By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON – As Marshall prepares for its fifth game of the 2020 season tomorrow against FAU, the Owls will be play just their second of the year and their first in several weeks.
FAU had non-conference games against Minnesota, Stony Brook, Georgia Southern and USF, plus a league game with Southern Miss postponed due to Covid-19 issues involving either the Owls or their potential opponents.
Marshall (4-0, 2-0) is coming off a quality road win at Louisiana Tech (35-17) and is ranked 22nd in the Associated Press Poll and No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Meanwhile, FAU (1-0, 1-0) is just happy to be playing. The Owls only contest of the season came three weeks ago, on October 3rd, a 21-17 Conference USA win over Charlotte.
In their only game, Owls junior quarterback Nick Tronti had a huge game, rushing for 94 yards on 10 carries and throwing for 98 yards on 11-of-22 passing. Clemson Graduate Transfer TJ Chase had 3 catches for 31 yards to lead the Owl receivers. Charlotte actually outgained the Owls in the contest 396-315 and had seven more first downs, but FAU’s defense made “bend but not break” plays late in the contest to prevent the 49ers from the win.
The Owls are now led by veteran head coach Willie Taggart, who comes to Boca Raton after leading Florida State for two seasons. The Western Kentucky University graduate has also been head coach at Oregon, USF and at his alma mater. His career record is 57-62.
Marshall hopes to keep its good roll going on both sides of the football. The Herd offense caught fire against Louisiana Tech from the second quarter on, featuring a big passing night for redshirt freshman quarterback Grant Wells (19 of 24 for 227 yards, two touchdowns and an interception), another 100-yard rushing performance for junior Brenden Knox (32 carries for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns) and receiving contributions from Corey Gammage and Artie Henry, who recorded touchdown catches and filled in for injured veterans Willie Johnson and Talik Keaton.
Defensively, the stingy Herd kept form, limiting the Bulldogs to 7 rushing yards and sacking Tech quarterbacks six times for a loss of 42 yards. The Bulldogs were limited to 267 yards for the game. Marshall is still a national statistical leader on defense, ranking in the top 5 in scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense.
FAU’s coordinators know the Owls face a major hurdle in beating Marshall on a Homecoming weekend in a game which is Marshall’s first at home in over a month (Sept. 19th 17-7 win over Appalachian State).
Veteran Owls Defensive Coordinator Jim Leavitt is impressed in his first look at Brenden Knox.
“He’s as good a back as we’ll probably see this year,” Leavitt said. “He’s got good vision, great balance and good explosion. The guy is one of the better backs I’ve seen in a long time. He finds the creases.”
FAU Co-Offensive Coordinator Drew Mehringer is similarly impressed with Marshall’s nationally-ranked defense, but he hints that the Owls might test the Herd’s defensive backs.
“The corners, they put those guys on islands because they do have experience and they do feel comfortable with them out there,” Mehringer said. “You’ve seen some people test those guys out there on the edge. I think they’re a physical group of corners and they’re not afraid to put hands on people and force you to make plays.”
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Notes—Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Grant Wells was named this week to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American team watch list…..For the third time this season, a Marshall player was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week. This week, it was sophomore linebacker Eli Neal, who picked up seven tackles (one for a loss) and an interception in the Louisiana Tech win. Neal helped Jamare Edwards stuff Bulldogs’ running back Justin Hendeson at the goal line on the final play of the first half, keeping Marshall up by two scores at halftime. Senior linebacker Tavante Beckett has won the Player of the Week honor twice…Marshall added an additional home game to the schedule this week as the Herd will host UMass on November 7th at 2:30pm at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.