Marshall Looks To Get Back On Track

Marshall Looks To Get Back On Track

If you get the chance to spend time with Marshall’s Head Football Coach, Mark Snyder, be prepared for cheek cramps as you cannot help but spend the time smiling and laughing along with the affable coach. Snyder effortlessly tends towards optimism on any given topic and that certainly applies to the outlook he has for the 2008 football season.

Yet, while Marshall emerges from its third-consecutive losing season, there is actually good reason for his current optimism. Most of the team’s top tacklers, receivers and scorers return for 2008. Truly, as the Thundering Herd stomps towards 2008, the cubbards are full of experienced players on both sides of the ball.

The defensive line, in particular, should see a spike in performance next season courtesy of the return of end Albert McClellan (C-USA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2006 who missed all of last season with a knee injury) and tackle Montel Glasco (season-ending injury in Week 3 of 2007). Both players were missed last season but their absence gave the Herd a chance to develop younger players and, now, McClellan and Glasco launch into spring joined by six linemen with at least four games of actual experience. Moreover, John Youbouty (6-4, 246) was a highly-touted end who could continue the school’s recent trend of playing its freshmen.

If the defensive interior can control the line of scrimmage, the entire unit could become stifling since plenty of experience returns at linebacker and in the backfield. Off-field problems leave Marshall without middle linebacker, Josh Johnson, who never quite lived up to his potential for the Herd. However, the Herd lined up without Johnson at the end of last year and every linebacker starter in the final game of 2007 (Ian Hoskins, Maurice Kitchens and Mario Harvey) returns. Even better for Marshall fans, those players will have to struggle to earn starts in 2008 while three youngsters (Corey Hart, Antawn Booker and Kellen Harris) and highly-ranked JUCO outside linebacker Andre Portis (6-3, 240) make sincere pushes this Spring and off-season.

Nine defensive backs return with starting experience (five at corner, four at safety), including outstanding free-safety C.J. Spillman and Ashton Hall, who switched from cornerback to safety this winter. Like Hall, former tailback Chubb Small also made the offseason switch to safety. Given the additional arrival of JUCO-transfer Brandon Barns (6-4, 215), a big-bodied player with alleged 4.45 speed, there will be no shortage of skilled athletes to fill the safety positions this coming season. Fans should also keep an eye on Dequan Bembry and Tyrone Drakeford, who each matured during their redshirt years. Bembry, a cornerback, could make an immediate impact on the depth chart this spring.

On offense, Marshall will have to fill only two real holes – quarterback and center. However, each will be tough to fill. Last year’s quarterback, Bernard Morris, quietly posted an effective senior season (3,149 yards, 17 touchdowns, 63.6% completion rate) while departing center, Doug Legursky, was a three-time C-USA selection.

Brian Leggett started the last two seasons at right guard and will try to fill Legursky’s vacated center spot. Josh Evans stays at left guard after starting every game there in 2007. Buck Baldridge started most games at right tackle last year but will be pushed this spring by freshman Branden Curry. Curry’s classmate, C.J. Wood, will likely fill Leggett’s vacated guard position while Brandon Campbell should man the left tackle spot after gaining three starts there last year.

The biggest question for Marshall is which quarterback will line up behind the aforementioned linemen. Of the leading candidates to take over for Morris, Brian Anderson threw the most passes last season (28) but was unable to complete many of them (12) and three of them went to the wrong team so he certainly has no lock on the position heading into spring. Most insiders are looking for Georgia Tech-transfer Jonathan Garner (6-4, 225) or redshirt freshman Mark Cann (6-4, 210), both southpaws, to take over for Morris. However, it would not be surprising to see packages created to take advantage of the mobility of redshirt freshman Chris Smith (6-3, 220).

As a freshman, Darius Marshall (5-10, 188) was the Herd’s leading rusher in 2007 (123 carries -631 yards, five touchdowns). However, Kelvin Turner (5-10, 190) returns after doubling Darius’ rushing scores (seven) and Terrell Edwards (6-2, 205) developed well during his redshirt season. Interestingly, the competition among those three may not even produce 2008’s ultimate starter since JoJo Cox, a former Clemson commit and recent Marshall academic casualty, is very talented and should join the fray this August.

Finally, there is Marshall’s talented group of receivers. Hybrid tight-end/receiver Cody Slate (6-4, 212) has been the team’s leading receiver for two years running and increased his numbers in 2007 from 43 to 66 catches and from 684 to 818 yards.

The three receivers behind Slate in the team standings all return, including big-play threat Darius Passmore (6-3, 180). Passmore proved himself a warrior last season by gutting it out for nine weeks of playing time following a partial tear of a knee meniscus during West Virginia in Week Two.

Emanuel Spann and E.J. Wynn are small-bodied players who were effective in space and combined for 56 catches and 750 yards. However, Spann and Wynn could find their playing time challenged in 2008 by one of three speedy newcomers, including JUCO-transfer O.J. Murdock (a four-star according to Rivals.com who originally signed with South Carolina out of college) and Laney College-transfer Chuck Walker (5-10, 185), who each claim to cover 40 yards in 4.4 seconds or less. 

The Marshall staff spent a lot of time with Steve Kragthorpe’s new staff last year learning how to enhance the role of the tight end in the Herd’s offensive attack. Slate’s clear talents are one reason why but it is worth noting that the team fields other tight-end threats such as Tennesse-transfer, Lee Smith (6-6, 245), and newcomer Maurice Graham (6-5, 270), the nation’s #1 JUCO tight-end recruit last year, who is already enrolled and will participate this spring.

On any given play, there will be bevy of playmakers in whose hands the ball can be placed next year.  And that give Snyder and the Marshall Nation plenty of reason to smile.

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