— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall looks to avoid a losing streak Thursday as the Thundering Herd clash with old Southern Conference rival Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina.
Kickoff at Kidd Brewer Stadium is 7:30 p.m., and the contest will be televised by ESPN.
Game-time temperature is expected to be in the mid-50s and conditions could cool down to the 40s during the game, in which will be the first cool weather contest this season for MU.
Appalachian State (2-1) enters off a 44-10 win over Elon. The Mountaineers have also beaten East Carolina 33-19, while their loss came in competitive fashion at Miami, 25-23.
That same Pirates’ team rallied to hand the Herd its first loss last week in Huntington, 42-38.
Marshall beat the Mountaineers last season in Huntington 17-7 in a game scheduled a month in advance due to Covid-19 cancelations suffered by both programs.
Appalachian State leads the all-time series with Marshall, 14-9.
The Mountaineers are led by Charleston native Shawn Clark, who is in his second season as head coach at his alma mater. Clark has a 12-4 career mark after replacing Eli Drinkwitz at the end of the 2019 season.
What watch for when the Herd and Mountaineers battle at “The Rock.”
Going the distance
Can Marshall maintain a complete effort for all four quarters against the Mountaineers?
That has been a focus this week after the Herd lost momentum and focus midway through the second half in the loss to ECU after leading 38-21.
Within the ECU program, there was thought that because Marshall beat Navy and North Carolina Central in convincing fashion the first two games, the Pirates had an edge with their stamina down the stretch last weekend.
“I don’t think anyone is out there trying to turn the ball over, or miss a tackle or anything like that, but it’s happening,” first-year Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. “So we have to continue to work at it and we’ve had a really good week of practice.”
Putting the ‘D’ in Herd
Thursday’s game will be a chance for redemption for the Marshall defense. Coordinator Lance Guidry’s group played its worst game this season in the ECU loss.
The defense suffered from missed tackles and an inability to halt Pirate ball-carriers at the line of scrimmage. The Herd was also victimized by trick plays and contested catches by ECU wideouts when coverage was respectable.
Veteran Pirates’ quarterback Holton Ahlers threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Keaton Mitchell gained 135 yards and a score on the ground. Additionally, three ECU receivers had at least 70 receiving yards.
Marshall gave up 571 total yards to ECU. If Appalachian State records similar numbers, it’s likely to be a long night in the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Herd.
The Marshall defense will be forced to patiently deal with the Mountaineers’ balanced attack and clean up elements that cost it last Saturday. “What should change those things is thinking that I have three games of film, I have a hundred reps,” Huff said. “What do I need to do to get better and what do I need to improve on the things that I’ve put on film?”
Getting a leg up
Marshall seeks more consistent play from its special teams units.
Senior punter Robert LeFevre has been a bright spot so far, averaging 43.7 yards per kick on nine punts. Two of his punts have been inside the 20-yard line and his long for the year is 54 yards.
The return game has been respectable, as Cory McCoy and Sheldon Evans are averaging more than 28 yards on limited chances.
But Talik Keaton has averaged only 5.7 yards per punt return, and Willie Johnson has averaged less than half of Keaton’s production on punt returns.
There is also concern about new kicker Andrew Sanders, who has improved week-to-week in the depth of his kickoffs and hasn’t missed a point-after kick (16 of 16). But Sanders has missed half of his four field goal attempts, and one of his two misses was from 31 yards in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss. Had Sanders made that kick, Marshall would’ve trailed by one when it reached the red zone on its final sequence and could have put him in position to knock in a game-winner.
Huff is optimistic about seeing improvement on special teams and a better overall effort from his team.
“Our guys will be prepared with obviously a quick turnaround to go down there Thursday night in front of a national audience and get a chance to go execute,” he said. “Our guys are up for the challenge and we’re excited … really excited.”