Marshall University Athletics
Football Faces UAB on Saturday
10/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Oct. 18, 2006
Marshall will hit the road for already the fifth time this weekend for an important Conference USA divisional matchup with UAB. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (EDT).
The game will be televised in West Virginia on WOWK, WVNS-DT, WTRF-DT, and WBOY with Dave Weekley and John Gregory handling the call.
The Thundering Herd (1-5, 0-2 C-USA) has endured a rigorous first half schedule. The UAB game will be Marshall's fifth on the road out of its first seven and the Herd has taken on the likes of nationally-ranked West Virgina, Big 12 member Kansas State and nationally-ranked Tennessee.
UAB (3-4, 2-1 C-USA) has not steered away from stiff non-conference competition either. The Blazers have three non-conference losses that came at the hands of nationally-ranked Oklahoma (24-17) on the road, at nationally-ranked Georgia (34-0), and at home to SEC member Mississippi State (lost 16-10 in OT).
The Blazers are led by senior quarterback Chris Williams who is averaging 115 total yards of offense per game (731 passing and 74 rushing yards on the year). Defensively, UAB senior linebacker Mastaki Smith leads the team with 40 tackles, while standout defensive end Larry McSwain leads the squad with five tackles for loss and four sacks.
The Blazers are also coming off of a heartbreaking last second 34-33 conference loss at Rice that has made the C-USA East Division race that much more intriguing. Heading into the weekend, every East Division team has at least one loss with Southern Miss and UAB leading the division with 2-1 records. Three teams in the division already have two losses in conference play leaving the division wide open.
Marshall could not overcome a series of turnovers in a 31-21 loss at SMU last week. Marshall led for much of the game, however with 6:38 to go in the game SMU quarterback Justin Willis struck with a seven yard touchdown pass to put the Mustangs up 24-21 and a MU fumble on the following kickoff set up SMU's final score.
Marshall junior running back Ahmad Bradshaw carried the ball 20 times for 91 yards and two touchdowns in the contest. His performance put him over the 2,000 career rushing yards mark and moved him into 11th all-time on Marshall's career rushing chart with 2,085 rushing yards.
Defensively, Marshall received a standout performance from junior defensive lineman Byron Tinker who recorded a career-high seven solo tackles, four tackles for a loss of 23 yards, and three quarterback sacks in the game.
Last season, in the only meeting between the two schools, Marshall took a 20-19 win in Huntington.
