Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Marshall defense has big challenge vs. Ohio QB
9/13/2019 1:55:00 PM | Football, Word on the Herd
Running back depth chart gets shuffled
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – First-year Marshall defensive coordinator Brad Lambert has his eye on Ohio quarterback Nathan Rourke.
Lambert – and his defense – better not blink.
Rourke, Ohio's 6-foot-1, 210-pound quarterback, will pose a challenge for Marshall's defense this Saturday when Marshall (1-1) welcomes Ohio (1-1) to Joan C. Edwards Stadium for the 60th meeting between the rival programs. The Battle for the Bell is scheduled to kickoff at 6:30 p.m., and will be broadcast on Facebook.
Rourke poses an unwelcome problem. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, Marshall is 10-5 – 9-2 when the opposing quarterback is held to fewer than 25 rushing yards, and 1-3 when the opposing QB eclipses 25 yards. Rourke runs so much that he would have been the Herd's leading rusher a season ago.
"You talk about them, you have to start with their quarterback," Marshall coach Doc Holliday said. "He's an excellent player who can beat you with his feet. The difference between this guy and the kid at Boise is he runs better. There's a lot of designed quarterback runs for him, so that'll be another part of the offense we have to deal with."
Marshall has lost six of its last seven games when the opposing quarterback rushes for at least 25 yards. Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier surpassed that figure last week. The Herd defense will be focused on limiting Rourke this week.
"The quarterback is a really, really good player," Lambert said. "He's a senior. He's not going to make many mistakes. He's slippery in the run game. He's very productive runner. They create some problems for you."
NEW FACES IN THE BACKFIELD …
A departure at running back will push new faces up the depth chart this Saturday.
Brenden Knox, a sophomore who has 115 carries for 692 yards and seven touchdowns in seven career games as the team's featured back, will continue to shoulder the load. Knox has scored a rushing touchdown in four consecutive games.
Knox, already a three-time captain this season, will be followed by, in some order, sophomore Shelden Evans, freshman Lawrence Papillon and freshman Knowledge McDaniel. Evans and Papillon have had a redshirt year. McDaniel is a true freshman.
"Those guys are ready to go," Marshall offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey said. "You don't know a lot about them because they haven't been in the game a whole lot. Sheldon Evans is a guy who is ready to go. Knox is going to get the bulk of the carries, which is what Knox has the ability to do with his body type and how he takes care of his body. We're going to see Knowledge McDaniel. Lawrence Papillon. Joe Early is battling back from injury. I'm excited to see what Shell can do when he gets out there with the ball in his hands. He's a slash guy; he's a make-you-miss-in-a-phone-booth guy with a little bit of power as well."
Evans, who is 5-11 and 195 pounds, turned 21 in August. He was a 3-star prospect out of Roswell, Georgia, and ranked as the 36th best running back in the nation out of high school. He received one carry last season, and has seven attempts for 56 rushing yards this season.
Papillon is 5-9 and 204 pounds, and played his high school ball in Miami, Florida. McDaniel is 5-11 and 206 pounds, and hails from Bradenton, Florida.
Papillon and McDaniel both changed numbers this week. Papillon will now wear No. 28, and McDaniel is No. 23.
READY FOR SOLICH …
Speaking of Lambert, the 54-year-old officially started his coaching career at Marshall in 1990. Never, though, has Lambert met a Frank Solich-coached team.
But Lambert has been on the other sideline.
"Solich was coaching when I played at K-State; he was on the staff at Nebraska," Lambert said. "I told the defense even going back to the Nebraska days, it's going to be a physical game. It was back then when you play; that's the way Coach (Tom) Osborne did it; that's where Coach Solich is from.
"That's the cloth he's cut from. It's no different than today here in 2019. They're going to execute at a high level and be extremely physical."
By the way, when Lambert played at Kansas State, his teams were outscored 192-42 by Solich's Nebraska teams, and lost all four meetings.
IT'S SO HARD TO SAY GOODBYE …
The amount of time invested in numbers and nuggets to share in this space – and on social media – is staggering. So, when a spectacular statistic meets its end, well, emotions run high in the office of the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications.
That's my office.
Unfortunately, a pair of long-tracked statistics came to an end at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. That left me feeling like the color of the turf.
First, Marshall's 19-game streak of winning when scoring first came to an end. Brenden Knox opened the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown run against the Broncos, which for a while had been a forecast for sunny times at game's end. But Boise State scored 14 unanswered points and the Herd went home with a loss. Streak over.
Also, George Holani ruined another long-running Marshall football stat. Holani's 6-yard run – his final carry of the day – gave him 103 rushing yards, which broke the Herd defense's 15-game streak without allowing an individual 100-yard rusher.
TURNOVERS …
Keep an eye on the turnover battle in this one. Marshall has won 11 consecutive games when it wins the turnover battle.
Ohio, meanwhile, led the nation in turnovers created in 2018. Overall, the Bobcats have won 28 consecutive games when it has an advantage of plus-two or better in turnover margin.
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).
