Marshall University Athletics
Herd Looks Solid In First Full Scrimmage
8/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Herd Looks Solid In First Full Scrimmage
8/16/2003
Quarterback Stan Hill guides the Herd offense during Saturday's scrimmage under the watchful eye of head coach Bob Pruett. (Photo by Randy Burnside) |
Marshall junior quarterback Stan Hill knew going into Saturday's scrimmage at Marshall Stadium that the cache of weapons at his disposal would be a little lighter than normal.
The Herd offense went into the first full-scale scrimmage of training camp without the services of its top three running backs, as well as two of the nation's top receivers.
It didn't seem to matter as the Herd's first offensive unit moved the ball well against the second defense for much of the day.
"We looked real good today," Hill said. "The offense was clicking on all cylinders even though we were missing running backs and our best two receivers. We just played through adversity."
With senior Franklin "Butchie" Wallace, junior Earl Charles and redshirt freshman Tank Tunstalle all nursing minor injuries, the ground game fell to redshirt freshman walk-on Michael West and true freshman Will Albin. While the final numbers were not overly impressive, both players ran hard.
"Michael West got in there and did a real good job of running the ball," Hill said. "For freshmen, they both did a great job."
Hill also showed why he has taken a firm grip on the starting quarterback job. The Tupelo native completed 17 of 25 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown. He did have one pass intercepted by Willie Smith on a deflection off a receiver.
Those numbers came without senior Darius Watts and junior Josh Davis on the field.
"We threw the ball well,? Hill said. ?Jason Schroeder, Brad Bates and some of those other guys made big plays. We have so many weapons on offense that my job is just to get them the ball and let them make plays."
Bates, a senior coming off knee surgery, led all receivers with seven receptions for 114 yards and one touchdown, a 25-yard strike from Hill. The duo also hooked up for a 34-yard score on the first possession of the game, but the play was called back by a holding penalty.
Schroeder, a senior, had five catches for 95 yards. Other top pass catchers included junior Tremel Guillory (4-51) and Clarence Stanfield (3-30).
Hill, who also rushed for 22 yards, said his confidence has continued to grow during training camp and he can see the offense coming together.
"I have a lot more confidence," Hill said. "This is my team -- I am not waiting for Byron to come back. It is my job and I have to get the job done. That is what I am going to do."
Junior Graham Gochneaur completed five of his six pass attempts during the scrimmage for 60 yards. Freshmen Jimmy Skinner, Bernard Morris and Tim Bessolo completed one pass each. Skinner and Morris were both intercepted once.
While the first unit offense moved the ball well against the second defensive unit, the starters on the defensive side of the ball made life tough for the backup offense.
Junior defensive ends Jonathan Goddard and Jamus Martin were particularly impressive. Goddard had a pair of sacks for 15 yards and batted down a pass behind the line of scrimmage. Martin recorded four sacks for 26 yards and added another tackle for loss.
"It felt good because we got to go out there at game speed, so that allowed us to go a little more," Martin said. "There was a lot of intensity today and it was much better than the last (scrimmage)."
Three Herd defenders recorded interceptions in the scrimmage. In addition to Smith's pick and return of 18 yards for a score, sophomore Donte' Newsome had an interception and freshman Travis Noel had a pick he returned 57 yards for a score.
Martin said there are a lot of players on defense who are fighting for jobs right now.
"Yesterday we had a good practice, but I called the guys up afterward and told them that what we do in practice doesn?t matter if we don?t go out and execute in the game," Martin said.
"There are guys out here competing for jobs. My job was on the line. We have some really good defensive ends behind me and I had to step it up. It is good because we have other guys pushing you so that you can get better. They are trying to take your job and trying to get better."
Herd coach Bob Pruett said he liked what he saw on Saturday, but thinks there is still much room for improvement.
"We made progress today," Pruett said. "We didn?t go backwards. We did some good things in all phases of the game, but we have some things to work on too."
The Herd will take Sunday off from practice with only some meetings, conditioning and special teams work planned. The squad is scheduled to go back out for a pair of practice sessions on Monday, at 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
The season opener against Hofstra is less than two weeks away, with kickoff slated for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 30.
