— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall and Western Kentucky will be playing for plenty at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
The winner of the Thundering Herd and Hilltoppers will be the Conference USA East Division Champion and travel to San Antonio next week to face nationally-ranked and West Division champion UTSA on December 3 in the C-USA championship game at the Alamodome.
Saturday’s contest at Joan C. Edwards Stadium will be shown on CBS Sports Network.
Marshall (7-4, 5-2) is coming off a strong 49-28 road win at Charlotte, while the Hilltoppers (7-4, 6-1) wrapped up the home portion of their schedule last week with a 52-17 win over Florida Atlantic.
Marshall leads the all-time series 8-4 and won last year’s game in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 38-14.
Tyson Helton is in his third season as head coach at WKU and has a 21-15 overall record, but has yet to beat Marshall in two tries.
Here are three things to watch for in Saturday’s game:
How does Marshall’s defense hold up?
Marshall’s defense is ranked 66th nationally, but the Herd’s pass defense is among the nation’s best at No. 16, thanks in large part to a solid pass rush and veteran safeties and cornerbacks.
The unit gets the ultimate test this week in slowing down Western Kentucky’s pass-happy attack, led by two Houston Baptist transfers — senior quarterback Bailey Zappe and junior receiver Jerreth Sterns, a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, presented to the top receiver in college football annually.
Zappe’s thrown for 4,640 yards this season with 48 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Zappe averages 458.3 yards per game through the air, which is No. 1 in college football.
Sterns’ numbers are equally impressive with 123 catches and 1,511 yards (both tops in the nation) and 12 touchdowns.
Western has another 1,000-yard receiver in Mitchell Tinsley, who has caught 62 passes and scored 10 times.
“First of all, defensively, we have to get lined up,” first-year Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. “They play with tempo, so we have to get lined up so we don’t give any ‘gimmes’ away; that’s the first thing. Get lined up, get where you’re supposed to be. The second thing is, we need to have unbelievable gap control because it starts up front. [Zappe] does a really good job at moving in the pocket.”
What a rush
Marshall freshman running back Rasheen Ali passed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season in last Saturday’s win at Charlotte.
Ali took advantage of a porous 49ers’ defense by rushing for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior back Sheldon Evans chipped in with 68 yards and two scores as the Herd piled up 321 yards on the ground, complemented by redshirt freshman quarterback Grant Wells’ 267-yard, two touchdown passing performance.
WKU utilizes more of a pass-oriented attack.
The Hilltoppers’ top rushers have gained fewer than 400 yards on the season, led by Noah Whittington’s 383 on 76 carries. Adam Cofield has 348 yards and four touchdowns.
It will be important for Ali to have a big day for Marshall in order to keep Zappe and the Hilltoppers’ offense off of the field.
WKU’s rush defense is seventh in Conference USA, but the Hilltoppers are ranked well below Marshall in total defense.
Huff says the matchups are interesting to examine, but it boils down to which squad exceeds at basic complementary football.
“They have a really good offense, we have a really good offense, their defense is playing really well, our defense is playing really well,” he said. “So it comes down to who executes the best, who’s the most consistent, who can eliminate self-inflicted wounds, the turnovers, the missed assignments, missed tackles. A tremendous challenge.”
A leg up for WKU?
Western Kentucky features two weapons in its kicking game in sophomore kicker Brayden Narvesen and senior punter John Haggerty.
Narvesen has been busy this fall, as he’s 16 for 18 on field goals and a perfect 56 for 56 on extra points. Narvesen’s longest made kick of the year is from 43 yards.
Haggerty averages 49.8 yards per punt and he has a long of 67 yards.
He’s placed nine punts inside the 20-yard line and none of his punts have been blocked.
The numbers for Marshall’s kickers aren’t so impressive, but they’re no less solid.
Sophomore Shane Ciucci is 6 for 9 on field goals with a long of 46 yards. Ciucci is a perfect 35 of 35 on extra points.
MU senior punter Robert LeFevre averages 40.5 yards per boot with a long of 61 yards. Six of LeFevre’s punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line.
Senior Andrew Sanders, the Herd’s kickoff specialist, has drilled 29 of his 58 kickoffs for touchbacks.
Marshall may have an advantage in the return game thanks to the recent strong performances of freshman Jayden Harrison and senior Willie Johnson.
Helton hopes to see quality attention to detail from his team and hopes to see his group not add pressure in an all-important game.
“We get to game time and the ball is kicked off, it’s just another game,” Helton said. “We just have to keep that mentality more than anything. That’s kind of how we operate best. Don’t look past anything, don’t really talk about the what-ifs and all those things, just go out there and do our job.”
Notes
Marshall officials say 20 seniors will be honored before Saturday’s game, but 14 of those seniors will have the option to return to the Herd in 2022 due to Covid-19 eligibility rules the last two seasons … Ali is showing the way nationally in many NCAA statistical categories. He’s No. 1 in total touchdowns (22), rushing touchdowns (20), points scored (132) and points per game (12). He’s 13th nationally in rushing yards (1,142) and 15th in rushing yards per game (103.8). His 20 rushing touchdowns this season are now fourth on Marshall’s all-time single-season list, behind only 1940 All-American Jackie Hunt’s 26 and the 23 earned by Chris Parker in 1993 and 1994. Ali’s 22 total touchdowns are now sixth on Marshall’s all-time single-season list, behind only Randy Moss (29 in 1996), Hunt (27 in 1940), Moss again (26 in 1997) and the 24 by Parker in 1993 and 1994.