Marshall Roll Call

Is it me or was Saturday's game extremely boring? I watched it twice and I wanted to take a nap both times.

The defense is fun to watch, however. Especially the front seven.

I noticed some second teamers come in towards the end of the game, but I didn't really have anything to say about them, so I kept them off this week's roll call.

1. Antone Exum - Mr. Exum is pretty lucky he didn't get smoked for a touchdown when he was playing near the line of scrimmage about five minutes into the game. Tajh Boyd doesn't overthrow that ball next week. He needs to get the mistakes cleaned up pretty much right now. But, he deserves some props for the interception and return. (and the nice break up on Marshall's last offensive play).

2. Josh Oglesby - Can we talk about how important he's been this year? He runs with authority and has been extremely effective in the red zone.

3. Logan Thomas - He didn't have a bad day, but he didn't have a great day. I thought his accuracy was better on intermediate routes. His deep ball touch worries me, because ACC defensive backs are going to make more plays on under thrown passes. I also get nervous when he throws the out-route. I am not sure we should be calling that right now. Lastly, we saw yet again what he can do with the ball in his hands on his touchdown run -- let's get him moving around a little more (not a lot more).

4. David Wilson - Not the best of DW4 days. I really hope ball security doesn't become a big issue. Also, he needs to find the hole when he's behind the line of scrimmage. We all know what he's capable of, but he just needs to make it easier on himself -- he ran into the backs of his own linemen several times. This is the kind of vision I want Dave to have out there:

7. Marcus Davis - I was hoping for a big day for Marcus and I didn't get it. I'm pretty sure I saw a third down drop in the second quarter. Hopefully the ankle/foot that slowed him down on Saturday doesn't linger. The offense is going to need him to be reliable and consistent starting now.

8. Dietrick Bonner - Tough day for the young guy. Go watch the Marshall touchdown pass and you'll see 8 not paying attention to the receiver at the snap. Rich Rod called it a double move.

9. Cris Hill - He had a quieter day. I think he's has a solid start to the season, but I did see him make a bad read on a third down screen in the first quarter. Marshall got the first down, but if that's Sammy Watkins on Saturday, it could go to the house.

13. Randall Dunn - I saw a lot of 13 on the field and I noticed him line up in the slot and show some really solid speed several times. But everything was way down the field. Hopefully he forces his way into the offense by using that speed to get open closer to the LOS.

15. Eddie Whitley - I feel like I should notice Eddie more during games. He looked like lightning on the final drive of the game where he had a big tackle for loss and near sack.

16. Trey Gresh - Heck of a play on that blocked PAT.

17. Kyle Fuller - Compared with his other outings this year, I'll say he was OK on Saturday.

18. D.J. Coles - Considering I wrote a piece early in fall camp about how I thought it would be wise for Mr. Coles to redshirt, I'm sure glad he's playing. He looks explosive with the ball in his hands. Let's keep getting him the rock. Also, he did a great job of letting the Marshall defender know he got blown up on LT3's touchdown run. Voice of the people.

19. Danny Coale - He's good. But I don't really want him punting.

20. Jayron Hosley - I thought it was a pretty pedestrian day for Jayron, but the play he made on the game's opening drive is why he's awesome.

24. Tariq Edwards - I said after Week 1 that he and BT51 could be a great tandem this year, and he's holding up his end of the bargain. Once he locks in on someone, lights out. Just ask Tron Martinez how it felt when he got flipped in that second half screen.

25. Martin Scales - I think I mostly saw him in the red zone, where we did well.

29. Scott Demler - Danny Coale took over his job. The same Danny Coale that plays wide receiver.

33. Chris Drager - Solid day. He did his part in the run game. And, finally, he catches a pass. I can see him being a first down machine on mid-distance second and third downs.

42. J.R. Collins - After the ECU game I said I would like to see J.R. a half-step quicker. Well, on Saturday he was that and more. Go look at the play that had him hobbling off the field -- the burst he has off the edge to make that tackle is impressive. And it wasn't the only time he did that on Saturday. Huge game for him.

43. Jeron Gouveia-Winslow - I thought he was pretty sharp in pass coverage. And he does a good job of creating panic when he comes off the edge.

45. Joey Phillips - Another solid game. He had a great block on Wilson's first long carry of the game.

48. Justin Myer - Kick-off guy.

51. Bruce Taylor - Another highly productive day. He sniffs run and gets to the backfield so fast.

54. Nick Becton - Becton's first drive was actually real impressive. He was manhandling his assignment on both the run and pass.

56. Antoine Hopkins - Didn't notice 56 much this week.

62. Blake DeChristopher - Every time I saw 62, he was making a good block. I'd be surprised he didn't grade really well.

66. Tyrel Wilson - I thought he had a great day. The first time Marshall started pumping in boos through the speakers, it was because 66 absolutely smacked Van at the line of scrimmage.

67. Michael Via - I saw more good than bad. He's reliable.

68. Jaymes Brooks - There were whole drives where he couldn't accomplish anything positive. I know a lot of people talk about how linemen need to be mean, and I sometimes wonder if he's not mean enough. On the first drive of the second quarter, he didn't look like he was playing with a lot of fire in his belly. Let's feed him two West End Buffalo Chicken Wraps an hour before Clemson and watch him get 45 knockdowns.

72. Andrew Lanier - He looked OK. I saw a few real solid blocks. I was mostly just happy to see him on the field.

74. Andrew Miller - Mixed bag for me. He had some solid blocks, but I also saw him get blown 2-4 yards off the ball on third down more than once.

75. Greg Nosal - I think he was a little slow on 1-2 of his pulls, or maybe the tailbacks are too fast? He played well for the most part, but I saw some spotty plays.

80. George George - I saw Double G absolutely plant some dude on a DW4 carry in the second half. I hope he just yells his name when he does something like that. In all seriousness, he really gets after it in the run game. I saw him hit multiple defenders on several plays in the second half.

83. Corey Fuller - He saw a lot of action on Saturday and I thought he did just OK.

86. Eric Martin - Eric made a really nice play before dinging up his shoulder. I definitely noticed some solid blocks on our first two trips to the red zone.

89. Cody Journell - You know VT didn't cover the 20.5 because of Cody, right? I'm really, really nervous about our kicking situation. Just make the kicks, Cody.

90. Duan Perez-Means - Didn't notice DPM.

92. Luther Maddy - Saw Luther in there a bunch, but nothing outstanding. He doesn't get blown off the ball, but he's not often blowing anyone off the ball, either.

95. Zack McCray - Didn't notice Zack much.

96. Corey Marshall - If you go back and look at Marshall's last drive of the first half, you'll notice the dude has wheels (on that short in-route they took for like 35 yards).

98. Derrick Hopkins - A mostly quiet day for him, but there was one play late in the third quarter on a third and short where he slammed into the line, pushed the guy back, then dropped down and snagged the ankles of Van. Beast.

99. James Gayle - Please, please do this against Clemson. If I was the Marshall right tackle, I'd probably just quit football this week.