2008 Marshall Thundering Herd - Rec. Class

Marshall Thundering Herd 2008 Head Coach: Mark Snyder

Marshall Thundering Herd

2008 Recruiting Class

Star of the Class

Jimmy Rogers OT 6-4 235 Jr. Cleveland, Miss./Mississippi Delta CC
Listed as a four-star offensive tackle by Scout.com ... possesses great footwork and tremendous power...played high school football at Cleveland East Side High...signed with Marshall over programs such as Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kansas State, and Louisville...enrolled in January, 2008 and is viewed as a player who could make an instant impact.

Potential Instant Impact Players

O.J. Murdock WR 6-0 185 Jr. Tampa, Fla./Middleton/Pearl River CC
A four star prospect according to Scout.com...Originally signed with South Carolina out of high school ...timed with a 4.35-second time in the 40-yard dash...racked up over 1,700 yards and 18 touchdowns receiving in his final two seasons in high school...named first-team all-county and all-state...selected for the Florida-California Bowl and was selected to play in the US Army National All-Star game, but was unable to participate...rated as the 7th-best wide receiver in the country by Prep Star and the 26th-best player in the Southeast by Tom Lemming...also ran track and was fourth in the state in the 100 and 200 meters as a sophomore and won the state 100 meter dash as a senior... was a national champion sprinter at the age of 14.

Andre Portis OLB 6-3 240 Jr. Cleveland, Ohio/College of San Mateo (Calif.)
Named first-team all Northern California Conference... rated as a three star recruit by Scout.com...has three years to use his remaining two years of playing eligibility and enrolled in January 2008... San Mateo Head Coach Larry Owens said "Andre is the kind of player where as the game gets more competitive, the more he will make outstanding plays," "In many ways, he's our best defensive player."...chose Marshall over 10 other scholarship offers from schools such as California, Minnesota, Colorado State, and Temple.

Rest of the Class
Devin Arrington LB 6-2 205 Fr. Chesapeake, Va./Deep Creek
Brandon Burns S 6-4 215 Jr. Columbiana, Ala./Shelby County/Pearl River CC (Miss.)
Tyson Gale LB 6-3 230 Fr. Alva, Okla./Alva
Maurice Graham TE 6-5 270 Jr. Fresno, Calif./Washington Union/College of the Sequoias
Jamie Hatten TE 6-5 233 Fr. Hendersonville, N.C./Hendersonville
Leshawn Henderson CB 6-1 180 Fr. Okeechobee, Fla./Okeechobee
Cory McCutchen WR 6-4 178 Fr. Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson
Josh Miller CB 5-9 185 Jr. Fresno, Calif./College of the Sequoias
Ahmed Shakoor CB 5-11 189 Fr. Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson
Jordan Taylor RB 6-1 205 Fr. South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s
Zach Tenuta TE 6-3 230 Fr. Marietta, Ga./Walton
Demetrius Thomas RB 6-1 200 Fr. Theodore, Ala./Theodore
Charles "Chuck" Walker WR 5-10 185 Jr. Hayward, Calif./Laney College
Martin Ward RB 5-9 188 Fr. Jonesboro, Ga./Mount Zion
Kase Whitehead P 5-10 180 Fr. Maryville, Tenn./William Blount
Jamal Wilson WR 5-11 176 Fr. Chesapeake, Va./Oscar Smith
John Youboty DE 6-4 246 Fr. Klein, Texas/Klein

- 2007 Marshall Season
- 2007 Marshall Preview
- 2006 Marshall Season

2007 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 6-6
2007 Record: 3-9

Sept. 1 at Miami  L 31-3
Sept. 8 West Virginia L 48-23
Sept. 15 N Hampshire L 48-35
Sept. 22 at Cincinnati L 40-14
Oct. 2 at Memphis L 24-21
Oct. 13 at Tulsa L 38-31
Oct. 21 So Miss L 33-24
Oct. 27 Rice W 34-21
Nov. 3 at UCF L 47-13
Nov. 10 East Carolina W 26-7
Nov. 17 at Houston L 35-28
Nov. 24 UAB W 46-39

2007 Recap

Recap: With a third straight losing season, Marshall got even further away from the glory days when bowl games and league titles were annual events.  The Herd finished respectably, winning three of its final five games, but wasn’t able to dig out of an 0-6 hole to start the season.  Although Marshall showed a knack for moving the ball, the defense never recovered from the season-ending injury to its top performer, DE Albert McClellan.    

Offensive Player of the Year: QB Bernard Morris

Defensive Player of the Year: S C.J. Spillman

Biggest Surprise: Marshall was the reason UCF, and not East Carolina, won the Conference USA East Division.  The Herd shocked the front-running Pirates, 26-7, on Nov. 10, getting a terrific all-around game from Morris, and an unexpected effort from the weather-beaten defense.  The win propelled UCF into first place, a position the Knights would never relinquish.   

Biggest Disappointment: Playing New Hampshire in Week 3 was supposed to be the Herd’s get-well game after opening the season against West Virginia and Miami.  Nope.  Marshall got ambushed, 48-35, by QB Ricky Santos and a Wildcat offense that rung up more than 500 yards, freely moving the ball on the ground and through the air.  The Herd was obviously shell-shocked from the loss, needing more than a month before it finally broke into the win column.     

Looking Ahead: It’s make-or-break time in 2008 for Marshall head coach Mark Snyder, who’s been unsuccessful replacing Bob Pruett.  He needs to find a capable quarterback to replace Morris, but does welcome back a slew of returning starters, including McClellan, that’ll help push the program back toward the .500 mark.

Nov. 24
Marshall 46 ... UAB 39
Marshall pulled out the win in the shootout when Bernard Morris capped off an 11-play, 78-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge with 1:07 to play. UAB bombed away with Joe Webb and Sam Hunt combining to throw for 389 yard and two touchdowns, but it was a four-yard Rashard Slaughter touchdown run with 5:22 that gave the Blazers their first lead of the game before the Herd's final drive. Kevin Saunders returned a punt 58 yards for a fourth quarter UAB score, and Darius Marshall returned a kickoff 91 yards for a Herd score after Mario Wright's second touchdown of the game. Will Dunbar made 16 tackles for the Blazers.
Player of the game: Marshall QB Bernard Morris completed 26 of 36 passes for 309 yards and a touchdown, and ran ten times for 55 yards and a score.
Stat Leaders: UAB - Passing: Joseph Webb, 14-26, 200 yds
Rushing: Sam Hunt, 8-64. Receiving: Frantrell Forrest, 7-64
Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 26-36, 309 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 9-60. Receiving: Cody Slate, 6-72
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... As bad as the season was, closing out with two wins in the final three games, and battling hard in a tough loss to Houston, is a plus. The biggest problem was the lack of consistent defense. If Mark Snyder is supposed to be a defensive coach, there's no reason his team should've been so bad against UAB in the final game of the year. The offense simply wasn't good enough to keep up in Conference USA shootouts, so once the defense starts to improve, so will the Herd.

Nov. 17
Houston 35 ... Marshall 28
Anthony Alridge scored on a three-yard run and took a pass 26 yards for a score, and Case Keenum ran for a touchdown and threw two touchdown passes including a 62-yard play to Mark Hafner for a touchdown to stay two steps ahead of the Herd. Marshall made it close late on a one-yard Kelvin Turner run, but the onside kick failed and the Cougars were able to run out the clock. The Herd got touchdown runs from Darius Marshall and Chubb Small, and a 32-yard scoring grab from Emmanuel Spann.
Player of the game: Houston RB Anthony Alridge ran 25 times for 103 yards and a touchdown, and caught five passes for 44 yards and a score
Stat Leaders: Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 20-32, 260 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 12-66, 1 TD. Receiving: E.J. Wynn, 6-66
Houston - Passing: Case Keenum, 24-32, 298 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Anthony Alridge, 25-103, 1 TD. Receiving: Mark Hafner, 6-128, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... The Herd couldn't capitalize on the win over East Carolina with Houston able to move the ball far too easily. It wasn't a bad overall performance in the loss, but there weren't many big stops on third downs and the offense failed to get the chains moving. With a home game against UAB to close out, there's no excuse for not winning in a walk. The Blazer offense isn't doing much of anything, and the Herd can't go into the off-season with yet another loss and a 2-10 record.

Nov. 10
Marshall 26 ... East Carolina 7
East Carolina was stuffed for just 259 yards and managed only a four-yard Chris Johnson touchdown run in the third quarter as Marshall took a 16-0 lead highlighted by a 23-yard E.J. Wynn touchdown pass and a 75-yard Bernard Morris scoring run. Emmanuel Spann caught a 17-yard touchdown pass to put the game was in the fourth quarter, and Anthony Binswanger iced it with his second field goal coming with just under six minutes left. Morris became the first Marshall quarterback to run for 1,000 yards in a season.
Player of the game: Marshall QB Bernard Morris completed 24 of 32 passes for 238 yards two touchdowns, and ran 11 times for 126 yards and a touchdown
Stat Leaders: East Carolina - Passing: Patrick Pinkney, 13-21, 109 yds
Rushing: Chris Johnson, 12-72, 1 TD. Receiving: Dwayne Harris, 4-18
Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 24-32, 238 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Bernard Morris, 11-126, 1 TD. Receiving: E.J. Wynn, 6-51, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... As bad as the season has been for the Herd, it has won two of its last three games and came up with a stunner against East Carolina to potentially make the final few weeks more fun. The defense came up with its best game of the year, swarming all over Chris Johnson while not letting the Pirate offense get on track from the start. This was nice, but beating Houston on the road would be an even better indication on how far the program has come.

Nov. 3
UCF 47 ... Marshall 13
UCF took advantage of three Marshall interceptions and Kevin Smith first half rushing scores from two and 87 yards out to win in a walk. Marshall wasn't able to get into the end zone until the fourth quarter on a 45-yard Chubb Small run, but by then, UCF was up 33-13 helped by two Brian Watters touchdown grabs from 23 and 30 yards out. The Knight defense got in the act late with Darin Baldwin talking an interception 37 yards for a score.
Player of the game: UCF RB Kevin Smith ran 29 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and caught four passes for 48 yards.
Stat Leaders: Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 18-31, 239 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Chubb Small, 2-45, 1 TD. Receiving: Cody Slate, 9-91
UCF - Passing: Kyle Israel, 14-21, 203 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Kevin Smith, 29-188, 2 TD. Receiving: Brian Watters, 6-88, 2 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Marshall simply isn't doing the little things right. It's not pass protecting, getting sacked seven times by UCF, it lost the turnover battle, 3-1, and committed eight penalties to none. The consistency just isn't there with not enough help from the running game and no time for Bernard Morris to operate. Things don't get much better coming up with East Carolina and Houston coming up.

Oct. 27
Marshall 34 ... Rice 21
Marshall jumped out to a 17-0 first half lead with Bernard Morris and Kelvin Turner each running for short touchdowns, and then Morris put it away midway though the third with a 26-yard scoring run. Rice fought back with a Chase Clement 20-yard touchdown run and two scoring passes, with a two-yarder to Toren Dixon pulling the Owls within six with 3:12 to play, but the Herd answered with Kelvin Turner's second touchdown run of the day to close things out.
Player of the game: Marshall QB Bernard Morris completed 15 of 33 passes for 227 yards, and ran 13 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns
Stat Leaders: Rice - Passing: Chase Clement, 29-48, 281 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Chase Clement, 11-76, 1 TD. Receiving: James Casey, 7-101, 1 TD
Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 15-33, 227 yds
Rushing: Bernard Morris, 13-120, 2 TD. Receiving: Cody Slate, 3-41
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Finally, finally the Herd gets a win, but it wasn't exactly perfect. Considering there were 254 rushing yards against Rice, the offense didn't do enough to control the clock. 11 penalties for 119 yards is inexcusable, and the defense had too tough a time slowing down the Owl offense in the final 17 minutes, but a win is a win. There weren't any turnovers and there was good offensive balance. Now the key will be the run defense with a brutal three-game stretch against UCF, East Carolina and Houston ahead.

Oct. 21
Southern Miss 33 ... Marshall 24
Damion Fletcher ran for two first quarter touchdowns and Torris McGee caught an 85-yard touchdown pass as USM jumped out to a 21-0 lead. But Marshall fought back, despite turning it over four times, the Herd pulled within two in the fourth quarter on a 47-yard Darius Passmore catch. But the USM offense went back to work, going 91 yards in 13 plays with Fletcher scoring from two yards out to put it away.
Player of the game: Southern Miss RB Damion Fletcher ran 30 times for 152 yards and three touchdowns, and caught four passes for 34 yards
Stat Leaders: Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 20-38, 309 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 14-62, 1 TD. Receiving: Darius Passmore, 5-105, 1 TD
Southern Miss - Passing: Stephen Reaves, 23-30, 310 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 30-152, 3 TD. Receiving: Torris Magee, 7-156, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Marshall has to stop getting behind early. It's done a great job mounting comebacks over the last two weeks, but it doesn't have enough firepower to get over the hump. This isn't a good enough team to keep making mistakes, like the turnovers it kept giving up against Southern Miss, but it's so close to pulling off a win, it seems like one big play could finally turn things around. This is a better team than the 0-7 record.

Oct. 13
Tulsa 38 ... Marshall 31
Tulsa rolled up 578 yards of total offense with Paul Smith running for a one-yard score and throwing three touchdown passes, taking the lead for good on a 73-yard play to Brennan Marion with just over five minutes to play. Cody Slate caught a two-yard touchdown pass with 1:18 to play to get the Herd within seven, but Tulsa recovered the onside kick and held on. Tarrion Adams scored twice for the Golden Hurricane in the first half, but Marshall stayed alive with two Chubb Small touchdown runs and a four-yard Shawn Lauzon scoring grab.
Player of the game: Tulsa QB Paul Smith completed 24 of 39 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a score.
Stat Leaders: Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 21-37, 260 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Darius Marshall 13-63. Receiving: Cody Slate, 6-102, 1 TD
Tulsa - Passing: Paul Smith, 24-39, 385 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Tarrion Adams, 15-134, 1 TD. Receiving: Tarrion Adams, 6-35, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... 0-6. Tulsa's offense might be blowing past everyone, and the Herd attack was decent this week, but the record is still an ugly 0-6 with Southern Miss up next. To have any hope against the Golden Eagles next week, the defense has to get more stops on third down and has to get off the field earlier. So what's going right? Tight end Cody Slate. In a tough year, he's one of the team's stars, deserving of All-Conference honor as both a receiver and a blocker.

Oct. 2
Memphis 24 ... Marshall 21
Playing just two days after the death of defensive tackle Taylor Bradford, Memphis got three Matt Reagan field goals and two second half touchdown passes from Will Hudgens to pull off the win. The two teams traded scores throughout, with Marshall getting a 20-yard Cody Slate touchdown catch for its first points, and a four-yard Darius Passmore scoring grab with 5:22 to play for the final points. The Herd's final drive got to the Memphis 41 before stalling.
Player of the game: Memphis QB Will Hudgens completed 30 of 45 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns
Stat Leaders: Memphis - Passing: Will Hudgens, 30-45, 346 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: T.J. Pitts, 14-57. Receiving: Duke Calhoun, 6-74
Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 23-32, 220 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 15-90, 1 TD. Receiving: Darius Passmore, 7-69, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Despite all the injuries and all the consistency issues, the Herd came up with a decent game in the loss to Memphis. This was a game it had to have, and now it's still winless with Tulsa and Southern Miss to follow. Bernard Morris was accurate, but he didn't get enough long passes, and things didn't open up for the ground game. Against almost everyone on the schedule the rest of the way, MU has to win the turnover battle and has to come up with more big plays. That hasn't happened so far.

Sept. 22
Cincinnati 40 ... Marshall 14
In an ugly game, Cincinnati overcame an intentional grounding call in the end zone for a safety with 26 straight first half points on two Marcus Barnett touchdown catches, a 17-yard Greg Moore scoring run, and a safety of its own off a fumble. Marshall tried to get back on the game with two Bernard Morris touchdowns passes, highlighted by a 33-yard throw to Darius Passmore, but the Bearcats scored the final 14 points wit a seven-yard Connor Barwin catch and a 42-yard Jacob Ramsey run. The two teams combined for 23 penalties for 186 yards.
Player of the game: Cincinnati QB Dustin Grutza completed 14 of 20 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns and ran six times for 28 yards.
Stat Leaders: Cincinnati - Passing: Dustin Grutza, 14-20, 142 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Greg Moore, 6-70, 1 TD. Receiving: Marcus Barnett, 6-77, 2 TD
Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 20-30, 252 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 7-63. Receiving: Darius Passmore, 7-106, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... At the moment, this doesn't appear to be a well-coached team. 13 penalties for 106 yards against Cincinnati, breakdowns in the running game, and few big plays from the defense. The season couldn't have started any worse for the Thundering Herd, but on the plus side, the Conference USA season hasn't started yet. With a win over Memphis next week, things could quickly change. With Tulsa and Southern Miss to follow, beating the Tigers is a must. To do that, the offense has to figure out how to crank out a few long scoring drives.

Sept. 15
New Hampshire 48 ... Marshall 35
New Hampshire stunned Marshall with a 24-0 halftime lead highlighted by two two first quarter touchdowns from Robert Simpson, but the Hard managed to come back on two Kelvin Turner touchdown runs and an 80-yard Cody Slate touchdown. MU pulled within seven late in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard Darius Passmore touchdown catch, but UNH answered with a crushing 13 play, 70-yard drive that ate up 5:38 of fourth quarter clock, culminating in a two-yard Ricky Ward touchdown run to put the game away.
Player of the game: New Hampshire QB Ricky Santos completed 23 of 33 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns, and ran 13 times for 45 yards and a score
Stat Leaders: New Hampshire - Passing: Ricky Santos, 23-33, 289 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Chris Ward, 19-99, 1 TD. Receiving: Scott Sicko, 6-78
Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 31-42, 417 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Chubb Small, 5-45. Receiving: Cody Slate, 11-177, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Call it a sandwich game, call it a hangover from the West Virginia loss, call it looking ahead to Cincinnati, but Marshall basically blew its chances at a winning season by not showing up against New Hampshire until it was too late. The offense bombed away with Bernard Morris having a great second half, but the defense couldn't come up with a late stop to finally turn the momentum. UNH was able to convert 11 of 16 third down chances.

Sept. 8
West Virginia 48 ... Marshall 23
West Virginia was shut down in the first half as Marshall held a 13-6 lead helped by a 38-yard Darius Passmore touchdown catch, and then the Mountaineer offense turned things up a notch. Darius Reynaud caught his second touchdown pass of the day on a 23-yard play, Pat White ran for a 20-yard score, and Steve Slaton and Noel Devine each ran for two scores in a 42 point second half. Marshall  stayed alive on a 42-yard Cody Slate touchdown catch, but a 21-0 Mountaineer run in the fourth quarter put it away.
Player of the game ... West Virginia QB Pat White completed 13 of 18 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns and ran 18 times for 125 yards and a score
Stat Leaders: Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 19-29, 256 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 11-81  Receiving: Cody Slate, 5-82, 1 TD
West Virginia - Passing: Patrick White, 13-18, 149 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Steve Slaton, 24-146, 2 TD  Receiving: Darius Reynaud, 8-126, 2 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Marshall might have ended up getting blown out by West Virginia, but there were a bunch of positive signs after an ugly season-opening performance against Miami. The defense, for just over a half, played extremely well, especially on the line, and Bernard Morris had a nice day throwing the ball. He didn't make many mistakes, and if he keeps playing like this, MU will win more than its share of C-USA games. Again, as crazy as it might sound after being blown out by 25, this was an overall step in the right direction.

Sept. 1
Miami 31 ... Marshall 3
Javarris James ran for touchdowns from five and eight yards out and Kirby Freeman connected with DahLeon Farr for a one-yard score as Miami easily blew past Marshall in head coach Randy Shannon's debut. The Herd was held to 51 rushing yards and only managed a fourth quarter 37-yard Anthony Biswanger field goal, but four turnovers and a variety of mistakes, helped caused by the Cane defense, never gave MU a chance. The Canes ran for 260 yards and three touchdowns.
Player of the game ... The Miami running back tandem of Graig Cooper and Javarris James combined for 227 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.
Stat Leaders: Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 16-26, 162 yds, 3 INT
Rushing: Bernard Morris, 17-29  Receiving: Darius Marshall, 5-17
Miami - Passing: Kirby Freeman, 9-21, 81 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Graig Cooper, 12-116  Receiving: Lance Leggett, 4-31
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Miami has one of the nation's best defenses, so having so many problems on offense wasn't a shock. Marshall's big problem was how it shot itself in the foot time and again with four turnovers and 12 penalties. The defense did a nice job against the Hurricane passing game, but couldn't hold up against the run and should have a bigger nightmare of a time with the West Virginia ground attack next week. Basically, the Herd has to find offensive playmakers in a big hurry.