W. Virginia & Marshall in Friday College Football

The West Virginia Mountaineers come into this season with several question marks, They have had plenty of offense to contend for several years, but their defense is suspect. A 31-0 shutout of Coastal Carolina is not a good barometer of how much help this team needs defensively. They lost several starters on defense this season, and are left with a very young and inexperienced defensive secondary. The Marshall Thundering Herd aren’t exactly a team to worry about, but they certainly have enough to keep this one close.

Marshall started the season against one of the best teams in the country. Ohio St. did what they were supposed to do last week as they crushed the Thundering Herd by a score of 45-7. Losing by this margin was inevitable as they were out-classed at almost every position. While W.Virginia is also ranked, they aren’t even close to being on the same level defensively as the Buckeyes. Marshall managed just 199 yards of offense against the Buckeyes, but QB Brian Anderson still managed to complete 17 of 28 passes. He is in his senior year, and is looking to improve on a solid 2009 season in which he finished with a passer rating of almost 120. He will get plenty of help from sophomore running back Martin Ward. Ward has a good showing in his freshman year when he averaged almost 5 yards per carry with 3 touchdowns. He’s in the mold of a Maurice Jones-Drew, with a low center of gravity and he ability to elude tacklers. Ward will make the Moutaineers defense work on Friday as he runs wild after being wrapped up but Ohio St last week.

W. Virginia has been very average since Bill Stewart took over for Rich Rodriguez in 2008. They went 9-4 in 2009, but played a relatively easy schedule. This year is much of the same as they only play 1 ranked team. The Big East conference has become far more competitive than it was just 4 or 5 years ago. Now, teams like Cincinnati, UCONN and S. Florida have all made it much more difficult to navigate the conference schedule without a loss.

Offensively, W. Virginia is in good shape with running back Noel Divine and wide receivers Tavon Austin and Jock Sanders. Geno Smith may end up being a quarterback that is capable of taking them to a BCS game, but he will need much more game experience before he is able to lead this team. College football handicappers have this match-up with Marshall as a walk through, but I feel that they are still weeks away from being a team worthy of a top-25 ranking.

Related posts:

1. NCAA Football Preview: Ohio St. vs. Marshall
2. Conference USA Showdown: Marshall vs. UCF
3. Marshall vs. FIU in Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl
4. Wildcats take on Rockets: NCAA Friday Football
5. College Football Begins- Pittsburgh vs. Utah Thursday

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