Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Still the starter, Thomson gets 'rush' out of being QB
10/30/2018 9:57:00 PM | Football, Word on the Herd
Marshall hits the road to face Southern Miss this Saturday
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Doc Holliday announced Tuesday afternoon that junior quarterback Alex Thomson will remain the starter for this Saturday's game at Southern Miss.
"Alex is our quarterback right now," Holliday said. "We'll move forward in that direction."
It will be Thomson's fourth consecutive start in his first season with the program. The last two games, Thomson has added a dimension to the offense that Holliday has liked to see in his nine seasons here. In fact, Thomson's 24 carries for 79 yards over the past eight quarters may not seem like staggering rushing statistics, but they are two of the top 20 single-game running performances by a QB in the Holliday era.
"It doesn't have to be anything special," senior offensive lineman Jordan Dowrey said. "It doesn't have to be an All-American with the ball running it. That means there's one more guy the defense has to cover … now the guy has to make a decision on who they want to tackle. When you have a quarterback who is running the ball a little bit here and there, it doesn't have to be anything special, but it does make a difference for the offense."
The Marshall rushing attack has flourished in the past three weeks – all Thomson starts – with performances of 209, 319 and 233 yards as a team. The Herd has seven rushing touchdowns in the past two games, both Conference USA wins.
"We had a lot of big runs in the run game off of the read option because they were playing the quarterback," Thomson said. "It allowed me to read it and pull it and pick up 5 (yards), which is what we want to do on first and second down … if we're getting 4 yards a pop on those read options, then we're going to be successful on offense."
Redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Green started Marshall's first four games, but was then sidelined with an injury. Holliday said Tuesday that Green has returned to practice. Green passed for 1,108 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions before the injury at Western Kentucky. Thomson has 457 passing yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions since then.
"I think (Thomson has) grown as a player and gotten more comfortable every game he's played," Holliday said. "I saw improvement from game one to game two to game three, and I expect the same improvement going into game four. He threw the ball extremely well (Monday) night at practice."
Thomson has embraced contact this season, and said Monday that "taking a couple of hits helps" him during the game. He also knows that Southern Miss has one of the top rushing defenses in the conference – its six touchdowns on the ground allowed is the fewest in C-USA – so the Herd passing game will have to improve with him behind center.
"The passing game hasn't been asked for these last two weeks; we think it will be (this Saturday) because Southern Miss is really good against the run," Thomson said Monday. "We worked on what we see on the field between myself and my receivers. We took advantage of the bye week."
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Holliday held his weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon in the press box of Joan C. Edwards Stadium. He opened the media session by naming offensive linemen Levi Brown and Dowrey captains on one side of the ball, and safety Malik Gant and defensive lineman Malik Thompson the captains on the other side.
Thompson is coming off a career-high nine tackles against FAU, which included his first career interception. Thompson was rewarded by being named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week. This is the first time he has been named a team captain.
Otherwise, the big news Holliday unveiled Tuesday is that he anticipates a healthy squad traveling to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, this weekend to face Southern Miss, with its 3-4 overall record and 2-2 mark in C-USA.
"We've got a lot of guys who are back now," Holliday said. "I don't foresee anybody not playing Saturday at this point. If we had a game this past Saturday, there would have been three or four guys who wouldn't have played, so I don't think there's any question that open date helped us get guys back healthy."
Marshall (5-2 overall, 3-1 C-USA) had last weekend off after its 31-7 win against Florida Atlantic on Oct. 20. The Herd finishes the regular season with four straight Saturday games in November. After traveling to USM, Marshall hosts Charlotte (Nov. 10) and UTSA (Nov. 17), before hitting the road to end the season at Florida International (Nov. 24).
The Conference USA championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 1.
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a six-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
