Published: September 29, 2008 11:53 pm         

Kelly expects more competitive Herd this time around

Marshall’s safety for a 2-0 lead was about the only good thing that happened for the Thundering Herd in last year’s game at Cincinnati. The Bearcats scored 26 straight points and won easily, 40-14.

Cincinnati returns the trip Friday, visiting Marshall at 8 p.m. for a nationally televised ESPN game. Second-year coach Brian Kelly is expecting a more competitive opponent this time.

“They are a much-improved football team,” Kelly said Monday on the Big East coaches teleconference. “The first thing that stands out is their defense. They have done a nice job of mixing things up. They’ve still got a lot of young players on their football team, and I think Rick (Minter, the Herd’s defensive coordinator and former Cincy head coach) has done a good job of putting them in a position to succeed.”

Kelly, who led the Bearcats to the Top 25 rankings and a bowl win last year, thinks Marshall (3-2) still is improving on offense. The Herd gained just 158 yards in last Saturday’s 27-3 loss at West Virginia.

“I think they are still trying to search and find themselves,” Kelly said. “They’ve got, obviously, some big-play players. (Receiver Darius) Passmore has shown himself to be a big-time player. I think they probably want a little bit more consistency at the quarterback position.”

Mark Cann struggled at WVU, and overall this season is 76-of-150 for 943 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.

At least Cann is entrenched as the Herd’s starter. The Bearcats (3-1) are holding a two-man audition during this short week after losing basically their third quarterback.

Starter Tony Pike was lost for the year Saturday when he broke his left (non-throwing) forearm at Akron. He was the replacement for Dustin Grutza, who started until breaking his leg Sept. 6 at Oklahoma.

Kelly said he had hoped Ben Mauk would be granted one more year of eligibility based on the injury while playing at Wake Forest in 2006, but the NCAA ruled against him.

“We’re down to our fourth quarterback,” Kelly said. “It’s not a situation I have (experienced) in 18 years of coaching, but they don’t give points for complaining. We’ve got to get ready to go and find a way to get it done.”

Either Zach Collaros or Chazz Anderson — both redshirt freshmen — will be named the starter later this week. Collaros took over for Pike when he got hurt and had one completion and 18 yards rushing.

— E-mail: gfauber@

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