Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Herd football switches focus to North Carolina State
9/14/2018 9:26:00 AM | Football, Word on the Herd
Marshall prepares for home game after weather cancellation
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The mid-week cancellation of the Marshall-South Carolina football game was an audible of a different kind.
The Thundering Herd, during preparations to travel to Columbia, South Carolina, for a game against the Gamecocks, found out late Wednesday afternoon that the non-conference game had been called off because of the impending arrival of Hurricane Florence. Marshall coach Doc Holliday and his staff immediately shifted their attention away from the Southeastern Conference to the ACC, which will provide the Herd's next opponent.
Marshall (2-0) will host North Carolina State (2-0) next Saturday, Sept. 22, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, as scheduled. Now, instead of facing an SEC team on the road, Holliday and the Herd will receive an extra week of rest and a few additional days to prepare.
"Our coaches have already started to prepare for N.C. State," Holliday said Thursday from his office inside the Shewey Building. "We'll spend Thursday's practice on special teams and fundamentals, and then start preparing them for the next game."
There will be abbreviated practices Friday and Saturday, followed by a routine off day Sunday. Marshall had planned to play its four non-conference games and first four Conference USA contests before having an open week, but instead the staff will adjust to an unexpected, early-season break in the schedule. The visiting Wolfpack will receive the same time to prepare after canceling its home game, which was also scheduled for this Saturday, against West Virginia.
N.C. State defeated James Madison 24-13 and Georgia State 41-7 in its first two games. The road trip here to Huntington, as part of the completion of a home-and-home series, is the Wolfpack's only trip outside of the state of North Carolina until Oct. 20. N.C. State won true road games against Florida State, Pittsburgh and Boston College last season, and defeated Marshall 37-20 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Holliday said the Herd wanted to hit the road this weekend and face a team from the SEC – a league traditionally regarded as the best college football conference – but agreed with South Carolina's decision to cancel the game.
"We were prepared to go play and the kids were disappointed that they didn't get the opportunity to play South Carolina, but now our attention has turned to N.C. State," said Holliday, who used to be an assistant with the Wolfpack. "The kids are excited and I know the fans are excited. Now we need to sell the stadium out and fill it up for a great opponent."
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Redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Green has enjoyed one of the best starts in program history for a first-time starter. Steve Cotton, the Voice of the Thundering Herd, researched the debuts of first-time starters in Marshall history through two games, and Green ranks in the top five in completions, attempts, passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Green, a native of Fairburn, Georgia, made his collegiate debut Sept. 1 at Miami. He started again last week in the Herd's home opener against Eastern Kentucky. Among first-time MU starters, Green's two-game totals are as follows: 47 completions (tied for second with Graham Gochneaur); 76 attempts (tied for first with Stan Hill); second in passing yards with 550 (behind Hill's 636 and ahead of Chad Pennington's 540); and tied for fourth with five TD passes (along with Pennington and Byron Leftwich).
Green leads all FBS freshmen this season in touchdown passes and is fourth among freshmen in passing yards.
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Not surprisingly, Green's favorite target, Tyre Brady, is among the national leaders. The 6-foot-3 senior, who would have been a game captain for the second consecutive week if the South Carolina game had been played, is in the top 10 in receiving touchdowns with three. He ranks second in that category in Conference USA.
Brady has caught a touchdown in three consecutive games, dating back to the 2017 Gildan New Mexico Bowl. He has 11 touchdown receptions in 13 career games.
In last season's game against N.C. State, Brady finished with 11 catches for 248 yards and a touchdown.
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The Marshall defense has some players on various leaderboards.
Along the defensive line, juniors Ty Tyler and Channing Hames are tied for the C-USA lead with two sacks. They combined for four sacks last week against EKU.
Senior linebacker Chase Hancock ranks fourth in the league in tackles with 23. Safety Malik Gant is one spot behind with 22 tackles.
As a unit, Marshall ranks second in C-USA in sacks (7.0) and is tied for first in interceptions (three).
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Marshall would have likely played in front of one of its 10 largest crowds in program history at South Carolina. The Gamecocks ranked No. 16 among FBS schools in home attendance in 2017 with an average of 78,586. This season, South Carolina drew 75,126 fans for its win against Coastal Carolina and 83,140 last week when No. 3 Georgia visited.
Any of those numbers would have represented one of the 10 largest crowds to ever watch the Thundering Herd play football.
The last time Marshall visited Columbia – Sept. 19, 1998 – a crowd of 78,717 watched the teams play. That ranks No. 9 among the biggest crowds to watch a Herd football game. Anything above 72,983 – the crowd that watched Marshall at Michigan State in 2000 – would have cracked the top 10.
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).
