Marshall University Athletics
Football Travels to East Carolina Saturday
11/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 5, 2008
The Conference USA East Division lead will be on the line Saturday when Marshall faces East Carolina at 3:30 p.m. Both schools are tied for the division lead with 3-1 records and the game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports with Carter Blackburn handling play by play and Aaron Taylor serving as analyst.
Marshall sold out its allotment of 1,395 tickets well in advance of the contest and a sell-out crowd is expected for homecoming at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (43,000).
Television Information: The game will be televised live by CBS College Sports. CBS C is available on DirecTV channel 613 and on Dish Network channel 152. It is also available on Comcast Cable in Huntington on channel 174, Armstrong Cable channel 499 and Suddenlink channel 317.
The Series: Marshall trails the all-time series between the two schools, 6-3, and has never won in Greenville...The Thundering Herd defeated the Pirates last season, 26-7, in Huntington...East Carolina handed Marshall a 33-20 loss in its last trip to Greenville in 2006. The series dates back to 1967 and includes one of the highest scoring bowl games in history. Marshall erased a huge first half deficit and edged ECU by the score of 64-61 in double overtime of the 2001 GMAC Bowl...the two schools are forever connected by the tragic events of November 14, 1970...following a 17-14 ECU win in Greenville, the charter DC-9 carrying the Marshall football team crashed upon return to Huntington and all 75 persons on board perished. In 2006, ECU dedicated a plaque at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in honor of that Marshall team. The tragedy and Marshall's decision to continue its program in 1971 is the subject of the Warner Bros. movie "We Are Marshall."
Scouting the Pirates: East Carolina is coming off of a 13-10 overtime victory on Sunday night at UCF... ECU is the first C-USA team to defeat UCF at Brighthouse Networks Stadium...The Pirates own victories over then #17 Virginia Tech (27-22) and then #8 West Virginia (24-3)...the Pirates ended a three-game losing streak with a 30-10 win over Memphis on Oct. 18 to start their current two-win streak...ECU's loses have come at NC State (30-24 in OT), vs. Houston (41-24) and at Virginia (35-20)...ECU's leading rushers are Jon Williams and Norman Whitley, the duo has produced 380 and 330 rushing yards, respectively...Patrick Pinkney has thrown for 1,331 yards and seven touchdowns, while sharing time with Rob Kass who has added 288 yards and a pair of scores...Defensively, ECU is led in tackles by junior defensive back Van Eskridge who has 59 stops and two interceptions, junior defensive end C.J. Wilson leads the team with 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
The Last Meeting: Marshall upset East Carolina by the score of 26-7 last year in Huntington... Bernard Morris became the first quarterback in Marshall history to rush for 1000 yards in a career as he registered 364 yards of total offense. On the day, Morris was 24 of 32 passing for 238 yards and two touchdowns, and he had 126 yards rushing with another score on the ground. The senior connected with a trio of primary receivers. Cody Slate, E.J. Wynn and Emmanuel Spann combined 15 catches, 163 yards and two touchdowns...Marshall's defense limited the Pirates to only 108 yards rushing with C.J. Spillman and Mario Harvey registering 13 tackles apiece...ECU was led by J.J. Milbrook's 14 stops on defense...ECU's Chris Johnson rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown.
The Herd: Marshall is coming off of an impressive 37-23 win over Houston. Marshall's defense answered the call in the Herd's win over the high-powered Cougars last Tuesday. The Thundering Herd intercepted Case Keenum twice, registered two forced fumbles, and managed four sacks for -27 yards. Marshall's defense also added eight tackles for a total loss of 35 yards to go with 55 yards in return yardage on the two picks and 80-yards on a fumble return. The Herd also broke up five passes and pressured Keenum throughout the game.
Mr. Kitchens Shines: Senior linebacker Maurice Kitchens is having a career year. He leads the team with 59 tackles and in interceptions with three. Against Houston on Tuesday night he led the way with an 80-yard fumble return and an interception that set up two Marshall touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named this week's C-USA Defensive Player of the Week.
Super Mario: Thundering Herd junior linebacker Mario Harvey is putting together a great season. Harvey is second on the team in tackles with 55 and he leads the team in tackles for loss (6.5 for -41 yards) and sacks (4.5 for -37 yards). He has also forced two fumbles and took a fumble return 62 yards for a touchdown at UAB.
He is (Darius) Marshall: Sophomore running back Darius Marshall led the Thundering Herd in rushing last season with 631 yards en route to earning All-Conference USA Freshman Team honors. Marshall currently leads the Herd with 146 carries for 618 yards and five touchdowns. He also leads the team with 20 kick returns for 554 yards, an average of 27.7 yards per return. Against Houston, Marshall rushed for a game-high 102 yards and a touchdown.
PASSmore: Marshall senior receiver Darius Passmore may be the best named player in college football. Passmore is averaging 99.4 receiving yards per game (ranks 9th nationally). He has 46 catches for 795 yards and five touchdowns thus far and has also carried the ball 17 times for an additional 165 yards and a touchdown. In the win over Houston, Passmore worked out of shotgun formation at the quarterback position and carried the ball eight times for 42 yards.
