Ask any Mid-American Conference team who has been “King of the Hill” the last four years and they will say Marshall. The Thundering Herd have won the MAC Championship the last four years and have won three straight Motor City Bowls.
Its dominance in the MAC has even started rumors that Marshall may make the move to Conference USA in the near future.
The Thundering Herd has set a standard that coaches around the MAC are beginning to emulate. Some reports have said that Marshall’s dominance has greatly improved the league because the Thundering Herd has forced the MAC to get better. Teams are starting to make their way up the hill to knock the Herd off. A MAC team like No. 25 Toledo, which is ranked higher than the Herd, topped preseason prediction polls to win the MAC crown. Maybe one of the biggest questions of the year in the conference is, “Is the Thundering Herd starting to let its crown slip away?”
Bowling Green will be the first MAC team to test Marshall’s strength Saturday night when it goes into Huntington, W. Va. for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Falcons, who are 3-0 for the first time since 1985, are going full sprint up the hill to knock off the king. It’s an intriguing situation for BG coach Urban Meyer.
“I’m out of my shoes and I hope our team is too because this is an opportunity,” Meyer said. “If you want to go down and get recognition, you go down and beat Marshall.”
Recognition is something the Falcons are starting to get for the first time in a long while. BG received an AP Top 25 vote after knocking off Temple last week. A win over Marshall would surely turn more heads the Falcons’ way.
“It’s been nice to get some recognition,” senior receiver Kurt Gerling said. “Hopefully a couple more people will start saying that soon after we go down there and do something against Marshall. It brings confidence to the team.”
Marshall is 1-1 on the year. No one had a tougher test the first week of the season. The Thundering Herd was smashed by No. 1 Florida 49-14 in Gainesville. It recovered with a convincing 49-20 win at home over Massachusetts.
Leading the Thundering Herd attack is Heisman Trophy hopeful Byron Leftwich. The 6-foot 6-inch, 240-pound quarterback led the MAC with 3,358 passing yards last year. He also had 21 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He is already leading the MAC in most passing categories early this season. What is the Falcons’ plan to stop Leftwich?
“You stop the passing game with Brandon Hicks, Ryan Wingrove and Chris Glantzis [BG’s defensive line],” defensive captain Khary Campbell said. That’s part of the answer. We have to contain their wide receivers. I feel comfortable against their run.”
The Herd has several players nursing injuries, most apparent in their running game. Starting running back Franklin Wallace aggravated a hamstring injury he originally suffered against Florida in the UMass game. Backup Brandon Carey is nursing a tender ankle that has been bothersome since two-a-days. Chanston Rodgers, Marshall’s other runningback, suffered a season-ending knee injury against UMass in the first quarter. Marshall is now calling on Trod Buggs, a converted linebacker. Buggs rushed for 128 yards on 12 carries against UMass and was named the MAC Eastern Division Offensive Player of the Week.
The key for the Falcons will be not giving up the big play. Leftwich is a big-play quarterback who has a big-play receiver in sophomore Darius Watts. The 6-foot 2-inch sophomore averaged 138 yards receiving in his first two efforts of the season.
