Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Marshall football finds perfect balance on offense
10/25/2019 11:02:00 AM | Football, Word on the Herd
Thundering Herd among exclusive company in this category
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – In all four Marshall football wins this season, offensive balance was struck.
The Thundering Herd, which hosts Western Kentucky this Saturday at 2:30 p.m., had at least 200 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in wins against VMI, Ohio, Old Dominion and Florida Atlantic. Marshall also did it at Middle Tennessee, giving the Herd five 200-200 offensive performances this season.
This is no small feat.
Ohio State has seven games of 200 passing yards and 200 rushing yards this season. Oklahoma has accomplished it six times. Clemson, like Marshall has pulled it off in five games.
That's it. That's the list.
"You always want to be a 50-50 guy, but we're taking what defenses are giving us and we're being good in the run game," said Tim Cramsey, Marshall's offensive coordinator. "It goes back to the run game opening up the pass game; the pass game opening up the run game. At one point last week in the second quarter I want to say we had less than 20 yards running. We hit a big pass play here and a big pass play there and all of a sudden they back off a little bit and the second half we can get after them in the run game."
Cramsey is correct. Marshall had 83 passing yards and 12 rushing yards at the end of the first quarter at FAU last Friday night. In the second quarter, the offense started to balance out: 89 rushing yards and 11 passing yards. In the third quarter, the Herd had 77 rushing yards and 11 passing yards. Then, the MU offense exploded in the fourth quarter: 101 passing yards and 76 rushing yards. Sophomore quarterback Isaiah Green connected with junior receiver Willie Johnson for a 60-yard touchdown pass, and then sophomore running back Brenden Knox ran wild.
By game's end, Marshall had 254 rushing yards and 206 passing yards, the third consecutive game with at least 200 yards passing and rushing. For the season, the Herd has 1,518 rushing yards and 1,523 passing yards – almost perfectly balanced.
"It's a game-by-game thing," Green said. "Teams try to take away certain things from us at certain times. Sometimes we have to rely on the pass to open up the run and vice versa. It all comes down to what teams are trying to do to us and we do a good job of keeping it balanced."
Green does not care if he posts big passing numbers. He wants the offense to be effective, and for that effectiveness to result in a team victory. So far, Green is 11-5 as a starter in two seasons, including 1-0 against WKU.
"Whatever we have to do to win, that's what we're going to do," Green said. "The fact that we've been so balanced in doing it is amazing to me. It's not like we go into the game that we have to pass this game or run this game, we have a strong game plan for both aspects and it has happened to play out that we have that balance and it messes teams up because you don't know what to prepare for."
Green ranks seventh in Conference USA in passing yards per game with 196.7. He has 1,377 passing yards with 10 touchdowns against six interceptions. His season-high in passing yards, 365, came in a loss at Middle Tennessee. He passed for 175 yards in a win against ODU, but added 59 rushing yards, one touchdown and didn't account for a turnover.
Marshall enters Saturday's Homecoming game ranked No. 11 nationally with 5.52 yards per rushing attempt.
"I take extreme pride in the run game because it helps me out in the passing game," Green said. "When we're able to run the ball as successfully as we have, people have to put more people in the box. That clears the picture for me."
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WKU (5-2 overall, 4-0 C-USA) enters Saturday on a four-game winning streak. Those four games also happen to be the only ones in which quarterback Ty Storey has made a significant contribution. In that stretch, Storey is 78-for-112 passing for 805 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. In the past two games, Storey has 60 pass attempts without an interception.
"You can tell that there's nothing too big for him," said Brad Lambert, Marshall's defensive coordinator. "He's been in a good environment at Arkansas. He's come in and he's really got a good command of what they're doing; he's got a good poise about him. It comes through on video and he doesn't make a lot of mistakes. We're going to have to be in the right place and make sure we handle things on defense because he'll expose you."
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Marshall is also on high alert for WKU playmaker Lucky Jackson. He has 11 plays of 40-plus yards in his Hilltoppers career.
"He's a big-play guy for them and Lucky has been that way for a while," Lambert said. "He's been producing at a high level."
Jackson had a breakout game last week against Charlotte with five receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown. The 141 receiving yards are the most Jackson has ever had against FBS competition. He has 30 catches for 404 yards and one touchdown on the season.
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a seven-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).
