— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall football coach Tony Gibson has warned his team of the challenge that awaits Saturday afternoon when the Thundering Herd welcome Old Dominion.
The contest at Joan C. Edwards Stadium starts at 3:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
The first home game in nearly a month for Marshall (2-3, 0-1) comes against an ODU (4-1, 1-0) squad fresh off a 47-7 thrashing of Coastal Carolina. The Monarchs had a 619-189 edge in total yardage, and since a 13-point season-opening loss at nationally-ranked Indiana, ODU has picked up wins over North Carolina Central (54-6), Virginia Tech (45-26) and Liberty (21-7) in addition to last week.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Colton Joseph has been key to the team’s success, throwing for 1,215 yards and 12 touchdowns, while rushing for 433 yards and five scores.
The challenge against a player like Joseph, who can turn a simple play into a score, will be significant, though MU has had extra time for recuperation and preparation.
“We’re going to have to be really sound in coverage,” Gibson said. “If you load the box, he can beat you by throwing the ball. If you drop back a bunch of guys in coverage, you have to worry about him running. There have been times where people have defended him perfectly and he just makes a play. They spread you from sideline to sideline and get you in space, so we’re going to have to do a great job in space tackling people and being able to shut down this run game first.”
Joseph is aided by receivers Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, Ja’Cory Thomas and Tre Brown, a trio that has combined for nine receiving touchdowns.
In the backfield, Trequan Jones joins Joseph as the main threat with 451 yards and four touchdowns.
The Monarchs are averaging 36.2 points, while allowing only 14.6.
“We have to play ball control in this game,” Gibson said. “We can’t go three-and-out, but we have to sustain drives and special teams will be a big factor in this game as well.”
The Marshall offense has been improved with Carlos Del Rio-Wilson in command at quarterback, but that unit will also face a stern test against the Monarchs.
“They’re not giving up a lot of points,” Gibson said. “They’re sound. They tackle really well and they’re aggressive.”
Marshall has won nine of 10 all-time meetings against Old Dominion, which is 0-5 in Huntington.
“You can see those guys playing physical and hard,” Monarchs’ coach Ricky Rahne said of the Herd. “It’s going to be a good test for us and we know how hard it is to play in Huntington. We’ve got to prepare each day and that’s the task at hand right now.”