Herd special teams playing unsung hero role

By Trace Johnson

            When thinking about Marshall’s football team so far this season, it’s easy to take for granted the work of the special teams unit. 

            Marshall’s special teams unit has been just that this season: special.  It’s been a constant with a team that has had continuity issues this season. 

            Whether it’s the kickoff team, the punt team or the field goal team, the Herd’s special teams unit has had continuous success for the team so far this season. 

            Marshall’s redshirt sophomore kickoff specialist Amoreto Curraj took over the kickoff duties for the Herd in his freshman season in 2013 and immediately had success.  Curraj finished the 2013 season with 52 touchbacks, which was fourth nationally and a Marshall record. 

            To put that in perspective, Marshall’s football program only had 26 touchbacks from 2007-2012.  Curraj redshirted in 2014 due to back and groin injuries, but since returning in 2015, he has picked up where he left off. 

            Through seven games this season, Curraj has recorded 25 touchbacks.  And Marshall’s kickoff coverage team has limited the opposition to just 17.5 yards per kick return, which is good for fifteenth nationally. 

            The Herd’s kickoff return game has been led by senior wide receiver Deandre Reaves and Reaves has become one of the best kick returners in Marshall history over his career.

            Reaves has set the school record for single-season return yards in each of the last two years, with 924 return yards in 2013 and 931 return yards in 2014. 

He currently has 2,206 career kick return yards, which has broken Ray Crisp’s previous school record of 1,966 yards from 1975-1978.  The Herd’s kick return unit as a whole is eight nationally, averaging 27.8 yards per kick return.

            Senior punter Tyler Williams has been among the best punters in Marshall history since his freshman season in 2012.  Williams currently averages 44.1 yards per punt over the course of his career, and if that holds up, it would break Pat Velarde’s career school record of 43.4 yards per punt set from 1982-1983. 

            Since 2012, Williams has had 55 punts of 50 or more yards and 12 punts of 60 or more yards.  So far in 2015, he has 22 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, which ranks first nationally. 

            Williams’ stellar play led him to be named a captain for the Herd’s most recent game against Florida Atlantic University, becoming the first Marshall player under head coach Doc Holliday to be named a captain. 

            “He’s (Williams) such a great kid that works extremely hard,” Holliday said in his weekly press conference on Oct. 13.  “He’ll play a long time if he’s got that kind of ability, which I think he does.” 

            Sophomore Nick Smith earned the job of starting field goal kicker in fall camp and so far this season, he has literally been perfect.  Smith has connected on all eight of his field goal attempts and all 27 of his extra point attempts, making him 35 of 35 on all kicks. 

Only four kickers in the FBS have made more kicks without missing than Smith so far this season.  The Herd has made 130 straight extra points dating back to Nov. 2, 2013 and 15 straight field goals dating back to Nov. 22, 2014. 

Holliday said the special teams’ ability in the field position battle has helped out his team.  “That’s what special teams is all about,” Holliday said Tuesday.  “It’s about flipping the field position, it’s about creating field position and that’s the one thing we’ve been able to do because of our kickoff with Curraj, because of our punt with Tyler (Williams) and because of our kickoff return with Reaves and that unit.”

“We’ve been able to win that battle with field position and that’s helped our offense because we’ve struggled a little bit on offense, but we’ve been able to manage because of the field position we’ve gained because of our special teams.” 

The Herd’s special teams unit has been so good this season, you can make the case that it alone won the team a game.  Without Reaves’ 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Kent State in Week 4, does the Herd muster enough strength to send the game to overtime?

Marshall’s offense struggled against the Golden Flashes, and without Reaves’ kickoff return, Marshall would not have had the 22 points needed to send the game to overtime. The Herd won the game 36-29 in double overtime thanks in large part because of Reaves and the kickoff return unit. 

Marshall’s special teams unit looks to continue to be special Saturday against the North Texas Mean Green for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff from Joan C. Edwards Stadium for homecoming.  

Herd tramples Owls behind Foster's breakout game

By Trace Johnson

Sophomore Hyleck Foster showed signs Saturday of possibly becoming the next breakout star at running back for Marshall. 

The former wide receiver ran for 122 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown to lead the Herd (6-1, 3-0) on the ground in its 33-17 win at Florida Atlantic University Saturday in the team’s first Conference USA road game of the season.

Foster played in his first game at running back for Marshall while filling in for Devon Johnson and Remi Watson, the Herd’s top two running backs who both left the game with injury.  Foster was previously a standout running back in high school, but was recruited to Marshall as a wide receiver. 

           

Marshall got the ball to start the game and wasted little time finding the end zone when on the second play from scrimmage, Johnson broke free for a career-long 75-yard touchdown run to put the Herd in front 7-0 just 17 seconds into the game.  Johnson left the game after only three carries with an injury and did not return.    

            

FAU (1-5, 1-2) answered on its next possession with a 14-play, 65-yard drive that was capped off with a Greg Joseph 23-yard field goal to cut the Herd’s lead to 7-3 with 8:39 remaining in the first quarter. 

           

After an exchange of possessions, Marshall punter Tyler Williams pinned the Owls deep in their own end when his 54-yard punt was downed at the FAU 2-yard line. 

           

Marshall’s defense took full advantage when linebacker D.J. Hunter and defensive lineman Nyquan Harris combined to tackle FAU running back Jay Warren in the end zone for a safety to extend the Herd’s lead to 9-3 with 1:36 remaining in the first quarter. 

            

The Herd’s offense got the ball following the safety and on the first play of the second quarter, Watson found the end zone from 1 yard out to extend Marshall’s lead to 16-3 with 14:55 remaining in the second quarter.  Watson left the game in the third quarter with an injury and did not return. 

           

Following a defensive stand, Marshall’s offense went on a 17-play, 78-yard drive that took up 7:51 of game time.  But the drive ended in disaster when quarterback Chase Litton was intercepted by FAU cornerback Ocie Rose and he returned the interception 95-yards for a touchdown to cut the Herd’s lead to 16-10 with 4:35 remaining in the second quarter. 

            

The Herd’s offense responded with a 6-play, 65-yard drive that was capped off by a Litton touchdown pass to wide receiver Davonte Allen from 22 yards out to extend Marshall’s lead to 23-10 with 2:05 remaining in the second quarter.  Marshall took its 23-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

            

The Herd’s offense found the end zone in the third quarter in a big way when Foster broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run to extend Marshall’s lead to 30-10 with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter. 

           

FAU answered the Marshall touchdown quickly when running Trey Rodriquez found the end zone from 2 yards out to cut Marshall’s lead to 30-17 with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter. 

             

As the fourth quarter began, FAU’s offense was driving.  But on fourth-and-9 from the Marshall 20-yard line, quarterback Jason Driskel’s pass was intercepted by Marshall cornerback Rodney Allen to set the Herd’s offense up at its own 25-yard line. 

            

The Herd’s offense followed with an 11-play, 59-yard drive that was capped off by a Nick Smith 33-yard field goal to extend Marshall’s lead to 33-17 with 9:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.  After a defensive stand, Marshall’s offense ran out the final 8:07 of game time to secure the Herd’s 33-17 victory over FAU. 

           

Johnson finished with three carries for 83 yards and one touchdown, Watson finished with 11 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown and true freshman Keion Davis finished with 11 carries for 59 yards to help pace the Herd on the ground.   Marshall had season highs in total yards and rushing yards with 500 and 326 respectively. 

           

Litton completed 17 of 28 passes for 174 yards with one touchdown and one interception.  Deandre Reaves led all Marshall wide receivers with seven catches for 55 yards.  Safety Tiquan Lang led the Herd in tackles with 10. 

           

With the injury issues of Johnson, Watson and fellow running back Tony Pittman, Foster looks to get more reps at the running back position in the coming weeks. 

            

Marshall returns to action Saturday against the North Texas Mean Green for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff at Joan C. Edwards Stadium for homecoming.  

C-USA team coverage lacks depth

By Trace Johnson

Most of the stories by the various beat writers of Conference USA teams focused primarily on their certain team and did not give an outlook on the league as a whole. 

There were stories included that focused on weekly award winners and things of that nature. 

The coverage of the league by the teams’ various beat writers was weak.  There were too many details left out and most of the news outlets did not branch out far enough. 

From the Florida Atlantic University standpoint, the Boca Raton Tribune’s coverage was probably the weakest of all the different teams.  Their most recent story published was on Sept. 11 and if you were interested in learning about FAU football, that website would give you little to no information. 

Only about half of the various teams’ coverage included weekly award winners and things of that nature, which would ideally be something to include in a beat writers’ coverage of a team. 

The most surprising was outside of The El Paso Times, no other publication gave an opinion on the league so far through the first half of the season.  The Herald-Dispatch included a column about the Group of 5 getting no respect, but that doesn’t specifically focus on C-USA. 

The majority of the stories were focused on the team’s upcoming opponent and/or the team’s previous game.  None of the publications featured conference standings either. 

Overall, the information provided by the various news outlets was too vague and did not tell the reader enough about the team they were covering.  It was disappointing that if you are a fan of C-USA, you couldn’t find much coverage of the league from its various beat writers. 

The El Paso Times, the Bowling Green Daily News and The Herald-Dispatch were the best news outlets of the different C-USA teams, but even they could use improvements. 

Throughout the first half of the season, C-USA has been a solid Group of 5 football conference.  In the 2014 football season, C-USA had only one win over Power 5 competition. 

So far this season, the league has two wins over Power 5 competition already.  Western Kentucky defeated Vanderbilt of the SEC and Marshall defeated Purdue of the Big Ten. 

Several C-USA teams have played other Power 5 teams tough as well.  Middle Tennessee narrowly lost at Illinois of the Big Ten, 27-25.  MTSU also lost at home to Vanderbilt 17-13 and held a 13-3 lead in the fourth quarter. 

WKU’s only loss of the season was a narrow defeat at Indiana of the Big Ten by a score of 38-35. 

Louisiana Tech had a narrow defeat at Kansas State of the Big XII by a score of 39-33 in triple overtime. 

WKU was the preseason pick to win the East Division of C-USA and the team has lived up to the hype so far this season, sitting at 5-1 overall and 3-0 in C-USA play.  Marshall, the reigning C-USA Champion, is neck and neck with the Hilltoppers in the East and the team sits at 5-1 overall and 2-0 in C-USA play. 

La Tech was the preseason pick to win the West Division of C-USA and through the first six games of the season, the team is currently tied for first place in the division with the Rice Owls.           

The league has several quality teams, but the overall perception could improve.  C-USA does not get enough national coverage and the league is not respected enough nationally.  

Herd rules the Monarchs, 27-7

- By Trace Johnson

The Marshall University football team used a strong defensive performance to down Old Dominion University Saturday 27-7 at a rainy Joan C. Edwards Stadium in both teams’ Conference USA opener. 

Marshall’s defense held ODU (2-3, 0-1) to just 285 total yards and 117 of those yards came through the first three quarters. 

“I thought defensively we played tremendous,” Marshall head coach Doc Holliday said.  “We did some really good things on special teams again, and I thought offensively we grew up a little bit in the second half and did some good things.” 

The Herd (4-1, 1-0) received the opening kickoff, but Hyleck Foster fumbled and the Monarchs recovered at the Marshall 37-yard line. 

Marshall’s defense responded nicely, however, and on fourth-and-7 from the 34-yard line, the Herd forced an incomplete pass to give its offense the ball back.

The Herd’s offense moved the ball on its next possession until running back Tony Pittman fumbled inside the ODU 10-yard line and the Monarchs recovered at its own 7. 

After an exchange of punts, Marshall’s defense came up big when Gary Thompson recovered a fumble after sacking ODU quarterback Shuler Bentley.  The Herd’s offense took over at the Monarchs’ 10-yard line. 

And just one play later, Marshall quarterback Chase Litton connected with wide receiver Deon-Tay McManus for a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the Herd in front 7-0 with 5:14 remaining in the first quarter. 

On ODU’s next offensive possession, Marshall cornerback Corey Tindal intercepted Bentley on first down and set the Herd’s offense up at its own 43-yard line. 

The Herd’s offense went on its most impressive drive of the game early in the second quarter and after a 13-play, 85-yard drive, Pittman found the end zone from 1 yard out to extend Marshall’s lead to 14-0 with 6:06 remaining in the second quarter. 

Marshall’s defense forced another fumble on the Monarchs’ next offensive possession.  Linebacker Shawn Petty forced the fumble and freshman defensive lineman Ryan Bee, who finished with 12 tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss, recovered at the Herd’s 30-yard line. 

“I come to work every day, and seeing it pay off out there is the biggest reward,” Bee said.  “When your time comes, you’ve got to step up to the plate and make a play, and that’s what I was trying to do out there.” 

The second quarter came to a close with Marshall holding a 14-0 lead.  Mid-way through the third quarter, the Herd’s offense found the end zone again when Litton connected with tight end Ryan Yurachek from 7 yards out to extend Marshall’s lead to 21-0 with 8:10 remaining in the third quarter. 

Following a defensive stand, Marshall’s offense embarked on a 15-play, 46-yard drive that was capped off by a Nick Smith field goal from 37 yards out to extend the Herd’s lead to 24-0 with 13:35 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Marshall’s defense forced another stop on ODU’s next possession and the offense turned it into another field goal when Smith connected on a 39-yard field goal to extend the lead to 27-0 with 11:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

The Monarchs’ offense finally found the end zone for the first time, after most of Marshall’s starting defenders had been removed from the game, when running back Ray Lawry took it in from 10 yards out to cut the Herd’s lead to 27-7 with 2:53 remaining in the game. 

Safety Kendall Gant recorded his first career interception on the final play of the game to set the final score at 27-7. 

Litton completed 21 of 35 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.  Pittman finished with 32 carries for 127 yards and one touchdown to lead the Herd on the ground. 

Yurachek finished with six catches for 63 yards and one touchdown and Deandre Reaves finished with 6 catches for 70 yards to both lead all receivers.  Linebacker Evan McKelvey led the Herd in tackles with 13. 

Petty, who played in his first game at Marshall following his transfer from the University of Maryland, finished with eight tackles, one tackle for loss and one forced fumble.  He said it felt good to finally make his Marshall debut. 

“It felt good to be out there back on defense,” he said.  “We had a great performance all around, so it felt good.” 

Holliday said it was important for the team to start C-USA play on a high note.  “The important thing is we’re 1-0 in the league and we’ve got a great challenge here Friday night where we’ve got the opportunity again to showcase our program just like the Purdue game,” he said.  “We’ll be the only game on.” 

The Herd has a short week leading up to its showdown with the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles Friday.  “No days off,” Petty said.  “We’re going to prepare for Friday like we did for this Saturday and it’s a shorter time, so we’ve got to work a little bit harder.” 

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for us to showcase our football program, our community and our school, and I know our players are looking forward to it,” Holliday said.  “We’ve got a short week, so coaches and players have to get back to work tonight.” 

Marshall and Southern Miss kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday from Joan C. Edwards Stadium and the game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.