Know the Gasparilla Bowl Foe: Marshall
USF GASPARILLA BOWL MEDIA GUIDE
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, DEC. 16, 2018 – Now that finals are in the books, USF football is in full scouting mode as it prepares to face Marshall in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 20 at Raymond James Stadium.
Led by head coach Doc Holliday, Marshall (8-4, 6-2 in C-USA) won three of its last four regular season games to build some momentum heading into the program's 14
th bowl game appearance.
Marshall is 11-2 all-time in bowl games and its .846 winning percentage in NCAA-sanctioned postseason contests is the highest mark nationally among programs that have made at least five appearances. USF is tied for fifth with a .667 winning percentage in bowl games (6-3) and looks to snap the Thundering Herd's six-game postseason winning streak.
Get to know more about the Thundering Herd as the Bulls get ready to take on Marshall for the first time in program history.
Season Breakdown
In his ninth season with the program, head coach Doc Holliday has led Marshall to an 8-4 overall record, including an impressive 6-2 run in Conference USA.
The Thundering Herd finished one game behind Middle Tennessee in the C-USA's East Division with a first-year starting quarterback in redshirt freshman Isaiah Green. Fifty-one percent of Marshall's depth chart is made up of underclassmen, including 17 of 28 players on the offense's two-deep.
Marshall started off the season with wins over Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Kentucky, scoring 30-plus points in both games before a 37-20 loss to NC State. The Thundering Herd went 3-1 from there with victories over Western Kentucky, Old Dominion and Florida Atlantic before a 26-24 setback at Southern Miss.
During the stretch run, Marshall defeated Charlotte, UTSA and FIU prior to a 41-20 loss at Virginia Tech in the regular season finale.
Fast starts are a norm for Marshall, which has outscored opponents, 80-32, in the first quarter this season. The Thundering Herd has won 17 consecutive games when scoring first and has won the past eight when leading after the opening quarter.
The Coach
Doc Holliday is 5-0 in bowl games with Marshall and he'll be looking to top an old friend in
Charlie Strong in the Gasparilla Bowl.
Both head coaches served on the same defensive coaching staff under Urban Meyer at the University of Florida from 2005-07. Strong was the assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator while Holliday was an associate head coach and in charge of the Gators' safeties. Together, Holliday and Strong helped Florida limit Ohio State to 82 total yards in the Gators'
2006 BCS National Championship Game victory.
"That was a great deal and to have an opportunity to win that national championship was special," Holliday said.
After his three-season run at Florida, Holliday went back to his alma mater to serve multiple roles on the West Virginia staff from 2008-09 before getting his first head coaching opportunity at Marshall in December 2009.
Holliday helped the Thundering Herd capture the program's first C-USA championship in 2014 in the midst of three straight 10-win seasons (2013-15). Marshall has won eight games in each of the past two seasons and Holliday accomplished the feat this year with many up-and-coming players playing prominent roles.
"I have a lot of respect for his team," Strong said. "He has a very young team also, but they've been very productive. They've won some really big games and they've played very well."
For decades, Holliday has put a premium on recruiting the Sunshine State and his current roster has 30 players from Florida.
"He has a big-time name here," Strong said. "A lot of coaches really respect him because they know that when he comes in, he's going to recruit the right guys and he's going to have a really good football team."
The Quarterback and Marshall's Top Target
Isaiah Green earned Conference USA Co-Freshman of the Year honors after averaging 248.7 passing yards per game in his first season as Marshall's starting quarterback.
"Anytime you're playing a freshman quarterback early on, you're going to go through some growing pains," head coach Doc Holliday said. "… Watching him grow as a player and watching him develop the intangibles needed to play that position, we were fortunate."
Green has completed 55.7 percent of his 305 passing attempts this season for 2,238 yards and 15 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. The Fairburn, Ga., native has at least one touchdown toss to his credit in each of the nine games he's played (eight starts) and has produced five multi-TD performances.
Fortunately for Green, he gets to throw to one of the top receivers in Conference USA. Tyre Brady leads Marshall this season with 66 catches for 914 yards (13.8 ypc) and nine touchdowns. Before heading to the Senior Bowl, Brady is on the verge of becoming Marshall's first 1,000-yard receiver since 2014 and he's on a 23-game catch streak.
The Rushing Attack
Averaging 155.8 yards per game, Marshall ranks 86
th nationally in rushing offense but has plenty of playmakers in the ground attack.
Sophomore back Tyler King (Fort Meade, Fla.) has a team-leading 655 rushing yards on 108 attempts (6.1 ypc) and four touchdowns despite missing five games with a knee injury.
Redshirt freshman Brenden Knox generated all 485 of his yards in the final four games of the regular season on 83 attempts (5.8 ypc). Knox rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries in the regular season finale at Virginia Tech.
"It's just great to see some young players, when your number is called and you have to step up and play, that get the job done," Holliday said. "Knox was one of them."
Another player to keep an eye on is bruising back Anthony Anderson (6-2, 240), who leads the team with eight rushing touchdowns.
The Defense
Averaging 202.1 rushing yards per game, USF will be tested by Marshall's stingy defense that ranks ninth nationally in rushing defense (103.9 ypg) and hasn't allowed an individual 100-yard rusher all year.
Scoring is no easy task either with Marshall giving up just 22.0 points per game in a season that has included games against NC State and Virginia Tech.
Nine starters have returned to Marshall's multiple defense, including first team all-conference safety Malik Gant (6-2, 200), who is the only player in C-USA with at least nine tackles for loss and two interceptions this season.
Star power continues up front with second team all-conference tackle Ryan Bee (6-7, 280), who ranks 10th in Marshall history with 18.5 career tackles for loss. Junior linebacker Omari Cobb (6-4, 223) is one of only eight players in college football with at least 50 tackles, four sacks, an interception and a defensive touchdown this season. Senior linebacker Chase Hancock leads the team with 8.9 tackles per game and needs two more stops to reach 100 for the second straight season.
Aside from being great against the run, Marshall ranks fifth nationally in sacks per game (3.25), sixth in three-and-out percentage (41.3), 10
th in three-and-outs per game (5.17) and 15
th in third down conversion percentage defense (31.89).
Notable
- 13 PLAYERS HONORED BY C-USA: Marshall reeled in lots of league recognition this season with 13 players earning all-conference or all-freshman honors. First team all-conference members include OL Levi Brown, WR Tyre Brady, safety Malik Gant and long snapper Matt Beardall. Learn more HERE.
BEARDALL BOWL: The Gasparilla Bowl will be a family affair for USF long snapper Andrew Beardall, a freshman from Merritt Island, Fla. Beardall's older brother, Matt, is a first team all-conference long snapper for Marshall. Read about the special opportunity for the Beardall brothers to reunite HERE.- MORE USF-MARSHALL CONNECTIONS: USF defensive tackles coach Sean Cronin had three different stints on the Marshall coaching staff, most recently as Doc Holliday's defensive ends coach (2013-16) and also in the 2010 season. Cronin spent the 2005 season as a Marshall graduate assistant… USF LT Eric Mayes and Marshall WR Talik Keaton both attended Booker High School in Sarasota… USF kicker Coby Weiss and Marshall QB Jackson White both went to Buchholz High School in Gainesville… USF safety Mekhi LaPointe and DE Jabreel Stephens along with Marshall DB Markeis Colvin all attended Armwood High School in Seffner, Fla... USF DT Rashawn Yates and Marshall LB Omari Cobb both went to Treasure Coach High School in Port St. Lucie, Fla… USF LB Dwayne Boyles, WR Jernard Phillips and WR Darnell Salomon all attended Miami Central High School along with Marshall DE Marquis Couch.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF posted its second straight 10-win season in 2017 (10-2) by winning its second straight Birmingham Bowl with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. USF is one of just 15 teams nationally to win 20-plus games in the last two seasons (21-4) and posted a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, reaching as high as No. 13 in Week 8 of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their last six bowl appearances and made nine (6-3) total bowl appearances in 21 seasons, including a current run of three straight bowls. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2) and has posted 14 winning seasons. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and had 28 first-team all-conference selections.
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