Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Herd Lines Up Plenty of `Alumni' in Bowl
12/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By JACK BOGACZYK
HEDRDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The players in the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday night at FAU Stadium won’t be wearing caps and gowns, but besides its Conference USA championship and 12-1 record, Marshall is well-armed with graduates.
At the start of the 2014 season, Coach Doc Holliday’s Herd roster had seven post-graduate participants. With December graduation last Saturday for the Herd, nine more players have added their undergraduate degrees.
Place-kicker Justin Haig had one degree (management) at the start of the season, and he added a second one (marketing) last weekend.
The alumni who entered the season with MU degrees are tight end Eric Frohnapfel (finance), center Chris Jasperse (sports management), offensive tackle Trevor Mendelson (finance), cornerback Darryl Roberts (sports management), defensive tackle James Rouse (criminal justice), linebacker Raheem Waiters (sports management) and Haig.
The new graduates after the fall semester are wide receiver Davonte Allen (management), offensive guard Blake Brooks (criminal justice), linebacker Cortez Carter (management), linebacker D.J. Hunter (management), offensive guard Sebastian Johansson (sports management/marketing), safety Taj Letman (management), defensive end Ra’Shawde Myers (liberal arts), wide receiver Craig Wilkins (management), tight end Joe Woodrum (management) and Haig.
Of that latter group, Allen, Hunter, Johansson, Letman and Woodrum have one season of athletic eligibility remaining, for the 2015 season.
# # #
The Herd’s bowl headquarters in warm and sunny Boca is the very upscale – and historic – Boca Raton Resort and Club, a Waldorf Astoria property where you can drop $16 on a reuben sandwich.
The resort dates to 1926, and every United States president in office since then has stayed at the resort at least once.
On Saturday, Holliday was asked his thoughts on the digs where his team is spending four days and nights before facing Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois.
“The Greenbrier, we’ve got that in West Virginia,” Holliday said of the resort owned by Marshall alumnus Jim Justice. “Now, that’s a special place, The Greenbrier is the nicest resort in America.
“This may be second. The Greenbrier will always be first.”
# # #
Holliday is consistently adamant about developing new talent on his roster, using injuries to veterans as a reference point.
“If you don’t play those (freshmen) that can play, when you need them to contribute, they aren’t ready,” Holliday said recently.
The production of the Herd’s young receivers helps underscore Holliday’s point.
The emergence of freshman wide receivers Angelo Jean-Louis, Deon-Tay McManus and Hyleck Foster and tight end Ryan Yurachek has MU near the top of major-college freshman pass receiving in 2014.
The Herd freshmen own 15 touchdown receptions – 5 apiece by Jean-Louis and McManus, 3 for Foster and 2 by Yurachek. That 15 ranks second among 128 FBS programs, tied with College Football Playoff semifinalist Oregon.
The Herd and Ducks trail only Virginia Tech, which has 16 TD catches from freshmen entering the Hokies’ Military Bowl date. USC is fourth, with 12.
Holliday’s team is sixth in freshmen receiving yards, with 1,235, on 77 catches. Those 77 receptions rank No. 13, in a tie with Bowling Green, Kentucky and Wake Forest. Tulane’s freshmen were tops with 159 catches, while Virginia Tech led in freshman catch yardage, at 1,717.
“Angelo and Deon-Tay, it’s personnel-driven game, and part of our reason a year ago (for issues at outside receiver) is we didn’t have great players there,” Holliday said Saturday before the Herd’s bowl practice at St. Andrew’s School. “We had good players, but we didn’t have players who could make a difference.
“I think Angelo, McManus, Davonte (Allen, back from injury in 2013), they started to grow up, Davonte not as quick as Angelo and McManus. To add those guys has helped us as far as talent goes. Those guys have played well.”
# # #
Marshall’s bowl success is among the best in the nation. The Herd is 8-3 (.727) all-time in the postseason as it plays the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday night. Among major college teams that have appeared in at least 10 bowls, only Utah (13-4, .765) has a better record.
Marshall also is prominent on another bowl list, having won three consecutive games (2009 Little Caesars, 2011 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s and 2013 Military Bowl).
Only four schools have longer active bowl win streaks than the Herd. Ole Miss and Florida State have won six straight bowls. Louisiana-Lafayette – which won the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday – and Texas Tech (not in the 2014 postseason) have won four in a row.
Among other teams also with three in a row are Oregon, Texas A&M, Michigan State and UCF.
# # #
Finally, looking ahead to this time next season, Conference USA will remain at 13 football schools, with Charlotte starting C-USA play to replace UAB, which has dropped football. However, the conference gains a bowl berth.
C-USA is scheduled for the Bahamas (Mid-American Conference opponent), Miami Beach (AAC), Bitcoin St. Petersburg (AAC), New Orleans (Sun Belt), Heart of Dallas (Big 12) and New Mexico (Mountain West) bowls following the ’15 season.
The conference also has a secondary agreement with the Independence Bowl should the SEC or ACC not be able to fill a berth.
The Boca Raton Bowl is out of the rotation next season, but C-USA is scheduled to be back in the game at FAU Stadium in 2016 and ’17 (versus AAC) and in 2018 (against the MAC).
