— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. —Tony Gibson pulled no punches when voicing his displeasure with the performance of the Thundering Herd offense on the opening day of preseason camp August 2.
The Marshall football head coach and members of his staff are more pleased with what they’ve seen from Herd quarterbacks, ball-carriers and receivers since.
“Some days have been better than others, Marshall offensive coordinator Rod Smith said. “We didn’t practice well on Monday, but we’ve rebounded and I’m proud of our effort and coming back and attacking the days.”
Smith worked with West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez last season at Jacksonville State and hopes to bring a fast-paced attack to Marshall with a heavy emphasis on tempo and little time between plays. The ability of the quarterback to read the defense is crucial as line of scrimmage decisions are often made to keep the ball, hand it off to a back or throw downfield.
Smith says transfer quarterbacks Carlos Del Rio-Wilson from Syracuse and Zion Turner from Jacksonville State are improving, along with redshirt freshman JacQai Long.
“They take coaching well,” Smith said. “Our guys get in the film room and see their mistakes and learn from them. Each one of them has a skill set and they are conscientious. We’ve just to keep getting better.”
Tight end Toby Payne echoes Smith and says Herd quarterbacks have the confidence of their teammates.
“They’re all good guys and good leaders and it’s great to see them excel and make plays out there,” Payne said.
Smith nor Gibson will name a starting quarterback, something the offensive coordinator is by design.
“You don’t want to force that,” Smith said. “It just comes naturally and success breeds confidence, so the more confidence those guys have, the more we’ll be successful. As camp goes on, we hope to keep building that confidence, putting them in stressful situations. I want them to feel the pressure.”
As a whole, the MU offense is using August to continue improving camaraderie and an understanding of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
“We’re working hard,” Payne said. “We’re spending nine or ten hours together every day and we’re jelling the first few days of practice. This is the best time of the year if you love football. It’s football all day.”
Smith wants to make the sure the unit is fully aware of the expectation as continued improvement is sought after with three weeks until a daunting challenge awaits in the August 30 season opener at Georgia.
“These practices are like gold, so our guys have to take each rep and each moment and take them to heart,” Smith said. “Our defense does a great job of disguising things and they’re making our quarterbacks work.”
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Three Marshall players were named to a pair of notable watch lists this week.
Wide Receiver Adrian Norton, who transferred from Akron in the spring, has been named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list. The Biletnikoff Award goes to college football’s top receiver annually. He caught 43 passes for 831 yards and seven touchdowns last season for the Zips.
Running Backs Jo’Shon Barbie and Tony Mathis are on the Doak Walker Award watch lists. The Doak Walker Award is given each year to the nation’s top running back.
Barbie transferred to Marshall from McNeese State and he rushed for 1,251 yards and 11 touchdowns in 17 career games as the primary back for the Cowboys over the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Mathis came to Marshall from Houston where he spent the last two seasons battling injuries. Prior to his time with the Cougars, Mathis was a featured ball-carrier at West Virginia.