Mid-term Grades

Sean Hammond and Josh Stowers grade out the offense, defensive, special teams and coaching staff midway through Marshall's 2016 slate. Warning: It ain't pretty.

(C-) The offense has struggled for the most part, that’s no secret. If you remove the Morgan State game from the equation, offensive coordinator Bill Legg’s offense is only averaging 363.6 yards/game and 28.2 points/game. Even with the inflated numbers from the Morgan State game included, Marshall’s offensive numbers are still down from a year ago (except scoring 33.8 in 2016 compared to 31.3 in 2015). Marshall must find a way to start running the ball more effectively in the second half of the season if they way to push towards a chance at the conference title. 117 rushing yards/game and 3.2 yards/rush are just embarrassing numbers considering what fans are used to in Huntington. It all starts up front with the offensive line and quarterback Chase Litton. Marshall’s offensive front has shown flashes of brilliance, but have underperformed for the most part. Seniors Clint Van Horn and Michael Selby need to take control of not only their position’s room, but the entire offense and show the leadership needed to battle back from the season’s slow start. As for Litton, he needs to find the same trust in the offense and toughness that he showed as a true freshman in 2015. ~ Josh Stowers

(D+) Returning Litton, Foster, Davis, Pittman, McManus, Hunt, Knight, Yurachek, Byrd, Jean-Félix, Dowrey, Selby, & Van Horn, experience IS NOT an issue. No excuses for the turnovers vs Akron, the first half shutout vs Pitt, only two TDs vs North Texas, and needing a last minute drive to surpass FAU. ~ Sean Hammond

(C-) Normally, allowing 480.3 yards/game and 37.7 points/game (those numbers would be drastically inflated without Morgan State included) would result in a failing grade, but I’m willing to cut defensive coordinator Chuck Heater a break. After replacing eight starters from a year ago, the defense was beyond young entering 2016. Young players such as Chase Hancock, Davon Durant, and Chris Jackson have been thrusted into key roles early on and it’s shown in the results. Although those three players are very talented, experienced just can’t be replaced, especially when you’re replacing guys like Evan McKelvey, DJ Hunter, and Corey Tindal. After six games, there are still some flaws within the defense, but we’ve been able to see the younger guys starting to feel their way. Coming off a strong performance against Florida Atlantic, Jackson was the defensive player of the week for Marshall’s defense. Hancock continues to lead the defense in tackles, and Durant has flashed his athleticism on more than one occasion. The biggest improvement going forward this defense needs to make is just to play with more consistency. There are plenty of bullets in the barrel for Heater and his staff, they just need to shoot straighter. ~ Josh Stowers

(D) This unit gets a slightly worse grade than the offense. It should probably be worse, but there has been a lot of turnover on that side of the ball and I think I’m seeing some improvement in the secondary. The run defense has to get better and that goes to all players in the first two levels. Our defensive line has to do a better job of filling holes and at least start doing a better job of occupying blockers to keep them off of our linebackers. And our linebackers have to show a presence. If the running back gets through the line, he’s getting to the secondary. ~Sean Hammond

(B) Marshall’s special teams have actually exceeded my expectations through the first six games of 2016. Although Marshall lost the best return man to ever suit in kelly green, Deandre Reaves, they haven’t seen a huge drop off in kickoff and punt returns. Kick returns have only dropped off by four yards/return and the same goes for punt returns. Keion Davis has already shown the ability to make an impact with his 99-yard return for a touchdown against North Texas. Hyleck Foster hasn’t broken any big returns in the punting game yet, but I think his time is coming. After losing a four-year starter at long snapper, that was a huge concern entering 2016, but true freshman Matt Beardall (took over after four games) has proven to be effective. Punter Kaare Vedvik, in his first season, is averaging 40.3 yards/punt with a long of 59. Kickoff specialist Amoretto Curraj picked up this season where he left off last season by blasting kicks into end zone. Curraj is actually performing slightly better in 2016 (63.4 yards/kickoff) than he has during his career at Marshall (63.2 yards/kickoff). 18 of his 35 kickoffs have been touchbacks and anytime that number is over 50%, that’s impressive. With the good, comes the bad as in all things. Curraj also doubles as the place kicker, and has struggled so far. So far, he’s 3/6 on field goals and has already missed two extra points this season. Hopefully Curraj, like the rest of the team, can find some consistency in his kicking and this group will be a strength going forward in the second half of the season. ~ Josh Stowers

(C+) Outside of the kicking game, the special teams play hasn’t been bad. Great coverage units and we’re making some plays in the return game. Vedvick hasn’t been Tyler Williams, but he’s doing a nice job. Our kickoffs are usually ending up in the endzone. The only failure in this group has been field goal kicking. ~Sean Hammond

(C-) I realize that basketball and football are two totally different animals, but something Mike Krzyzewski always says entering a new season is that, “this is a new team and I’m new to this team so we have to learn together.” Now, I’m not comparing Doc Holliday to the greatest college coach of all-time (regardless of sport), but this quote carries over to any sport. The 2016 version of the Marshall Thundering Herd are different than any other team that Doc has fielded during his time here, and although we may not understand it, he has to learn how to coach and win with this team on the fly. There are so many factors that play into wins and losses at the collegiate level, that not one of us could possibly understand. It’s easy to play Monday Morning Quarterback, but the truth is Doc is doing the best he can with a team that’s just not ready to win at the level we had hoped for. 2-4 is not acceptable and Doc, his coaches, his team, and the administration know that, but it’s our job as fans to support them no matter what because that’s what being a fan is all about. It’s almost like a marriage. “For better or worse.” ~Josh Stowers

(F) No matter what you want to blame this season’s failures on, it all comes back to the staff. Are we young? Yes, but these coaches have recruited this roster. If experienced players leaving, getting run off, etc. have contributed to the youth, I have a hard time not laying a lot of that blame on the coaches’ feet. They recruited those quitters and players who had to go. I also see a team that isn’t growing by leaps and bounds like it should. The experienced players on this roster aren’t much better from last season or even from two years ago. Where is the development? Doc and his staff did so well developing those 2013 and 2014 teams. I’m not seeing nearly the same progression. ~Sean Hammond