Intemann's Insight

By Kieran Intemann While the impending arrival of Hurricane Florence has already impacted football games along the east coast, Marshall’s Saturday evening contest at South Carolina is still scheduled to be played as of now. “As far as we’re concerned, we’re playing,” Marshall head coach Doc Holliday said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. “Until they tell us otherwise, we just go full speed ahead and go. Right now, we’re going as is, as we’re playing.” The most recent National Hurricane Center forecast predicts Florence, currently a Category 4 storm, to make landfall Friday morning as a Category 3 storm near Wilmington, North Carolina, before heading southwest through South Carolina and over Columbia. “Obviously, there are some weather issues out there,” South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp said. “Our campus and our state are handling that. Right now we’re on go for Saturday at 7:30. I haven’t had conversations with (South Carolina athletic director Ray) Tanner or (So...

By Kieran Intemann             When a team turns the ball over four times in a game, rarely does it win. When three of the four turnovers are committed by the special teams unit, it almost always results in a loss. Marshall football did that exact feat Saturday night at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, yet still found a way to grind out a 32-16 win over visiting Eastern Kentucky.             “You don’t ever want to apologize for a win, but I was a bit disappointed in some of the things that happened out there today,” Thundering Herd head coach Doc Holliday said. “That’s not normally us on some special teams deals that we’ll get corrected.”             After Marshall forced an EKU punt on the first drive of the game, Phillip Richards’ kick hit defensive back Jestin Morrow in the back and was recovered by the Colonels. A nearl...

Disclaimer: This article was originally published in The Parthenon. By Kieran Intemann When redshirt freshman Isaiah Green took the field Saturday evening at Yager Stadium, it marked the first time since 2011 that head coach Doc Holliday started a freshman quarterback in the season opener. The freshman who started the season opener seven years ago was Rakeem Cat. Cato. Cato broke numerous Marshall quarterback records and led the Thundering Herd to a 2014 Conference USA championship and bowl wins in 2011, 2013 and 2014. Holliday noted the similarities in his current and former quarterbacks. “(Green) has a little bit of Cato in him,” Holliday said. “He walks into different arenas and it doesn’t faze him a whole lot.” Green was announced as the starter one hour before kickoff, as he won the preseason quarterback battle with graduate transfer Alex Thomson. Green, a 6-foot-2, 202-pound native of Fairburn, Georgia, proved his worth in his debut, completing 24-of-37 passes for 272 ...

By Kieran Intemann             Marshall football opens its season Saturday afternoon at Miami (Ohio). Who takes the first snap under center for the Thundering Herd, however, remains a mystery.             “We’re trying to read everything we can about their team,” Miami head coach Chuck Martin said. “They obviously lost their quarterback last year, who went to the draft and was a really nice player for them.” A quarterback competition for the starting position has been in place since the start of fall training camp, but it appears head coach Doc Holliday has yet to make up his mind.             “It’s going to be a game-day decision,” Holliday said, when referring to the announcement of his starter. “Whoever that guy is will be starting (for Marshall) for the first time. The great thing is, whoever that guy is will b...

By Kieran Intemann After an 8-5 record and New Mexico Bowl win over Colorado State in 2017, Marshall football looks to be on the upswing heading into the 2018 season. Combine those numbers with the return of 18 starters from the 2017 squad (nine on offense, nine on defense) and the expectations that Doc Holliday’s squad could contend for a conference championship — its first since 2014 — are reasonable. “We’re excited for this season,” Holliday said. “I’m going on to my ninth season now and this is the most excited that I’ve been about a team here.” Not everything is perfect for the Herd, however. Marshall will have to adjust to the hiring of coordinators on both sides of the ball after longtime offensive coordinator Bill Legg resigned and defensive coordinator Chuck Heater left for a position at Maryland. Holliday hired Tim Cramsey from Sam Houston State to take over on offense and promoted linebackers coach Adam Fuller to defensive coordinator. Cramsey’s offense at Sam Hou...

            Covering a college sports beat can be exciting. There is a lot that goes on in college sports that can be covered, but there are a lot of unwritten rules that need to be followed in order to be successful. In fact, I’ve already taken some of these concepts and transitioned them into our sports team at The Parthenon. I’ve spent time over the last week meeting with coaches and sports information directors before their respective seasons started, asking questions as to how they see the game. Rick Farlow, sports editor, and I have met with our sports reporters from The Parthenon’s class to discuss ideas, policies and the potential of splitting up beats between the three reporters we have in that class.             Covering a college sports beat takes a lot of time, more than people realize. People seem to think that writing game stories and previews is all that gets ...