Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: High-powered Herd offense can't stand in own way
10/8/2021 7:31:00 PM | Football, Word on the Herd
Marshall hosts ODU on Homecoming this Saturday at 2 p.m.
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The disparity between two statistics has Marshall head football coach Charles Huff befuddled, but perhaps optimistic, too.
The Thundering Herd, on a three-game losing streak after opening Conference USA play with a defeat at Middle Tennessee last weekend, makes its C-USA regular season home debut this Saturday as the nation's No. 5 offense. Huff's Herd can, clearly, move the ball up and down the field.
But no FBS team has turned the ball over more than Marshall (2-3, 0-1), as the Herd enters the 2 p.m. contest on CBS Sports Network Facebook with 15 turnovers in five games.
It has been a season long issue.
Marshall averages 3.0 turnovers per game. The Herd averages 3.0 turnovers in wins and 3.0 turnovers in losses. Marshall did not turn the ball over at Appalachian State, but lost, and then a week later had six turnovers in a 6-point defeat against the Blue Raiders.
But the Herd ranks No. 5 in total offense, averaging 539.4 yards per game. That might leave Huff scratching his head on why his team has a penchant for turning over the ball, but he's not hunting for answers on why his team has lost three games by a combined 11 points.
"We had six turnovers and a blocked punt and we were still less than a half a yard away from having an opportunity to go and win the game," Huff said. "How great can we be if we stop beating ourselves?"
The answer to that question likely lies within one of the best statistical offenses in the nation this season. The Marshall defense pitched a shutout against Middle Tennessee in the second half last weekend – the Blue Raiders' only points after intermission came on a fumble return – and the Herd defense hasn't allowed a point in the third quarter of any game this season.
"I told them when I went into the locker room: 'Do not hang your head,'" Huff said of the MT result. "I believe you hang your head and you play your best and the other team beats you. You don't hang your head when you beat yourself."
One of Saturday's teams will snap a three-game skid. Visiting Old Dominion (1-4, 0-1) arrives in Huntington after consecutive losses to Liberty, Buffalo and UTEP. Like the Herd, the Monarchs had narrow defeats to Buffalo by 1 and UTEP by 7.
"You have to look at the film and when you watch their games they're in a similar scenario as us," Huff said. "They're in a lot of games. There's a turnover or penalty or a drop or whatever it is that separates them."
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Senior tight end Xavier Gaines continues to move up career lists at Marshall among tight ends. Gaines is 2 receiving yards away from catching Mike Bartrum from No. 6 on the career receiving yards list for tight ends at Marshall. He is 11 receptions behind Eric Ihnat for No.7 in career receptions by a tight end.
Overall, Gaines is second among C-USA tight ends in receiving yards per game this season (52.4). Third on that list will also be at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday: ODU's Zack Kuntz, who has 24 receptions for 239 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Gaines has 17 catches for 262 yards and one touchdown.
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Marshall remains among the national leaders in team sacks with 20, trailing only Houston, which jumped to No. 1 with eight sacks Thursday night versus Tulane, and Troy with 21.
The Herd is tied with Syracuse for third place.
Marshall is 11-0 since the 2009 season when it collects six or more sacks in a game. The Herd had nine sacks in this season's season opener at Navy.
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One of the greatest I-AA teams in college football history will be honored Saturday prior to the game. Marshall's undefeated 1996 national champion team, which went 15-0 and defeated nine nationally ranked teams en route to the title, will be honored prior to the start of the game. That team had 11 players named to various All-American teams and head coach Bob Pruett was named National Coach of the Year by multiple organizations.
Pruett will be on hand Saturday along with many players from the 1996 team.   Â
Welcome back, gentlemen.
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a nine-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).
