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SPORTS
Herd looking ahead, not back
HUNTINGTON — It would have been understandable if Mark Snyder was less than upbeat Monday during the Conference USA football coaches’ teleconference.
Instead, the fifth-year Marshall University head coach was refreshingly frank. His team suffered a debilitating 21-20 loss just one day earlier at UCF in the closing seconds, but Snyder and players are focused on a postseason run.
Snyder’s squad dictated for most of Sunday night’s surreal loss, decided in the closing seconds following a Thundering Herd turnover. Marshall now mends across-the-board wounds during an off week before facing Conference USA East Division rival Southern Miss in a Nov. 14 home game at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Marshall and Southern Miss are both 5-4 overall and 3-2 within C-USA. The Golden Eagles also have this weekend off.
The Herd appeared moments from tying East Carolina for first place in the C-USA East Division, but UCF quarterback Brett Hodges’ 1-yard touchdown toss to Rocky Ross with 23 seconds remaining denied Marshall a signature league road win.
“I thought our kids played extremely hard,” Snyder said. “It was a hard-fought game and (UCF) coach (George) O’Leary’s team found a way to win.”
Coming off such a loss (Marshall led 20-7 midway through the third quarter) normally leads to a desire to immediately return to game action. Following nine consecutive game weeks, however, Herd players and coaches welcome the relative time off.
“Most teams across the country are pretty beaten up and we’re a little beaten up,” Snyder said. “We’re coming off a week where we felt we could have won. It was an emotional loss.
“It looks like it’s a good time to and it feels right and it’s favorable for us and we’re glad to have the week off.”
Marshall’s leading tackler, weak side linebacker Mario Harvey agreed. Normally after such an odd ending resulting in a loss that essentially removed Marshall from East Division title contention it would equal a desire to go right back out on the field.
Harvey and others, however, remain focused on earning a postseason berth.
A sixth victory would secure conditional bowl eligibility for the Herd. Under C-USA bowl agreements, a seventh win would guarantee a return to postseason play.
“It’s a good thing to have a week off to get everybody healthy and study the film and figure out what we’re doing wrong for this next game,” said Harvey, who leads the Thundering Herd with 80 tackles, including 5.5 behind the line of scrimmage and four sacks.
“We’re going to come out thinking revenge so there’s nothing to worry about.”
