By Gary Fauber
Darius Marshall insisted he was ready to play last Saturday against SMU. So convincing was his argument that Marshall head coach Mark Snyder labeled his availability as a “game-time decision.”
Ultimately, Snyder decided not to play his star running back, one week after he left against Southern Miss with a left ankle injury.
Of course, the Thundering Herd did well without him. Martin Ward and Terrell Edwards-Maye both went over 100 yards in a 34-31 win.
“I just pulled (Marshall) out and made sure that he’s a little better next week,” Snyder said after the game. “We feel pretty good with what we’ve got going. If he’s back, great. If he’s not back, great, too.”
It looks like Marshall will be able to play Saturday when the Herd (6-5, 4-3) visits UTEP in its regular season finale. The team is bowl-eligible, but a seventh win would solidify that.
Marshall remains in the top 20 nationally in rushing, averaging 117.1 yards per game. He has 1,054 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“I think he will be ready to go,” Snyder said. “We will rotate guys, though. It depends on who has the hot hand.”
If recent trends continue, Snyder may have a three-headed monster at running back.
Marshall will get the bulk of the carries if healthy, but Ward and Edwards-Maye looked like capable complements against the Mustangs.
“It is all about confidence,” Snyder said. “We would have liked to put them in as the year has gone along. You have to go with the guy who has the experience. And at times you have to force-feed yourself. The opportunity arose where we had to force-feed these guys, and they performed.”
Ward ran for 136 yards and a touchdown against SMU, while Edwards-Maye finished with 113 and a score. That’s a far cry from their performance in the season opener against Southern Illinois. Edwards-Maye, making his first career start, rushed for just 28 yards, and Ward added 54.
Snyder said not much can be read into that game.
“It was the first game of the year,” he said. “You can’t just say, ‘They didn’t play well.’ It was the first game of the season. They had jitters. The line wasn’t all there yet, and we were playing a pretty decent defense. So there are a lot of things that go into that.
“But seeing them in practice, I was excited to go see them play. I knew they had fresh legs and that helps at this time of the year.”
— E-mail: gfauber@
register-herald.com
