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MARSHALL SPORTS
Thundering Herd juggles linemen
HUNTINGTON -- Mark Snyder buried the story lead Tuesday during his weekly press conference.
Marshall University's fourth-year head football coach opened with comments on a productive off-week. Assistant coaches traveled the country, jump-starting junior college recruiting. Back home, backups received long looks in preparation for the season's second half.
Some UAB talk naturally followed. Saturday's opponent boasts stellar individual talent, but depth is lacking.
Finally, Snyder released the meat-and-potatoes news -- offensive line adjustments are under way. Specifically, sophomore Chad Schofield is elevated to first-team left guard in place of Josh Evans -- tentatively.
"Probably, we will start Chad Schofield as of right now," Snyder said. "And we still have this week to go. You'll see a little bit more of Jimmy Rogers at right guard and Daniel Baldridge at right tackle.
"I thought Daniel seized the moment (last) week. He had a couple of really good practices.
"We're going to roll like we've been rolling, not a whole bunch of shakeup. Schofield, Jimmy Rogers we'll try to get him some more reps because we had that week to get him going."
Marshall's maligned offensive line admittedly struggled the past two games. Quarterback Mark Cann was sacked four times combined against West Virginia and Cincinnati and tailback Darius Marshall's yards per carry average has dipped to 3.9 yards.
Schofield practiced with starters Brian Leggett (center), Matt Altobello (right guard), C.J. Wood (right tackle) and Ryan Tillman (left tackle) on Tuesday. Tillman said he and his fellow linemen are aware of recent criticism.
"We're definitely going to try to use some of that for firepower for us to have a chip on our shoulder and play better," Tillman said.
Opportunity awaits Saturday in Birmingham, Ala. Marshall (3-3, 2-0 Conference USA) and UAB (1-6, 0-3) kick off at 4 p.m. The game will not be televised.
"I'm just trying to make the most of my opportunity and work hard every day," the 6-foot-4, 316-pound Schofield said. "Here's my shot. ... We know we have to do a better job. We knew after the Cincinnati game we had to step up, because the team rests on our shoulders."
Along with scoring just 13 combined points against WVU and UC, the Thundering Herd managed only 129 rushing yards on 56 attempts. Returning Marshall's running game to early-season form and directly charging linemen with that duty are top priorities this week.
"I think that's the challenge each and every week," Snyder said. "Obviously, we haven't gotten that done the last two games against two very good defenses.
"But again, we didn't get that done. We have to stay balanced on offense."
