— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall football coaches are hopeful the second scrimmage of fall practice on Saturday will help them fill the Herd’s early depth chart.
Head coach Charles Huff says players that perhaps have been close to the center of attention in earlier practices will have more featured roles on Saturday.
“We want to figure out who the guys are going to be who will be on the travel squad and scout teams, the back end of our roster,” Huff said. “A lot of these guys won’t really have major roles until later in the season, so we’ll run some basic plays to let them show us what they have.”
Huff and his staff still haven’t officially named a starter at quarterback, although Texas Tech transfer Henry Colombi is the presumed favorite to win the job.
Huff believes Colombi and the team’s younger quarterbacks are displaying growth in preseason camp.
“All of our quarterbacks are creating chemistry with the receivers and most of them, like Cam (Fancher) are a year older and can anticipate what the receivers do,” Huff said. “Experienced guys like Henry can more easily make adjustments as they read defenses.”
Earlier this week, Huff had The Marching Thunder, Marshall’s band, join the football team during practice, with the group even teaching the Herd’s 48 newcomers the school fight song and Alma Mater.
“We want to create an exciting environment as much as we can,” Huff said. “The band is part of our family and they work as hard as the football team. We want our players to understand Marshall traditions, and that includes knowing the fight song and Alma Mater.”
Fall semester classes begin at Marshall next week and Huff recognizes it will be a transition time for players.
“I like to call it a practice game week, because we’ll begin getting ready for Norfolk State, but players will also be figuring out where to go to classes and how much time they’ll have for treatments and workouts in relation to their class and practice time,” Huff said. “We’ll be fully focused on Norfolk State in the week prior to the game.”
Marshall’s season opener is September 3 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium against Norfolk State of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m., and the game can be seen on ESPN3.
Notes: Marshall is hosting its annual Fan Day from 4-5 p.m. Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. The event will allow fans to meet with Herd players and get pictures and autographs … Huff and several players will join other MU athletes in downtown Huntington next Friday night for the annual Thundering Herd Rally, which will be part of the weekly “9th Street Live”, hosted by Kindred Communications. Throughout the hour-long pep rally, attendees can also expect to see the following MU teams: Swimming and diving, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, cheerleaders, mascot Marco the Bison and more on the stage. Retailers will also spotlight the newest Herd gear, plus there will be MU trivia contests and giveaways.