Marshall Football Weekly Report: Week One

It is once again that time of the year sports fan when the Thursday night games have passed and offer only a small taste of what is to come. For Herd Nation, those games on Thursday were nice, but who cares.

Herd faithful did not even bother wasting their time watching the Utes or getting caught up in the punch heard around the world fiasco. Marshall fans were hardly aware of any such event on Thursday night. Now before you go thinking it was because of some Appalachian-American stereotypical reason, it was not.

It was because those teams, while good programs in their own right are not Marshall University. After all as we tend to say, "If it ain't Marshall, it ain't..." well you know how that ends.

Thursday nights in Herd Country are the realm of the Coach's call-in show, then immediately following the program was a highly attended rally in downtown Huntington. Head Coach Mark Snyder, along with Defensive Coordinator Rick Minter, and a handful of other coaches played to the crowd outside the Keith-Albee.

In a confident fashion that sent many into flashbacks of the mid-nineties, each of the coaches boasted with a slight swagger calling for a seven-win season. I can think of no better way to start these previews off that on that note. The benchmark is seven wins, and in December we'll see who was right.

The Marshall Football season kicks off officially at 4:30 p.m. at Joan C. Edwards Stadium as the Herd take on Southern Illinois. While Southern Illinois has made a habit of competing with FBS teams in the past and has maintained a Top 20 ranking for more than eighty consecutive weeks, it won't be an easy task for them to knock off the Herd.

Memories of a loss to FCS New Hampshire only two seasons ago are still fresh in the minds of Marshall fans and players. No person is more aware of this than starting Quarterback Brian Anderson, who as a Freshman was the starter against New Hampshire.

Marshall looks to settle into it's new offensive as they begin the second year under Offensive Coordinator John Shannon, and plug in the new young talent. While the receivers for the Herd are young they are thought to be the most talented group under Coach Snyder's tutelage.

Southern Illinois on the other hand returns most of it's defensive and a soild chunk of starters from the offensive side of the ball. Most importantly returning for the Salukis, is Korey Lindsey who hauled in six of the team's 16 interceptions last year.

Marshall will have to remain vigilant as they face off against a team that is just as capable of upsetting the Herd as New Hampshire was in 2007. It will not be easy for the Salukis' however, as Marshall boasts talented athletes in all three phases.

In the end, Marshall will be too much for Southern Illinois and come out strong for the season with the 42-12 victory.