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MARSHALL SPORTS
Speed of WVU is challenge for MU
Coach Mark Snyder speaks during a weekly press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009, in the Big Green Room at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Marshall will take on WVU in Morgantown on Saturday.
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HUNTINGTON -- College football coaches are capable of just so much during game-week preparation.
Personnel and schemes can be diagramed. If you're playing in a particularly loud stadium, you blast Stuck Mojo and Kid Rock on the sound system all week at practices.
It's tough, however, to coach against speed. West Virginia University boasts an abundance on both sides of the line, adding to Marshall's challenge this week.
WVU (4-1, 1-0 Big East) hosts the Thundering Herd (4-2, 2-1 Conference) in the fourth Friends of Coal Bowl on Saturday. Kickoff at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown is 3:30 p.m. and numerous television stations within the Mountain State and beyond including WCHS in Charleston/Huntington, along with ESPN Gameplan, will televise the game.
"They're a fast, fast football team, very explosive on both sides of the ball," Thundering Herd head coach Mark Snyder said. "There is speed, speed, speed -- abundant speed on their team. And we have to match that.
"We feel we have some speed too."
Heading the track team that is West Virginia's offense is Noel Devine. The 5-foot-8, 176-pound junior ranks third in the nation, averaging 126.2 rushing yards a game. Devine has totaled 631 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 6.6 yards a carry.
He compiled 125 yards and a TD on just 14 carries in last season's 27-3 victory over Marshall. Many of those yards were gained on well-defended plays when Devine would reverse field and simply outrun Thundering Herd defenders.
"He's doing it this year too," Snyder said. "Nobody has really stopped this offense this year. They've stopped themselves."
Compounding prep challenges for Snyder and defensive coordinator Rick Minter is multi-threat Jock Sanders, a 5-7, 178-pound junior. He leads the Mountaineers with 41 receptions for 394 yards and two touchdowns and has rushed for 62 yards on 10 carries.
Sanders scored on a 5-yard pass last season against the Thundering Herd.
Obviously, Marshall's defense must be aware of where Devine lines up on each play. Same can be said of Sanders, who lines up as a slot receiver, gaining yards after the catch on multiple screens and running an occasional reverse.
"We've been through that," Snyder said of scouting multiple offensive threats. "We've been through a couple of situations where you have to know where they're at all the time, because they do certain things with them in certain places.
"We have to be on top of that."
Then there's the issue of containing WVU quarterback Jarrett Brown. The 6-4, 223-pound senior is merely completing 68.8 percent of his passes for 1,190 yards and eight touchdowns against five interceptions. Brown, a physical dual threat, ranks second on the team with 194 rushing yards, averaging 4.0 an attempt.
West Virginia's wealth of offensive threats certainly isn't lost on Snyder.
"He's played well," Snyder said of Brown. "He's eluded the rush. He's performing very well and that's why they have the record they have right now.
"He's doing a great job for them. Not a lot of negative yardage plays for them and that's what you hope for on defense -- negative yardage plays and get them behind the chains.
"That's not happening much."
