Published: October 14, 2008 11:55 pm         

Marshall's Schofield may start at center vs. Blazers

Marshall coach Mark Snyder suggested last week that changes were possible along the offensive line.

They could become reality this weekend.

Snyder said Tuesday at his weekly press conference that Chad Schofield “will probably start” at center in place of Brian Leggett when the Thundering Herd visits UAB at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Schofield is a 6-foot-4, 316-pound sophomore who did play a snap last year as a redshirt freshman.

Schofield’s supplanting of Leggett is not the only change in the works.

“You will see a little more of Jimmy Rogers at right guard and Daniel Baldridge at right tackle,” Snyder said.

Baldridge, a big 6-9, 310-pound junior, has exhibited loads of potential but hasn’t been able to bring it to the field consistently.

“I thought Daniel seized the moment this (bye) week,” Snyder said. “He had some great practices.”

The offensive line had been praised after allowing just one sack through the Herd’s first four games. But Cincinnati got to quarterback Mark Cann three times in Marshall’s 33-10 loss Oct. 3.

Snyder said changes are only being considered for the moment.

“We’ll still roll them like we’ve been doing,” he said. “Not a whole lot of shakeup.”

Snyder reiterated that the bye week was beneficial from a personnel standpoint.

“We were healthy going in, so we cannot talk about health,” he said. “I hope that the second- and third-team players, that we wore them out. They got a lot of good live reps. Hopefully we got those guys a little closer to being game ready as we go down the stretch.”

He also hopes the week off helped Cann, who has had two straight bad games.

“He got a lot of reps this week,” Snyder said. “Maybe the game will slow down for him a little bit. (There is) not as much speed in his face and things of that nature.”