Marshall Football Weekly Report: Week Two

Week Two of the college season, and things are off and running headlong toward the post-season. Like a young toddler year's season has bumped it's head on the coffee table a couple times, but for the most part it has shaped up as expected.

Marshall University almost added it's name to the list of things that went wrong over the long weekend. Right below that haymaker thrown in the Boise State game and BYU continuing to play above expectations.

Yes, Marshall almost proved us all wrong when everyone asked the question, can this team really lose to another I-AA school?

I know my nomenclature is wrong and they are supposed to be called Football Championship Subdivision, but that's not important to the point.

The point is the Herd almost left the weekend with a loss to a team that they quite frankly under estimated.

The Marshall defense has long been a staple of the program and over the past few seasons has been the silver lining in the vast acid rainstorm that is called Marshall Football. However, on the first Saturday of the season they were no where to be found.

Well, that isn't completely fair. Albert McClellen, Mario Harvey and some others on the defensive side had good performances. Not great, just good and that is not good enough from those players who are expected to be stars for coordinator Rick Minter.

After giving up over 300 yards to a supposedly inferior Southern Illinois team, the defense nearly gave away the contest to the Salukis on a hail mary that quite frankly should have been caught.

The Marshall defense had more in common with a slice of swiss cheese than a Division I football program during the game and unless something happens, it's going to be a very long year.

Next up for the Herd is a road contest against Virginia Tech who will be looking to rebound after a loss in Week One. It will be the home opener at Lane Stadium, and the Hokies are calling for a white-out and even rolling out a special one-off helmet for the game.

The last time Marshall made the trip to Blacksburg was in 2005 with a quarterback who was much more athletic in Bernard Morris. The last time before that was 2002 with an even better quarterback, arguably one of the best college QBs this decade, Byron Leftwich.

On both occasions those quarterbacks also had the benefit of better more tested defensive units. In both instances Marshall was sent back to Huntington disappointed.

Marshall has sent better units to Blacksburg and gotten no positives from the encounters. Things won't be changing Saturday in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Final score of this drubbing, Marshall 14 - VaTech 35.