By Dick Ash
Marshall went into game three of the 2015 season needing much more than a win over their FCS opponent, Norfolk State. If this was going to be a season to make Herd fans happy, the win needed to happen and not ever be in doubt. Head Coach Doc Holliday’s team had to answer several questions in the game before proceeding on to Kent State and eight Conference USA games yet to come. For the most part, the answers were found in the Herd’s decisive 45-7 win, although some questions weren’t even known until game time.
Question 1: Who’s able to play and who isn’t?
Answer: The Herd has had some injury issues since the beginning of fall camp and into the first quarter of the schedule. Safety A.J. Leggett and linebacker Shawn Petty have yet to take a single snap in the 2015 season. When running back Remi Watson appeared to injure an arm against Ohio, it looked like he would miss some time also. But when Marshall took the field Saturday evening, three major contributors in the young season weren’t out there. All-Conference right tackle Clint Van Horn and Purdue game co-heroes quarterback Michael Birdsong and safety Tiquan Lang were unavailable to play against Norfolk State.
Holliday had told the media Tuesday that true freshman QB Chase Litton would make his Joan C. Edwards Stadium debut in the Herd’s third offensive series. But once Litton warmed up before the game and Birdsong didn’t, it was obvious that the rookie’s debut would happen even sooner.
After the game, Holliday provided the timeline of the decision process of who would play when. ‘We got out there on Tuesday and (Birdsong) couldn’t throw the ball. He had a shoulder issue and didn’t throw the ball well. We all met (with the doctors) and decided the only way he was going to get better was not throw the ball at all Wednesday, Thursday (and) Friday and not play Saturday. When I met with (the media) on Tuesday the plan was to start Birdsong. He didn’t take one snap in practice (Wednesday). It wasn’t because Litton went in there and played well; after Tuesday’s practice we made the decision not to play (Birdsong) in that game.’
Question 1A: So how did the Herd’s young depth step up for the missing players?
Answer: Pretty darn good. Holliday praised Litton’s effort and performance in his first game. ‘He took what the defense gave us. He got the ball where it was supposed to go. I thought he made the throws he had to make. I thought he made good decisions, which is critical. He got the ball to 11 different receivers. He was able to make the right decisions on the run/pass options. He was able to get the ball where it belonged on some third down deals where he has to read the coverage. He took care of the ball. For his first game out there I thought he was tremendous.’
With Watson out, the backup running back workload was shared by sophomore Tony Pittman and red-shirt freshman Keion Davis. Neither had carried the ball in 2015. Pittman had a handful of carries and one garbage-time touchdown as the fourth back last season. Both played well Saturday.
Pittman give Devon Johnson a rest in Marshall’s third series and gained 13 yards for a key first down at the Spartan 13 yard line that helped set up a touchdown. Pittman returned in the second quarter after Johnson had carried four times in five plays for 20 yards. Pittman caught a pass for eight yards and gave Johnson a few more plays off before the big senior returned refreshed to rush for 11 yards and then cap the drive with a one yard touchdown.
After the Herd’s lead reached 31-7 in the third quarter, Johnson’s evening was done. After a nifty scramble by Litton gained 19 yards, Pittman ran for 13 yards. Davis then made his Herd rushing debut in a big way, carrying the ball six times in the next eight plays for a total of 29 yards, including a one yard touchdown run for Marshall’s next-to-last score of the game. Pittman ran for 8 yards to finish with 32 yards on five carries and the one catch for eight yards. He also lost a 10 yard run to a Marshall penalty. Davis had 31 yards on eight carries including his first touchdown.
Johnson had nothing but praise for his new backups. ‘Keion really worked hard and he had a great week of practice. Having a great week of practice results in great results and that’s what happened today. He’s come a long way; he’s learned the plays really fast. Keion really works hard and he has a motor just like (Pittman). When Tony gets in there you’re always going to get 110% out of him. He works hard and he takes so many reps in practice. He deserves everything that he gets. They both do a great job and they’re going to run hard for you.’
Even though Van Horn, Watson and Birdsong were missing Saturday, the Herd offense put up some good numbers, with 495 total yards. Marshall’s backs and quarterbacks ran 43 times for 216 net yards, an average of 5 yards per carry. There was only a single sack of Litton for one yard (by a blitzing linebacker) and one other negative yardage play, a three yard loss on a running play by backup QB Gunnar Holcombe with the second offensive line in the game.
After Norfolk State’s opening 7 play, 75 yard drive, the Herd defense allowed only 116 yards in 52 offensive plays for 2.2 yards per play. The second half was even more impressive with 26 yards allowed in 24 plays.
Marshall alternated the right side of the offensive line. Right guard Jordan Dowrey and right tackle Tom Collins (listed in the depth chart and the backup left guard) started, and took turns with the duo of RG Cody Collins (listed as the backup center) and backup RT A.J. Addison. When the second offensive line came in after the game was no longer in doubt, Fedrice Binot played left tackle, with Dowrey at left guard, listed backup right guard Nate Devers at center with Cody Collins and Addison on the right side.
True sophomore Kendall Gant got his first significant playing time at safety with Lang joining Leggett on the sidelines. Gant and Taj Letman played all the significant snaps, with Gant recording his first three solo tackles and assist of the season after playing only special teams in the first two games. When the reserve defense came in for the end of the fourth quarter, junior college transfer Corey Neely saw his first action at safety for the Thundering Herd and was credited with breaking up a pass.
True freshman cornerback T.J. Griffin made his first Herd appearance Saturday. Griffin joined the program during the first week of the fall semester after not gaining entry to the University of Virginia. Red-shirt sophomore defensive end Aaron Plantt saw his first game action in his third year in the program.
Holliday sees many of his missing players returning soon. ‘Clint (Van Horn) is out maybe a week, so we should get him back pretty quick. We’ll get most of those guys back here tomorrow.’
Question 2: Did they get that penalty problem fixed?
Answer: Yes and No. After the Ohio game saw Marshall’s offensive line get called for five penalties (four holdings and a false start), Addison’s late holding penalty was the only foul called on the Herd O-line. There was also an offensive pass interference penalty, a defensive face mask penalty, and three blocking penalties on special team plays, including two on the same punt return.
Since there were three blocking penalties on kick returns against Ohio, Holliday was bothered by more occurring Saturday. ‘We’ve got to clean up a couple things on our special teams and our return game. We had a couple of penalties in our punt return game we shouldn’t have had; not that they shouldn’t have been called, but we spend a lot of time coaching that. We haven’t had an issue with penalties until last week.’
Question 3: Can we do anything to improve the offense?
Answer: After talking about it for a while, the staff moved senior Deandre Reaves to the starting slot receiver. Litton’s six yard completion to Reaves in the Herd’s first drive was lost on the offensive pass interference penalty, but Litton started the next drive with a 22 yard pass to Reaves. After Pittman ran for 13 yards, that drive ended as Reaves took a pass on the left side of the field and beat the Spartan defense to the right corner of the end zone for Marshall’s first touchdown.
Reaves said a perfectly thrown ball enabled him to score. ‘He (Litton) put it out there in stride for me. My man was kind of playing off of me. I just had to get in the hole and outrun him,’
The next series included two more catches by Reaves. The first was an 11 yard pass on the fourth play of the drive. After a 22 yard run by Johnson, Litton found a wide open Reaves down the middle of the field.
The freshman QB said he almost missed on the throw. ‘We saw there were two high safeties. I knew Reaves’ route on that one might be a bender or might be a takeoff. As soon as I saw the safety roll I knew I had Reaves. Actually when I threw it, you could kind of see by my body language I thought I overthrew him. He made a tremendous grab and made me look good on that play.’
For his part Reaves said he was just doing his job. ‘Our quarterbacks put the ball in the right place and it’s our job to no matter what come down with the ball. It’s either we catch it or nobody catches it. I just kind of jumped up and it kind of just fell in my hands.’
The Herd closes its non-conference schedule next week at Kent State. The Golden Flashes of the MAC are 1-2 after a 10-7 loss to Minnesota. They opened with a 52-3 loss at Illinois and followed that up with a 45-13 win over FCS team Delaware State.
Marshall went into game three of the 2015 season needing much more than a win over their FCS opponent, Norfolk State. If this was going to be a season to make Herd fans happy, the win needed to happen and not ever be in doubt. Head Coach Doc Holliday’s team had to answer several questions in the game before proceeding on to Kent State and eight Conference USA games yet to come. For the most part, the answers were found in the Herd’s decisive 45-7 win, although some questions weren’t even known until game time.
Question 1: Who’s able to play and who isn’t?
Answer: The Herd has had some injury issues since the beginning of fall camp and into the first quarter of the schedule. Safety A.J. Leggett and linebacker Shawn Petty have yet to take a single snap in the 2015 season. When running back Remi Watson appeared to injure an arm against Ohio, it looked like he would miss some time also. But when Marshall took the field Saturday evening, three major contributors in the young season weren’t out there. All-Conference right tackle Clint Van Horn and Purdue game co-heroes quarterback Michael Birdsong and safety Tiquan Lang were unavailable to play against Norfolk State.
Holliday had told the media Tuesday that true freshman QB Chase Litton would make his Joan C. Edwards Stadium debut in the Herd’s third offensive series. But once Litton warmed up before the game and Birdsong didn’t, it was obvious that the rookie’s debut would happen even sooner.
After the game, Holliday provided the timeline of the decision process of who would play when. ‘We got out there on Tuesday and (Birdsong) couldn’t throw the ball. He had a shoulder issue and didn’t throw the ball well. We all met (with the doctors) and decided the only way he was going to get better was not throw the ball at all Wednesday, Thursday (and) Friday and not play Saturday. When I met with (the media) on Tuesday the plan was to start Birdsong. He didn’t take one snap in practice (Wednesday). It wasn’t because Litton went in there and played well; after Tuesday’s practice we made the decision not to play (Birdsong) in that game.’
Question 1A: So how did the Herd’s young depth step up for the missing players?
Answer: Pretty darn good. Holliday praised Litton’s effort and performance in his first game. ‘He took what the defense gave us. He got the ball where it was supposed to go. I thought he made the throws he had to make. I thought he made good decisions, which is critical. He got the ball to 11 different receivers. He was able to make the right decisions on the run/pass options. He was able to get the ball where it belonged on some third down deals where he has to read the coverage. He took care of the ball. For his first game out there I thought he was tremendous.’
With Watson out, the backup running back workload was shared by sophomore Tony Pittman and red-shirt freshman Keion Davis. Neither had carried the ball in 2015. Pittman had a handful of carries and one garbage-time touchdown as the fourth back last season. Both played well Saturday.
Pittman give Devon Johnson a rest in Marshall’s third series and gained 13 yards for a key first down at the Spartan 13 yard line that helped set up a touchdown. Pittman returned in the second quarter after Johnson had carried four times in five plays for 20 yards. Pittman caught a pass for eight yards and gave Johnson a few more plays off before the big senior returned refreshed to rush for 11 yards and then cap the drive with a one yard touchdown.
After the Herd’s lead reached 31-7 in the third quarter, Johnson’s evening was done. After a nifty scramble by Litton gained 19 yards, Pittman ran for 13 yards. Davis then made his Herd rushing debut in a big way, carrying the ball six times in the next eight plays for a total of 29 yards, including a one yard touchdown run for Marshall’s next-to-last score of the game. Pittman ran for 8 yards to finish with 32 yards on five carries and the one catch for eight yards. He also lost a 10 yard run to a Marshall penalty. Davis had 31 yards on eight carries including his first touchdown.
Johnson had nothing but praise for his new backups. ‘Keion really worked hard and he had a great week of practice. Having a great week of practice results in great results and that’s what happened today. He’s come a long way; he’s learned the plays really fast. Keion really works hard and he has a motor just like (Pittman). When Tony gets in there you’re always going to get 110% out of him. He works hard and he takes so many reps in practice. He deserves everything that he gets. They both do a great job and they’re going to run hard for you.’
Even though Van Horn, Watson and Birdsong were missing Saturday, the Herd offense put up some good numbers, with 495 total yards. Marshall’s backs and quarterbacks ran 43 times for 216 net yards, an average of 5 yards per carry. There was only a single sack of Litton for one yard (by a blitzing linebacker) and one other negative yardage play, a three yard loss on a running play by backup QB Gunnar Holcombe with the second offensive line in the game.
After Norfolk State’s opening 7 play, 75 yard drive, the Herd defense allowed only 116 yards in 52 offensive plays for 2.2 yards per play. The second half was even more impressive with 26 yards allowed in 24 plays.
Marshall alternated the right side of the offensive line. Right guard Jordan Dowrey and right tackle Tom Collins (listed in the depth chart and the backup left guard) started, and took turns with the duo of RG Cody Collins (listed as the backup center) and backup RT A.J. Addison. When the second offensive line came in after the game was no longer in doubt, Fedrice Binot played left tackle, with Dowrey at left guard, listed backup right guard Nate Devers at center with Cody Collins and Addison on the right side.
True sophomore Kendall Gant got his first significant playing time at safety with Lang joining Leggett on the sidelines. Gant and Taj Letman played all the significant snaps, with Gant recording his first three solo tackles and assist of the season after playing only special teams in the first two games. When the reserve defense came in for the end of the fourth quarter, junior college transfer Corey Neely saw his first action at safety for the Thundering Herd and was credited with breaking up a pass.
True freshman cornerback T.J. Griffin made his first Herd appearance Saturday. Griffin joined the program during the first week of the fall semester after not gaining entry to the University of Virginia. Red-shirt sophomore defensive end Aaron Plantt saw his first game action in his third year in the program.
Holliday sees many of his missing players returning soon. ‘Clint (Van Horn) is out maybe a week, so we should get him back pretty quick. We’ll get most of those guys back here tomorrow.’
Question 2: Did they get that penalty problem fixed?
Answer: Yes and No. After the Ohio game saw Marshall’s offensive line get called for five penalties (four holdings and a false start), Addison’s late holding penalty was the only foul called on the Herd O-line. There was also an offensive pass interference penalty, a defensive face mask penalty, and three blocking penalties on special team plays, including two on the same punt return.
Since there were three blocking penalties on kick returns against Ohio, Holliday was bothered by more occurring Saturday. ‘We’ve got to clean up a couple things on our special teams and our return game. We had a couple of penalties in our punt return game we shouldn’t have had; not that they shouldn’t have been called, but we spend a lot of time coaching that. We haven’t had an issue with penalties until last week.’
Question 3: Can we do anything to improve the offense?
Answer: After talking about it for a while, the staff moved senior Deandre Reaves to the starting slot receiver. Litton’s six yard completion to Reaves in the Herd’s first drive was lost on the offensive pass interference penalty, but Litton started the next drive with a 22 yard pass to Reaves. After Pittman ran for 13 yards, that drive ended as Reaves took a pass on the left side of the field and beat the Spartan defense to the right corner of the end zone for Marshall’s first touchdown.
Reaves said a perfectly thrown ball enabled him to score. ‘He (Litton) put it out there in stride for me. My man was kind of playing off of me. I just had to get in the hole and outrun him,’
The next series included two more catches by Reaves. The first was an 11 yard pass on the fourth play of the drive. After a 22 yard run by Johnson, Litton found a wide open Reaves down the middle of the field.
The freshman QB said he almost missed on the throw. ‘We saw there were two high safeties. I knew Reaves’ route on that one might be a bender or might be a takeoff. As soon as I saw the safety roll I knew I had Reaves. Actually when I threw it, you could kind of see by my body language I thought I overthrew him. He made a tremendous grab and made me look good on that play.’
For his part Reaves said he was just doing his job. ‘Our quarterbacks put the ball in the right place and it’s our job to no matter what come down with the ball. It’s either we catch it or nobody catches it. I just kind of jumped up and it kind of just fell in my hands.’
The Herd closes its non-conference schedule next week at Kent State. The Golden Flashes of the MAC are 1-2 after a 10-7 loss to Minnesota. They opened with a 52-3 loss at Illinois and followed that up with a 45-13 win over FCS team Delaware State.
