Thundering Herd fans looking for their team's first victory of the season shouldn't pen in a "W" for Saturday's contest against a I-AA (I will never use the term FCS) opponent, the New Hampshire Wildcats.
UNH rolls into Huntington coming off of a 41-24 loss at Colonial Athletic Association rival James Madison, but is still quite capable of knocking off a I-A team.
Just ask Northwestern.
The Wildcats from Durham, NH embarrassed the Wildcats from Evanston 34-17 to open their 2006 season. New Hampshire made a run into the I-AA playoffs, losing by seven in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up UMass.
Oh yeah, they also return quarterback Ricky Santos, who won the Walter Payton Award, I-AA's equivalent of the Heisman.
So without further ado, here are Marshall's five keys to avoiding the upset:
1. Avoid the hangover.
The hangover is an amazing trend in college football.
A team coming off a huge game almost always comes out flat the following week, especially against a team perceived to be weak.
Marshall played their hearts out against West Virginia last week, hanging with the #3 Mountaineers well into the fourth quarter in front of a Joan C. Edwards Stadium record 40,383 fans. (Surprisingly enough, the stadium's inaugural 1991 game against New Hampshire held the attendance record for over a decade.)
Against UNH, the Thundering Herd needs to take some Advil and come out with the same intensity it did a week ago, as difficult as that may be.
2. Santos, Santos, Santos!
It's strange but true:
The Herd's biggest test in defending the passing game so far this season will come against the I-AA Wildcats.
While Miami and West Virginia pounded the ball on the ground, New Hampshire certainly will not. Ricky Santos flung the ball 47 times last week against JMU, completing 36 passes for 353 yards in the losing effort. He will put up yards on Marshall's relatively young secondary, but the key for the Thundering Herd is to slow him down and avoid the big play.
MU will certainly miss Albert McClellan in this one. His presence alone could have wreaked havoc on the Wildcats' passing game. Defensive ends John Jacobs and Ryland Wilson will need to step up and help the secondary by putting pressure on Santos.
3. The other passing game.
While the Wildcats will start an award-winning senior at quarterback, Marshall will likely start redshirt freshman Brian Anderson. It will be Anderson's first career start as he fills in for senior Bernard Morris, who will probably sit out with a turf toe injury.
Anderson has a few series under his belt from the Herd's first two games, but he looked rather unimpressive in both. His stat line reads 4 for 10 with 31 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception.
Although New Hampshire's defense is not even close to Miami or WVU's, Marshall will still need the freshman to grow up in a hurry.
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about 1 year ago
Forgive me for my relative ignorance when it comes to the Conference USA, but with the likes of Southern Miss, Memphis, Tulsa, UCF, and the emerging ECU programs, does Marshall even have a legitimate shot at winning the CUSA this year? It appears they don't if they have to worry about a I-AA (albeit with a stud quarterback) team beating them and got spanked by an above average Miami team a couple weeks ago. With the likes of Bernard Morris and Darius Passmore (another great name), the Herd should be able to pass the ball, but it seems like they really miss Bradshaw and the defense is suspect.
about 1 year ago
I've always had a soft spot for the herd after UCF beat them in 05 and we tore down the goal posts, and then we beat them again last year on ESPN with that retard Matthew McCoghna-whatever on the sidelines. Go Knights! Beat Texas!
about 1 year ago
Alex
Your pre-game surmise was pretty accurate. And I thank you for not underestimating New Hampshire as has been the case in precceeding years prior to New Hampshire's upsets over Northwestern and Rutgers.
I am a season ticket holder to New Hampshire Football and travel around New England to away games as well.
It appears to me that what has happened in each one of UNH's upsets as that the opposing 1-A team just couldn't bring themselves to the level needed to beat a very good 1-AA program. It shouldn't happen. Like you say, the higher Division has too much depth and too much size and speed. But if you let an explosive team like New Hampshire off the matt early, anything can happen.
I thought we were asking and expecting too much from New Hampshire Quarterback Ricky Santos this year but so far he continues to do it all.
Pete, Rye, New Hampshire
about 1 year ago
I guess your comment
"If the game is still close in the final period, the Herd will need to use its depth to push around a tired Wildcat offensive line to disrupt Santos. If they can wear down New Hampshire's defense, Marshall will pound Marshall (four years of this name, I love it) and keep the ball out of Santos's hands."
was only 180 degrees off--it was UNH which pounded the ball for 6 minutes against Marshall's porous defense to clinch the victory for our inferior team as you call UNH
about 1 year ago
Peter, first of all, congrats on the win. You're exactly right about the I-A team not being able to bring themselves to the level they need to. It disappointed me that a team with Marshall's I-AA background couldn't understand the danger a top I-AA team can present. The timing of the game couldn't be worse either having just come off one of the most emotional home games in Herd history.
But that's all the time I'm going to spend making excuses for Marshall. New Hampshire played an unbelievable game and deserves all the credit. Santos was great as expected, but the defense was what surprised me. I know our backup QB Anderson did not play well, but for UNH to shut down the run game enough to shut us out in the first half was amazing. The composure the team showed once Marshall got within 6 twice and the crowd was really into it was also impressive.
Good luck the rest of the way. I'll be rooting for New Hampshire to take home the I-AA title.
For the anonymous UNH fan, most anybody would assume that I-A depth will wear down a I-AA team at the end of a game. For whatever reason, Marshall wasn't able to wear the Wildcats down. As you can tell from the rest of my article, I gave UNH much more credit than the average Herd fan did.
about 1 year ago
David, I know it's going to sound like I'm wearing green-tinted glasses, but I would give Marshall a shot to compete for the Conference USA title, even after the New Hampshire loss. New Hampshire could probably compete in C-USA, and there is just too much parity in the conference (especially the East) to rule out a team before conference play gets underway.
You are right about the defense. The secondary is very young, and our biggest strength was erased when we lost DE Albert McClellan, last year's C-USA defensive player of the year, in the preseason. Arguably our best DT Montel Glasco was also lost for the year in the UNH game. Bradshaw's departure hasn't hurt that much thanks to Morris' offseason improvement, and the emergence of Passmore and Edmonson at receiver.
Of course, Marshall's odds of winning the conference are not great, but I just think it's too early to count them out. The one thing pointing in their favor is the schedule. The best two teams in the East division, ECU and Southern Miss, have to come to Huntington. I know it didn't look like it Saturday, but for whatever reason, the Herd always has a huge homefield advantage.
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