contribute as a runner, even picking up a touchdown against the Hilltoppers on a 4-yard first-quarter run. Green’s best work may have been his handling of the Herd’s game-winning drive against Western, as he moved the Herd from its 13 to the WKU 36 in a little over a minute, leading to Justin Rohrwasser’s 53-yard walk-off field goal.
If Green’s development continues, the Herd will be hard to beat the rest of the season.
3 — Sack attack
Marshall’s defense has been giving up a lot of yards, especially through the air, but has been tough on the run for the most part. The Herd’s big advantage is now its ability to sack the quarterback, with 19 recorded during the three-game win streak.
MU is eighth nationally in sacks and second in Conference USA, but the Herd led the nation with 21 sacks in October.
Marshall’s defenders are preparing to face a couple of quarterbacks, but Rice will likely stick with veteran Tom Stewart.
Rice has a quality running back to challenge the Herd in Aston Walter as well as weapons at receiver in Austin Trammell and Bradley Rozner. If Marshall can slow or stop those four Owls, it will be a long Homecoming day in Houston.
Notes
Rohrwasser was named the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week after kicking four field goals, including the 53-yard game winner. Additionally, senior cornerback Kereon Merrell was C-USA’s Defensive Player of the Week after coming up with an interception, a fumble recovery and three tackles … Rohrwasser as he is a perfect 11-for-11 on field goals this season and his four field goals made against WKU tied a Marshall record for most field goals made in a game, matching David Merrick (East Tennessee, 1993), Tim Openlander (The Citadel, 1995), Billy Malashevich (Miami Ohio, 1999) and Justin Haig (Louisiana Tech, 2014) … Herd senior linebacker Omari Cobb has registered double-digit tackles in four of the last five games, including a career-high 13 stops last Saturday vs. WKU … Rice Stadium was the location of Super Bowl VIII in 1974, in which Miami beat Minnesota, 24-7. The stadium also has a spot in American history, as it was where President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech in 1962 in which he outlined the nation’s goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.