Part of a continuing series examining the Power 5 and top Group of 5 teams for the 2018 college football season. Other entries by conference: ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC | G5/Independents
What a difference a year makes for Marshall.
A year ago at this time, the Thundering Herd were coming off a stunning 3-9 season in 2016 after winning 33 games from 2013 to 2015. Three consecutive double-digit-win seasons, three bowl wins and the school’s first top-25 finish since 2002 had moved Marshall back into the upper echelon of Group of 5 teams. But from 2015 to 2016, Marshall’s scoring defense dropped from No. 10 nationally to No. 107 (35.3 points per game), and the offense finished 80th (26.4 points per game).
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Head coach Doc Holliday’s message to players was simple: “They either had to get a hell of a lot better or be replaced.”
Some starters from the year before did get replaced, and the Thundering Herd rebounded with an 8-5 season and a New Mexico Bowl win in 2017. The defense jumped back up to No. 17 in points allowed (19.9) and the offense was serviceable behind quarterback Chase Litton (3,115 passing yards) and two 800-yard rushers in Tyler King and Keion Davis.
The bounce-back year also came with a starting lineup featuring few seniors, leading to optimism and high expectations for 2018.
“Anytime you can go to a bowl game and win it, it carries into your offseason, guys have a bounce in their step and feel good about themselves,” Holliday told The Athletic. “We have a lot of guys back. I think (about) 20 starters. We’re excited, just working to develop some depth.”
Marshall is a program with a lot of history and pride, including two FCS national championships in the 1990s and six conference titles since moving to the FBS in 1997. The Herd seem primed to compete for the Conference USA title, but postseason changes have led to questions. Litton declared for the NFL Draft, Holliday made a switch at offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator Chuck Heater joined Maryland’s coaching staff.
It’s a team with a lot of familiar faces coming back, but new leadership in key spots.
“You want to continue to develop the people you have,” Holliday said. “You don’t stay the same. You get better or get worse. We work hard on not becoming complacent, because at the end of the day, we didn’t win a championship. The goal is not to win eight games. We expect to compete for championships. That didn’t happen a year ago.”
Biggest on-field question
There’s really only one major question here, and it’s a big one: Who replaces Litton?
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The quarterback surprised a lot of people with his decision to enter the NFL Draft, including his head coach.
“I was,” Holliday initially said. “Nothing surprises me these days, (but) I was surprised. I wish him the best. He’s a great young kid, talented guy, so we’ll see how it goes for him. To say I wasn’t surprised, that wasn’t the case.”
Litton went undrafted and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.
To fill the spot, third-year sophomore Garet Morrell and redshirt freshman Isaiah Green competed in spring practice, and incoming graduate transfer Alex Thomson will join the team soon from Wagner. With so many starters back across the depth chart, the biggest opening is the biggest question.
“Gotta have a quarterback,” Holliday said. “That’s where it all starts. We had (Rakeem) Cato around for those years, then Chase. When you’ve got that quarterback, you’ve got a chance. You feel good about the guys, but until you see them in a game, that’s when it counts. The biggest question for us, without question, is quarterback. Will he provide the leadership and intangibles necessary at that position?”
Depth chart analysis
Quarterbacks: Chase Litton threw every pass for the Thundering Herd last season, and there is not much experience among the two in-house candidates to replace him. Isaiah Green, a 6-foot-2, 211-pound three-star prospect from Georgia, redshirted last season. Redshirt sophomore Garet Morrell (6-3, 228 pounds) played in five games in 2016 and started two, completing 33 of 67 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions before sitting out 2017.
“But he’s still a young quarterback,” new offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey said of Morrell. “Isaiah, this is his first spring ball, so everything he sees, it’s the first time he’s seeing it. I really like what they did grasping the offense and understanding it. The thing I’m most impressed with, when a mistake was made in practice 1, we quickly fixed it for practice 2. That’s my biggest thing with young quarterbacks.”
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The spotlight will be on the new arrival, Alex Thomson. Despite playing in only two games last year at Wagner because of a shoulder injury, he was a highly sought-after graduate transfer, receiving interest from Tennessee, Iowa State and others. Litton’s departure opened the door at Marshall. The 6-5, 225-pound Thomson has passed for nearly 4,000 yards in his career and has two years of eligibility remaining. At Sam Houston State last year, Cramsey’s quarterback, Jeremiah Briscoe, attempted nearly 600 passes. Personnel might determine how much that run-pass ratio changes.
Running backs: Marshall ranked No. 86 in yards per carry a year ago, but the good news is the Herd return 94 percent of their rushing yards and their top three running backs. Tyler King led the team with 820 yards, 5.2 yards per carry and seven touchdowns as a freshman, and Keion Davis had 812 yards, 4.5 yards per carry and six touchdowns as a junior. That two-headed attack will continue, and Cramsey likes his options.
“We can go probably four-deep,” he said. “Tyler King and Keion Davis come back as special players. Tyler, we can move around. Then we have Anthony Anderson, a 240-pound running back. When he’s going downhill, he’s tough to bring down. Freshman Brenden Knox had a good spring for us. We’ve been able to get him a lot of reps. He’s 220 pounds and can move. I feel really good about that room, as well.”
Wide receivers/tight ends: Beside Litton, the only other notable offensive loss from 2017 is tight end Ryan Yurachek, who graduated and signed with the New Orleans Saints after catching 54 passes and 10 touchdowns last season. The top four wide receivers return, led by senior Tyre Brady, who had 62 catches for 942 yards and eight touchdowns to earn All-Conference USA first-team honors. Senior slot receiver Marcel Williams finished second on the team in receiving yards with 512 on 41 catches. Cramsey also is high on sophomore Willie Johnson, who had 36 catches last year and brings a lot of speed, and the coach likes the matchup problems that 6-3, 209-pound junior Obi Obialo provides.
“Our receiver corps is not just talented and fast, we’re deep,” Cramsey said. “We can go six, seven guys deep.”
Offensive line: The starting five returns. Tackles Tarik Adams and Will Ulmer were freshmen a year ago, as was guard Alex Mollette. Senior guard Jordan Dowrey will be a four-year starter, and senior center Levi Brown returns after a second-team all-conference season. Although the running game didn’t put up big numbers in 2017, the Herd allowed the fourth-fewest sacks per game nationally (11 in 13 games). That pass protection coming back will be huge for whoever is the new quarterback.
Defensive line: Tragedy struck the Marshall football team in the offseason, as rising sophomore lineman Larry Aaron died in February of complications from a gunshot wound on New Year’s Eve that had left him paralyzed. “His loss will be felt in every corner of our program and his spirit will never be forgotten,” Holliday said in a statement in February.
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The defensive line must replace two key players in Blake Keller and Davon Durant, but four of the top six tacklers on the unit return. Linebacker Juwon Young spent some time in spring at defensive end to make up for some of the losses. Senior tackle Ryan Bee, an All-Conference USA second-team pick who led the team with 5.5 sacks last year, is the top returner on the line. Junior end Marquis Couch, who had three sacks and made eight starts, also is back, and juniors Channing Hames (4.5 sacks) and Ty Tyler (two sacks) will move into bigger roles.
Linebackers: The top six linebackers return. Former walk-on Chase Hancock runs the defense as a senior. He led the team with 128 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss and was named team MVP in 2017. Senior Frankie Hernandez (63 tackles) and Artis Johnson (55 tackles) also return with starting experience. Juwon Young was moved to the defensive line in part because of the depth at linebacker, but he could still play here. Other returning linebackers include junior Omari Cobb and sophomore Jaquan Yulee, and junior college addition Dallas Martin is a new option.
Defensive backs: Starting cornerback Rodney Allen is gone, but he didn’t start last year until Jaylon McClain-Sapp went out with an injury. McClain-Sapp is back at that corner spot, as is junior Chris Jackson (three interceptions last year) on the other side. At safety, Malik Gant returns after racking up 100 tackles as a junior, and Brandon Drayton (62 tackles) is expected to start after a strong freshman season a year ago. New defensive coordinator Adam Fuller expects a lot of nickel formations, meaning a bigger role for sophomore Nazeeh Johnson.
“At all three levels of the defense, we have guys that are proven,” Fuller said. “They need to improve, but we have a solid foundation. It’s about bringing the next group of players along.”
Special teams: The Herd annually have one of the best special teams groups in the country. They finished No. 2 in special teams FEI last year, according to Football Outsiders. Keion Davis averaged 30.4 yards per kick return, with two touchdowns. The kicking game is a question mark, though. Leading kicker/punter Kaare Vedvik is gone. He was one of the top punters in the country but was 10-for-16 on field-goal attempts. Junior college addition Justin Rohrwasser might be the replacement as kicker, with sophomore Robert LeFevre also in the mix.
How the Thundering Herd have recruited from 2015-18
According to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, here is how Marshall’s recruiting classes have fared nationally and within Conference USA over the last four years:
Click here to enlarge
Despite not having a natural recruiting base, Marshall has the best average recruiting class in Conference USA over the past four years, including the No. 1 class in 2015 and 2016 and the No. 2 class in 2018.
The current roster includes just 10 players from West Virginia and one from Pennsylvania, but 23 players from Florida. Coaches pull together classes from all over the place. The 2018 class included players from 12 states.
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With so many returning starters and so much depth across the roster, does Holliday expect to redshirt more freshmen this year? Only nine players on the returning roster haven’t redshirted. It’s part of the culture at Marshall.
“That all takes care of itself,” Holliday said. “The critical part on a decision to redshirt, you don’t want, at the end of the day, a kid to only play 20 to 30 plays and lose a year. If they can play on all special teams and some offensively and defensively, you play them. That takes care of itself.”
Impact of coaching changes
Offensive coordinator Bill Legg “resigned” in December after eight years with Holliday and the program, and he joined Mississippi State as an analyst in February. In his place, Holliday hired Cramsey from Sam Houston State, where he produced the top scoring offense in FCS (43.3 points per game) behind 5,000-yard passer Jeremiah Briscoe, a two-time FCS offensive player of the year. Cramsey previously worked at Nevada, Montana State, FIU and New Hampshire, spending time under then-UNH offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
“He’s got a lot of experience and been successful wherever he’s been,” Holliday said. “He’s got a great offensive mind and comes from a great tree. He creates a lot of problems for defenses with different formations.”
Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal left for Oregon and was replaced by Greg Adkins, who comes from Charlotte.
On defense, coordinator Chuck Heater went to Maryland to serve as its 10th assistant, working with safeties. Holliday promoted Fuller from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator and hired Byron Thweatt from James Madison to coach linebackers. Analyst Mike Treier was promoted to safeties coach as the 10th assistant.
“I’ve been a coordinator at a couple places, but I was always coming from the outside,” Fuller said. “Having been here, I don’t want to say I’m ahead of where most people would be, but you’ve got a comfort level with the school and the personnel. You know who the players are. That’s helped. We’ve done what you usually do. We’ve looked at what we did last year, dissected it, changed some things, got some things out, brought some outside ideas in to build on ideas we’re already doing.”
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Schedule analysis
September will be tough, but it will show where this team stands. In last year’s opener, the Herd needed two kick-return touchdowns from Davis and a pick-six to pull out a narrow win against Miami (Ohio), and now the Herd make the return trip. That plus a trip to South Carolina and a home game against N.C. State make for a difficult nonconference slate.
Conference USA play opens with two teams that made bowl games last year in Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. The two division crossover games come against Southern Miss and UTSA, both coming off winning seasons.
The biggest game of the season will be Oct. 20 against Florida Atlantic at home. Lane Kiffin went undefeated against Conference USA opponents in his first season, including a 30-25 win over the Herd. If Marshall wants to win the Conference USA title, it will have to go through the defending champs.
Final assessment
Coming out of the New Mexico Bowl win in December, the Thundering Herd looked poised for a run at the Conference USA championship, with so much coming back. But the loss of a quarterback and two coordinator changes create important questions that need to be answered. Still, there’s a lot of potential with a big-armed graduate transfer quarterback coming in and an offensive coordinator with a history of producing explosive offenses. If those questions are answered, Marshall is positioned to push for 10 wins and the conference title.
