— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Control is something that football teams hope to have in their power as a regular season winds down.
That’s precisely what Marshall has been able to do, and the Thundering Herd hopes to wrap up a Sun Belt Conference East Division title on Saturday night at James Madison.
The game at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Virginia, kicks off at 8 p.m., and is being shown nationally on ESPNU.
A win over the Dukes, or a Georgia Southern loss to Appalachian State would secure the East Division title for Marshall.
Marshall (8-3, 6-1) overcame a strong challenge at Old Dominion last Saturday and prevailed 42-35, while James Madison (8-3, 4-3) suffered a 34-20 loss at Appalachian State that eliminated the Dukes from East Division title contention.
Marshall head coach Charles Huff is anticipating a difficult evening in Harrisonburg, one that could also see the latter stages of the game played in sub-20 degree temperatures.
“We’ve earned the right to go on the road and battle a good JMU team, but we haven’t earned anything else beyond that,” Huff said. “We’ve got a tremendous challenge this week, because JMU is one of the most fundamentally-sound football teams we’ll play. They’re tough and physical.”
Despite the Herd being assured to play in a bowl game, nothing else is guaranteed beyond this week.
“Hopefully, we’ll keep playing complimentary football and take strain off our units when one is playing well and the other might be struggling,” Huff said. “We’ve just got to work hard this week to be very good against JMU, and if we do that, we’ll get an opportunity to extend our season.”
Marshall could be without two key players Saturday as team captain and starting center Logan Osburn was injured in the first half at Old Dominion and spent the second half in street clothes on the sidelines, nursing a leg injury. Starting tailback A.J. Turner was also limited against the Monarchs and continues dealing with a foot injury.
Bob Chesney is the Dukes’ first-year head coach. Cross came to JMU from Holy Cross last December after former Dukes’ head coach Curt Cignetti left for Indiana.
This will be the fifth meeting between the schools. Marshall leads the series 3-1, but the Dukes got their first win last season, defeating the Herd in Huntington, 20-9.
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Marshall quarterback Braylon Braxton was named Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week following his performance in the 42-35 win over Old Dominion.
Braxton totaled 350 yards and accounted for three touchdowns while leading the Herd to another turnover-free performance en route to the team’s fifth straight win. He threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns and added 140 rush yards on 18 carries.
It is the second time this season that Braxton has been named as the Sun Belt Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week, joining JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III and Texas State quarterback Jordan McCloud as the only players to earn the distinction more than once this season.