“Huff Beaters”

At long last the 2023 season has mercifully

come to a close. What started as a year of promise with aspirations of getting a shot at the NY6, has ended in one of the most disappointing, and weird seasons to date.

All along the way, Herd fans were constantly reminded of a particular saying we all have grown to loath… That of course being “Herd Beaters”. Huff coined this phrase to explain that more often times than not, the other team does not just outright beat The Herd

, but instead its The Herd’s own mistakes which leads to its downfall. Upon further review of how this season has gone, I have come up with this conclussion… Maybe it was not “Herd Beaters” that has plagued Marshall for so long… But, perhaps, it was “Huff Beaters”.

Last night I turned on the Frisco Bowl and as the 1st quarter came to a close I had a lot of optimism. This looked like the Marshall team we saw during the start of the 2023 season. It appeared as if Marshall may shock the Roadrunners in their own backyard. Not too long after that things fell apart, in spectacular fashion. The conductor of this disaster that enabled much of the madness was non other than the Head Coach himself. Throughout the game I wrote down multiple notes of things I saw that I believe is nothing else but a poor performance of coaching. Here were my findings.

1. Play Calling by “Committee”

When I heard that the offensive scheme would be by “Committee” (whatever that means) I figured we were in for a night of trouble. This is not a shot at the players by any means, but as a former football player myself, I understand that sometimes in the heat of battle, players can be led by emotions and not logic. This is why there are coaches to begin with. To lead young men in creating a game plan that will put them in the best situation for success. It seems as if tonight coach took a backseat and allowed others to run the show. Again, at the start of the game it worked. But, when UTSA’s coaches made adjustments for Marshall’s play calling, things started to unravel quickly. In a situation as we saw tonight, where Marshall had no OC, and many other offensive coaches had also been fired, play calling duties should by default be handled by the HC. Making the decision to have play calling be made by a “Committiee” shows just how immature, and unprepared of a coach that Huff is for this level…

2. Lack of Defensive Adjustments At The End Of The First Half

The beginning of the end came with the late drive made by UTSA at the end of the first half. They marched right down the field by what was seemingly the same play being called over and over again. A quick out route located to the right side of the field. This play gained at least 5 to 7 yards a pop, and no adjustments were made. Corners were playing almost 10 yards off the receivers for the majority of this drive. UTSA literally just took what Marshall was willing to give them. This lack of adjustment can be shifted to the DC sure, but the HC has final say in all things that are done and said. It rests of Huff’s shoulders.

3. "Thundercat" Formation Debacle

There was a sequence of plays in which Cole Pennington made an absolutely beautiful downfield pass that set up Marshall in the drivers seat for a possible score that would have allowed them to take back the lead. Instead of capitalizing on the field position, or even allowing Pennington to continue to find his rhythm, the offense lined up in the fan favorite “Thundercat” formation. What happened next gave all of us flashbacks to when Clint Trickett was calling plays. 3 straight run plays right up the middle, for maybe a gain of 2 yards, killing any and all momentum  that was gained from the beautiful throw from Pennington.

4. Pennington Place Hold Disaster

Not long after that series of events, we saw the field goal unit trot onto the field. But instead of the normal holder that we have seen literally all season long, Cole Pennington came onto the field to try and fake out the UTSA Special teams unit. Soon after; Pennington called an audible, Marshall’s personal moved around very quickly trying to cause confusion, only to take a delay of game penalty which backed them up 5 yards. This perhaps was one of the worst “trick plays” I have ever seen in my life, and it only made Verhoff’s job more difficult. Now 4th and 7, with the real field goal unit on the field, Marshall makes a pivotal mistake in having a false start penalty backing them up 5 more yards. By this point Verhoff is rattled (as anyone would be) and misses the field goal. It was such a horrible series of decisions, and again… it rests upon the shoulders of Coach Huff

5. Play Action Pass on 4th and 2 When UTSA Sends The House

There was another vital 4th down play where Marshall was pushing into scoring position. On 4th and 2, the pre snap read was obvious, UTSA was sending the house. They didn’t try and hide it, nor come up with some complex scheme, it was as clear as day that they were sending almost every guy they had. Which makes the play call that much more confusing. In this situation a play action pass was called. If you know anything about football, even down to only a Madden base level (let alone being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars) when the defense sends the house, you don’t fool around with a play action pass. However, this was the play that was called, and as a result, Pennington was sacked, resulting in a turnover on downs… As I stated earlier, in games like these; play calling responsibilities should belong to the HC… Huff is to blame for this…

6. Did not allow Pennington To Recover After A Nasty Hit

At some point during the 4th quarter, Pennington took one of the nastiest hits I’ve seen a QB take in a long time. Marshall was scrapping the bottom of the barrel at QB already. Fancher transferred out, McMahon did not even travel with the team. So this meant that when Pennington went down, things would be left in the hands of 4th string Redshirt Sophomore Colin Paracheck. This is not a knock to Colin by any means, but he looked as if he were a dear in headlights. Any good coach would assess the situation and call a timeout to do one of two things. A) Buy some time to get Pennington back in the game, or B) Speak with Paracheck and calm him down a little bit.  Huff chose option C) and did nothing, and allowed Colin to throw a pass that would be intercepted and returned inside the UTSA 10 which led to a score one play later. Again, a poor coaching decision.

7. Allowed Ali To Play In This Game

Let me be perfectly clear, so that no one can twist my words or misinterpret what I’m saying. Rasheen Ali is an all time Marshall great. He will be forever remembered, and will go down in history as one of the best Running Backs that has ever put on a Kelly green uniform. I honestly believe that his desire was to finish the season out the right way, play the entire time, and help his team get a win. But Huff apparently had different plans. Marshall fans were delighted to hear that Ali would be playing in the Frisco bowl. When the first half got underway, and we saw Ali take a 60 plus yard run to the house, we all were jumping for joy. But when the second half rolled around, Ali was nowhere to be found.  Turns out Ali was on a pitch count by Coach Huff and this was the plan all along. My question is this… Why even have him play to begin with? So he could get one more TD before calling it a career? Pad some stats? It doesn’t make sense, because when his team needed him the most, Rasheen Ali was nowhere to be found… And this was not by his choice. You could see how frustrated he appeared to be on the sidelines as his brothers were struggling and he was handcuffed on the sideline. This decision is one I have never seen a head coach make before. It is clear that winning this game was not a priority for Huff at all. He may spin it in a lot of different ways in upcoming press conferences, shift blame, and defend himself. But there is no excuse for a coach (who is on the hot seat no less) to so openly not care about winning this bowl game to finish out the year strong and build momentum for next season. Truly, an embarrassing moment for all of us who have loved and supported this team.

The most amazing thing of all is the fact that these observations were not made over the course of one season, but instead were made over the course of one game. If we wanted to talk about all of the “Huff Beaters” we saw in 2023 alone, we would have to literally write an entire book on the subject. For the last few years I have been a constant defender of Charles Huff at Marshall. I have constantly tried to look on the bright side, and focus on the good rather than the bad. But watching the Frisco Bowl of 2023 broke my spirit. I cannot in good conscience say that I continue to support Huff and his overall lack of ability to be a successful head coach. The bottom line… Marshall football is in trouble… More trouble than it has been in, in a long time. Where do we go from here? What do we do? How do we come back from how badly this program is being ran into the ground? That remains to be seen. But something we all can agree on is this… Something MUST be done… and it MUST be done SOON. Or else Marshall will find itself in a hole that it will take almost a decade to dig itself out of…

What do you think? Where do we go from here? What moves should be made, if any? Comment below and let your voice be heard!