Published: November 21, 2008 11:33 pm      

Urgency begins today at Rice for Thundering Herd

The first game of Marshall’s win-or-go-home final stretch begins today.

The Thundering Herd (4-6, 3-3 Conference USA) visits West Division juggernaut Rice (7-3, 5-1) at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time in Houston. The season has boiled down quite easily for Marshall: Losing is not an option.

Marshall must win today and next week at home against Tulsa to secure bowl eligibility for the first time under coach Mark Snyder. In order to pull off that double, the Herd will have to find a way to slow two of the conference’s most explosive offenses.

To put into perspective, the Owls are allowing 36.7 points per game — next-to-last in the league — and are still in a three-way tie for the best record in the West.

“That tells you the kind of offensive output they are having at this point in time,” Snyder said.

Whereas the Rice offense is a veteran group, paced by quarterback Chase Clement and wide receivers Jarett Dillard and James Casey, the defense is less experienced.

“They are young, but they move around quite a bit,” Snyder said. “They bring a lot of heat and are very multiple on defense. Just give them a chance because they are young.”

Marshall’s defense has played well the last three games, led by linebackers Maurice Kitchens and Mario Harvey and defensive end Michael Janac. But slowing Clement and Co. would be quite a task.

Rice is averaging 462 yards of total offense, with Clement averaging 311.6 yards through the air and 51 on the ground, good for eighth in C-USA.

Dillard, a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist, averages a league-leading 109.3 yards per game and is tops with 17 touchdowns. Casey is No. 1 in the conference in receptions per game (8.5) and has 1,007 yards and nine scores.

One of the things Snyder has enjoyed about this year’s defense is its depth, which gives him more personnel options as opponents’ attacks change. After back-to-back games against bigger opponents in East Carolina and Central Florida, the Herd defense will have to change gears against Rice.

“They are a little different animal,” Snyder said. “We will have to put more speed on the field because they make you defend east to west and north to south. They do a good job of spreading the whole field and making you defend it. That’s why they are putting so many points on the board.

“We will probably go with a little smaller lineup this week like we did against Houston (a 37-23 win) and see what we can get done.”