Published: October 12, 2008 11:43 pm         

Herd ready to focus on conference play

After a few days of focusing on itself, Marshall began preparing over the weekend for the second half of the season.

The Thundering Herd used its bye week to get back to the basics after losses to Big East members West Virginia and Cincinnati left them at 3-3.

“It’s a chance to go back to fundamentals,” coach Mark Snyder said last Monday. “We’re not working on schemes or anything like that. We’re going back to work on us.”

Work on Alabama-Birmingham, the Herd’s next opponent, began Saturday. Marshall travels to Legion Field this Saturday for a 4 p.m. Eastern kickoff.

Marshall is 2-0 in Conference USA play and leads the East Division, a half game ahead of East Carolina and Central Florida. Getting three more wins to attain bowl eligibility, as well as winning the division, are the team’s focal points for the rest of the year.

“Our goals are still in front of us,” Snyder said.

It begins with UAB (1-6, 0-3) on Saturday.

The Blazers are coming off a 45-20 loss to Houston last Thursday. UAB led 20-3 at halftime before the Cougars exploded in the second half.

“We had an opportunity to have a couple more touchdowns and couldn’t get it done,” UAB coach Neil Callaway said after the game. “Congratulations to Houston, they won the football game and made the plays, but it’s all about us. It’s about us making mistakes and not giving ourselves a chance to win.

“We came back out in the second half and made enough mistakes to obviously cost us the ballgame.”

The Blazers are led by quarterback Joe Webb, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior. Webb was 24-of-40 for 234 yards and a touchdown against the Cougars. He also threw three interceptions.

On the year, Webb is 131-of-228 for 1,509 yards, eight touchdowns and nine picks. He also is the Blazers’ top rusher with 588 yards and six touchdowns on 116 carries.

Marshall has won all three games against UAB since joining C-USA in 2005.

— E-mail: gfauber@

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