 "Photo: Sholten Singer")
There’s been the naysayers, the negative Nancies, the glass half-empty types. All of them have been feasting on Marshall football since its fourth quarter collapse Nov. 1 at UCF.
“This was embarrassing” and “I will no longer support the coach” are censored examples of the message board shouts being directed toward the men in green and white.
But those men have turned a deaf ear to the negativity. They’ve stayed together, bunkered in their own hiding place.
“We’ve been stuck in that Shewey Building in our little cave,” Thundering Herd head coach Mark Snyder said. “Then, we’ve been coming out to practice and everybody’s been spirited and in a great mood.
“We’ve been buried for the most part. The day we had off Saturday, (we watched) college football in the basement — in the other cave.”
When Marshall finally returns from hiding, it will be faced with its second chance at bowl-eligible win No. 6. The Herd (5-4, 3-2 Conference USA) will play Southern Miss (5-4, 3-2) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
By now, everyone’s heard how Marshall’s last chance to earn an extra game went. Up 13 with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Herd spiraled downward to the finish, yielding 14 unanswered points in a 21-20 loss to the Knights.
Now the tough part is trying to lose that painful memory in their heads.
They’ve had an extra week to clear the cobwebs.
“(The week off) was good because we got to heal up a little bit, but that loss had to sit in our minds a lot longer than we wanted to,” said senior tight end Cody Slate.
Its sat in not just the players’ minds but maybe the fans as well. The Herd was already struggling to fill seats (see the lowly 18,000-plus that came out for UAB on Oct. 24), but after what happened in Orlando, Fla., there’s a definite cause for concern.
But Snyder didn’t bat an eye on that thought Tuesday at his weekly news conference. He’s hoping for the strength in volume, not strength in numbers approach.
“It doesn’t matter how many show up,” Snyder said. “The ones that do show up are extremely loud. (Edwards Stadium) is still a hard place to play. It can be an extremely hard place to play.
“Again, (Southern Miss) is another look-look team. They change the plays at the line of scrimmage.
“It seems like any time any team’s down in (the student section) end zone, it gets loud and teams really struggle. It’d be nice to have that (crowd noise from the) 20 (yard line) to (the other) 20.”
Playing with deafening noise or lack thereof, Snyder’s Herd haven’t exactly taken full advantage of the Joan in his tenure. When he arrived in 2005, the 38,019-seat stadium was a house of horrors for opponents. Marshall held a nation’s best 102-7 record in its own backyard. But since Snyder’s roamed the sidelines, its won just a mediocre 16 of 27 home contests.
Not exactly intimidating stuff. But, then again, Saturday’s game is not on the road, where Snyder’s Herd has conquered just five of 24 opponents.
“We’re excited we’re back home,” Snyder said. “We’re excited to be home for two of the next three. We’re in a three game season right now and it’s hard not to look at what everybody else has out in front of them.
“We feel comfortable where we’re at and we’re excited to have those guys come to town.”
The second of Marshall’s three remaining contests is a Nov. 21 matchup with SMU at the Joan. The Mustangs are tied with nationally ranked Houston atop C-USA’s West Division at 4-1 in the league.
But a date with the Golden Eagles comes first. And a healthy and reenergized Herd squad will be ready for them, Snyder said.
“I know we needed to get healthy,” Snyder said. “We had some guys on the defensive side of the ball that were dinged up. Mario Harvey, Ashton Hall, DeQuan Bembry, Albert McClellan — they were dinged a little bit, and obviously our offensive line.
“We’ve got all those guys back at practice. They’re all healthy and refreshed.”
Andrew Ramspacher can be contacted at ramspacher@marshall.edu.
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