— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall’s coaching staff is giving its counterpart at Old Dominion a lot to think about this week leading up to Saturday’s 1 p.m. matchup between the Thundering Herd and Monarchs at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
In its most recent outing last Tuesday, the Thundering Herd started Zion Turner at quarterback and finished with Khalil Wilkins manning the position. Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Marshall’s starting quarterback across its first six games this season, did not play against the Jaguars after struggling in a loss to Coastal Carolina.
Turner played a clean game, passing for 181 yards, while rushing for 45 yards and a touchdown. Most importantly, he did not have a turnover after Del Rio-Wilson struggled in that regard against the Chanticleers.
Wilkins, not short on mobility, rushed for 69 yards and played a major part in Marshall’s game-winning drive down the stretch.
Yet second-year MU head coach Tony Gibson isn’t tipping his hand as to who starts behind center against ODU, and he did not rule out Del Rio-Wilson as a possibility.
“He’s had a couple of good days now,” Gibson said. “It’s good to have three guys we can count on to go in at any point to give us a spark.”
Marshall (4-3, 1-2) looks to spoil homecoming for ODU (2-6, 1-4) in a matchup airing on ESPN+. It marks the 12th meeting between the programs in a series the Herd leads, 10-1, including last year’s 48-24 triumph in Huntington.
“What we want to attack will dictate which quarterback is in the game,” Gibson said. “I’d say that it’s a 95 percent chance that all of our quarterbacks will get snaps in the game. That’s what we’re working with right now.”
Gibson says that he and offensive coordinator Rod Smith have a better feel now as to which quarterback belongs in the game.
“You get into a rhythm and get a hot hand at quarterback and it’s like a shooting guard,” Gibson said. You’re not pulling them out, so we’ll see how we do early on. The big thing is to take care of the football and not put it in jeopardy.
“If we can do that, we’ll see where we’re at.”
The Monarchs have lost two straight and suffered through a disappointing campaign to this point.
ODU was expected by some to compete for a Sun Belt Conference East Division title, but it has one win in seven tries against FBS competition, that a 10-3 victory at Appalachian State three weeks ago. ODU topped Norfolk State, 31-10, in its opener for its only other win to this point and has suffered losses against Virginia Tech, East Carolina, James Madison, Georgia State, Georgia Southern and most recently last Saturday vs. Louisiana Tech, 26-0.