Marshall, Cincinnati impressed with what they’ve seen from each other

— By Bill Cornwell

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall and Cincinnati are ready to resume their 2019 football seasons after both enjoyed a week off from the gridiron.

The Herd and Bearcats meet Saturday at 5 p.m. at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in another battle of the more-highly respected programs from Group of 5 conferences.

Both Marshall and UC enter the contest with 2-1 records. Marshall defeated VMI and Ohio, while suffering a close loss at Boise State. Cincinnati opened the season with a home win over UCLA, followed by a 42-0 loss at Ohio State and a home win over Miami Ohio in one of the nation’s oldest football rivalries.

This will be the 14th meeting between the Herd and Bearcats and Cincinnati leads the all-time series 8-4-1. The teams last met two years ago at UC’s Nippert Stadium, with Marshall walking away with a 38-21 win. Cincinnati last visited Huntington in 2008 and beat the Herd, 33-10.

Marshall’s 10th-year head coach, Doc Holliday, is coaching his 120th game as the Herd’s boss on Saturday. Holliday says this year’s version of the Bearcats are much better than the club the MU defeated in the Queen City two years ago.

“We played these guys two years ago and the improvement that they have made is tremendous.” Holliday said. “They are a team that won 11 ball games a year ago, which is hard to do … and they beat Virginia Tech in the bowl game. They have a lot of momentum going right now.”

Third-year Cincinnati head coach Fickell is impressed with Marshall’s talent level and he says it hasn’t changed much from the team he saw in 2017.

“Very talented and they’ve got lots of athletes … more than I’ve ever seen from them in the past,” Fickell said. “Their quarterback, running backs and receivers are solid and they’ve got skilled linesmen on both sides of the ball.”

Holliday feels similarly about the Bearcats, especially about their offensive skill players.

“They have a tremendous running back in (Michael) Warren II and their quarterback (Desmond Ridder) was the Rookie of the Year in their conference,” Holliday said.  “They play really great defense. It will be a great challenge for us and we’re looking forward to having a great crowd out here. It’s going to be another physical, tough game. Cincinnati will play that way and so will we. We’re looking forward to it.”

Holliday says Marshall’s bye week worked out great and believes some of the ‘walking wounded’ on his roster will likely play Saturday evening.

“We’ll have some guys playing this week against Cincinnati who wouldn’t have played if we had a game (last Saturday). (Running back Brenden) Knox, for example … it would’ve been very close as to whether or not he would’ve been able to play,” Holliday said. “Anytime you have a bye, you have a chance to catch your breath a little bit and get some guys healthy and move forward, which is what we’ve done.”

Likewise, Fickell believes the off week came at a good time for his team.

“We had some time to work on ourselves,” Fickell said. “Guys had a chance to get away and take a breather and coaches were able to recruit.

“Sometimes the early off week interrupts your routine, but we haven’t had a normal routine so far this season (UC opened the season against UCLA on a Thursday night).”

As for coaching his 120th game at Marshall, Holliday is thankful for two people in particular who drew him from an assistant’s job at West Virginia and attracted him to Huntington.

“I go back to (former Marshall president) Dr. (Stephen) Kopp. We all knew and loved that guy, and (Director of Athletics) Mike Hamrick, who gave me the opportunity to become the head coach,” Holliday said. “I owe a lot to those guys who gave me this opportunity and I really appreciate that … the opportunity to coach this great game, at a great place, where football is important. 

“It doesn’t get a lot better than that. I’m happy to be here, proud to be the head coach … trying to find a way to win another game.”

Holliday is hopeful his team will gain an advantage Saturday from playing at home.

“Anytime you get to play at home is tremendous,” Holliday said. “I thought our crowd did such a great job for us in that game against Ohio. It’s going to be bigger and better this week. I know they’re going to come and be loud. It’s going to be fun.”





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