July 13, 2005

Since moving to NCAA Division I-A status in 1997, Marshall has competed as a member of the Mid-American Conference and established itself as one of the winningest college football programs in the nation. During that span, the Herd won five conference championships, made bowl trips in seven of eight seasons and produced Heisman Trophy finalists and NFL stars Randy Moss, Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich. Now, first-year head coach Mark Snyder leads Marshall into a new frontier as the Herd thunders into its inaugural Conference USA season.

Snyder, a standout safety on Marshall's 1987 NCAA Division I-AA National Finalist team, returns to Huntington after spending the past four years as an assistant coach under Jim Tressel at Ohio State where he served as the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator in 2004. In Snyder's four years at Ohio State, the Buckeyes posted a 40-11 overall record, won the 2002 National Championship and tallied a 3-1 record in bowl games that included victories in the 2003 and 2004 Tostitos Fiesta Bowls. He is now tasked with replacing Bob Pruett, the most successful coach in school history, and continuing the tradition of excellence at Marshall that was established by his predecessors.

"When we played for the national championship in 1987 we could only dream of the heights to which Jim Donnan and Bob Pruett would take the program," Snyder said. "I have always been proud to have been a part of Marshall's resurgence in football and now I am honored to have the opportunity to return to my alma mater and lead Marshall into a new era. This is an exciting time for the Thundering Herd family as we move into Conference USA and our football team will not only represent, but serve the University and the Tri-State area well on and off the field. Our goal is to be the class of college football."

The Thundering Herd returns only six starters from last season's 6-6 squad that dropped a 32-14 decision to Cincinnati in the PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl. Despite the loss of 25 seniors, significant playing time was given to several underclassmen in 2004 and with several strong recruiting classes already in place there is a considerable amount of talent on Marshall's roster for Snyder and his staff to work with heading into 2005.

"I think people will see an excited football team out there, a well-coached football team, and one that will be playing with a lot of enthusiasm," Snyder said. "I think that's contagious."

Offensive Line

The offensive line should be one of Marshall's strong points in 2005. The Thundering Herd loses its starter at left tackle from a year ago in Nate Griffin, but returns an experience corps that includes two year starter Toby Bullock and last season's starter at right tackle, Seth Cook.

Senior Toby Bullock, who has started in 24 consecutive games for the Thundering Herd, is expected to emerge as the leader of the unit. The 6-foot-4, 330-pound lineman has played at guard for the past two seasons and is expected to be moved to left tackle for his senior campaign. Bullock missed spring drills with a torn pectoral muscle, but he should be ready for the fall.

Joining Bullock along the offensive line is the returning starter at right tackle, junior Seth Cook, and sophomore center Doug Legursky, who saw a great deal of playing time at center last season.

Senior Ryan Baynes, junior college transfer Chris Barnes, sophomores John Inman, David Ziegler, and Nate Howard, along with redshirt freshmen Matt Altobello and a host of talented newcomers will also battle for playing time up front.

Running Back

The return of standout sophomore Ahmad Bradshaw, along with the emergence of several others makes the running back position another team strength heading into the 2005 season.

Bradshaw emerged as an offensive force for Marshall as a true freshman last season. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound speedster averaged 4.9 yards per carry and rushed for 462 yards and three touchdowns last season while backing up senior Earl Charles. Bradshaw also caught 14 passes for 187 yards and two scores, despite missing two games because of an ankle sprain.

In addition to Bradshaw, Marshall redshirt-freshman Gerwin Williams and sophomore Will Albin were very impressive this spring and provide the Thundering Herd with plenty of options in the backfield.

Receiver

Marshall has several receivers that will attempt to fill the void left by the graduation of Josh Davis, who finished his career second on the NCAA's all-time career receptions list with 306 and ranked among the school's all-time leaders in receiving yards with 3,889.

Sophomore Marcus Fitzgerald, the younger brother of NFL standout Larry Fitzgerald, saw action in 11 games and tallied 12 catches for 146 yards as a true freshman in 2004. He is a tremendous athlete that appears ready to step up.

Senior Wilbur Hargrove, who possesses tremendous speed, and 6-foot-6 sophomore Shawn Lauzon, Nate Manns, Hiram Moore and converted tight end Matt Morris all have game experience and are coming off of a productive spring.

In addition, several newcomers to the program such as freshmen Chubb Small, Jermaine Filer, and Antonio Leath could make an immediate impact.

Among the Herd's top returnees at receiver entering the spring was sophomore Emanuel Spann. Unfortunately for Marshall, he will likely miss most, if not all, of the season because of injury. Spann started in eight games last season, catching 27 passes for 233 yards during his freshman season.

Quarterback

The coaching staff must replace the program's top two quarterbacks from a year ago, due to the loss of seniors Stan Hill and Graham Gochneaur. Much attention will be placed on who comes out of August as the starter in a position that has been held by the likes of NFL standouts Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich.

Juniors Jimmy Skinner and Derek Devine, and sophomore Bernard Morris all showed great potential this spring and appear ready to compete for the starting nod.

Skinner (6-3, 190) enters the season with the most collegiate experience of the group. Skinner has seen limited action in eight games over the last two seasons and spent last season as the Herd's number three signal caller. Morris (6-4, 206) is an outstanding athlete with a strong arm that saw limited time last season as a quarterback and receiver in spot situations. Devine (6-3, 220) joined the program this spring after a solid two-year career at Mt. San Antonio College in California.

Joining in the mix at the quarterback position this fall is a highly touted group of freshmen that includes Kentucky high school standout Zach Barnard, who passed for a state-record 4,654 yards and 52 touchdowns as a senior at Owensboro Catholic, and Mississippi high school standout Wesley Beardain, who passed for 2,872 yards and 40 touchdowns as a senior while rushing for an additional 410 yards and four scores.

Tight End

Despite the loss of departing senior Joe Deifel, Marshall appears to have a strong group ready to contribute at tight end.

Among the top returnees at tight end is senior Jeff Mullins (6-3, 255), who started in three games and saw action in all 12 games last season. Mullins, a CoSIDA All-District 2 Academic Team selection, caught six passes for 45 yards last season and handled the team's long snapping duties.

Sophomore Brian Shope (6-5, 235) also saw limited action in all 12 games a year ago and will push for playing time, along with redshirt-freshman Joe Bragg, sophomore Mike Nolan and redshirt-freshman Matt Parkhurst.

Defensive Secondary

Heading into the spring, Marshall's secondary is arguably the team's biggest strength with the return of three quality starters in Curtis Keyes, Willie Smith and Chris Royal.

The hard-hitting Keyes (6-0, 191, Jr.), a second-team all-conference selection last season at strong safety, led Marshall with 108 total tackles and intercepted two passes in 2004. Smith (6-0, 197, Sr.) started all 12 games last season for the Herd at cornerback and registered 40 tackles and four interceptions. At free safety, Chris Royal (5-9, 185, Sr.) emerged as one of the nation's top pass defenders in 2004. Royal finished the season tied for second in the nation in interceptions with six. He also tallied 43 tackles.

North Carolina transfer Chris Hawkins, junior Ivan Clark and sophomore Geremy Rodamer all had solid springs and are poised to contribute in the secondary. A host of talented newcomers are also expected to provide quality depth.

Linebacker

Marshall must replace all three of its starting linebackers from last season (Kevin Atkins, Dionte' Wilson and J.T. Rembert).

Leading the list of candidates to fill the void is junior Matt Couch who saw considerable playing time and earned two starts last season. He finished his sophomore campaign with 33 total tackles while playing middle linebacker.

Senior Dennis Thornton played in 10 games last season and recorded 18 tackles, while Travis Noel saw limited time.

Converted senior running back Donte' Newsome, seniors Adam Lee and Scott Wilks, redshirt-freshmen Ben Gum, Ian Hoskins and Maurice Kitchens all showed great potential this spring and are ready to contribute.

Defensive Line

In addition to its linebackers, the Herd must also replace the entire defensive front - a group that included All-American and MAC Defensive Player of the Year Johnathan Goddard, all-conference defensive end Jamus Martin, and senior linemen Jamaal Whyce and Reggie Hayes. In fact, the Herd enters the season having lost eight of its top 10 tacklers from last season.

Among the players to watch along the defensive line are redshirt-freshman Blake Merritt (6-4, 265), senior Floyd Wright (6-0, 271), junior Adrian Davis (6-3, 265) and sophomore Byron Tinker (6-4, 254).

At defensive end look for senior Demarcus Thomas (6-1, 235), redshirt freshman Bilal El-Amin (6-3, 240), junior Shavar Greer (6-0, 230), junior Gavin Hersher (6-3, 243), junior Jason Kaminski (6-3, 225) and sophomore Colin Kelly (6-3, 223) step up. Newcomers such as Jeff Bush, Albert McClellan and E.J. Rascoe could make an impact as well.

Specialists

Marshall's kicking and punting appears to be in good hands with the return of do-everything kicker/punter Ian O'Connor. O'Connor (6-2, 205, Jr.) handled kickoffs, punting, and field goal kicking for the Herd last season. He was 14-of-19 on field goal attempts with a long of 52, and punted for an average of 40.4 yards with a long of 67. The strong-legged junior was named conference player of the week three times last season.

Redshirt-freshman Marty Biagi and newcomers David DeFatta and Chris Desautels will also vie for punting and kicking opportunities.

The 2005 Schedule

Six home dates, including Big 12 power Kansas State and new Conference USA rivals SMU, UAB, Southern Miss, and East Carolina highlight the 2005 Thundering Herd football schedule.

"This is the best schedule in the history of our football program," Marshall University Director of Athletics Bob Marcum said. "There are many exciting games to be played this season and in the future. I am confident our season ticket holders and our future season ticket holders will be pleased."

The Thundering Herd's 2005 schedule includes five teams that went to bowls in 2004. Ninth-ranked Virginia Tech (10-3) won the ACC and earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl, Memphis (8-3) appeared in the GMAC Bowl, Southern Mississippi (7-5) won the New Orleans Bowl, UAB (7-5) competed in the Hawaii Bowl, and UTEP (8-4) played in the Houston Bowl.

The Herd's clashes with Kansas State and Southern Miss will be televised nationally by ESPN2, while Marshall's games with UAB and UTEP are set to be televised across the nation by CSTV.

As part of the new alignment of Conference USA, there will be two divisions for the 12 member schools. Memphis, ECU, Marshall, USM, UAB and UCF make up the East Division, while SMU, Houston, Rice, Tulane, Tulsa and UTEP make up the West Division. Beginning this season, C-USA will host a championship game between the two division leaders. The division winner with the highest winning percentage will host the championship game, which will be broadcast by ESPN on Dec. 3.