By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON – Saturday marks the third game on Marshall’s 2020 football schedule that was not initially on the schedule. Cancellations due to COVID-19 related issues left Marshall looking for games to fill holes in the schedule this season. The University of Massachusetts, which initially decided to cancel the the 2020 season, opted to play a limited non-conference schedule and needed to find opponents. Marshall, looking to fill a seven-game home schedule, was able to work out the matchup, rather than spend another weekend watching other teams play.
The Herd comes into the game ranked 16th in the Associated Press Poll and 15th in the Coaches Poll and boasts one of the top defenses in the county. UMass will play just its second game of the season. It’s only other contest was a 41-0 loss to Georgia Southern.
Game time is 2:30 and the game will be shown on ESPN+.
Here are three things to look for in Saturday’s game:
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A chance to Grow–UMass is full of youth, with 41 redshirt or true freshman. That youthfulness is proving to be a challenge for Head Coach Walt Bell and his staff, especially since the Minutemen got a late start on their season. UMass is not without some good players, especially on the defensive side which features a couple of 300-pounders at tackle spots. An offensive standout is sophomore receiver Jermaine Johnson, who had 37 catches last season.
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Going Deep–Marshall could potentially put this game away early and that possibility means the entire roster could see game action on Saturday. The last time that occurred was in the win over Western Kentucky. Marshall’s coaches might be hesitant to showcase some new wrinkles on offense and defense against UMass, knowing that future opponents will see the innovations on game tapes. Still, it might be tempting to reach deep into the playbooks and see how well the Herd might execute some gadget plays or even special teams innovations. A big early lead would give Marshall plenty of “wiggle room”.
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Bringing the Heat–After another off-week caused by an opponent’s Covid-19 issues, you could almost understand Marshall coming out sluggish on Saturday in a game that Marshall is heavily favored to win. That is a concern for Coach Doc Holliday and staff, but it’s also a concern for team leaders like Brenden Knox, Sheldon Evans and Tavante Beckett. Expect the Herd to get its motivation by that peer pressure from teammates, not from any pregame speech delivered by Holliday. There is too much at stake for a slip-up now. The nation is starting to pay attention to the Herd because of its high ranking, there are conference title and bowl considerations on the line and a special season in Huntington just can’t be wasted, especially as commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Football Plane Crash dominate the next week.
Notes—With Louisiana Tech’s win last week over UAB in double overtime, Marshall is now the only team with a perfect record in Conference USA play…Marshall’s #16 AP ranking is its highest since September 8th, 2002..MU’s Brenden Knox is 11th in FBS at 111 rush yards per game. That number could go up this week as UMass allowed 308 rushing yards in its loss at Georgia Southern…Marshall’s defense remains a national leader, coming in 3rd in scoring defense, 3rd in rushing defense and fifth in total defense. Marshall has still not allowed a team to rush for more than 100 yards this season.