Seeking Redemption
December 22, 2003 10:55 AM | General
December 22, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s 34-7 loss to Maryland earlier this year is one game quarterback Rasheed Marshall would like to forget.
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| Quarterback Rasheed Marshall is looking to redeem himself after being lifted in WVU's game at Maryland earlier this year. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) | |
Marshall completed just 2 of 7 passes for 25 yards and ran 8 times for minus 11 in easily the worst game of his career. It was the only time since he became a full-time starter in 2002 that he was removed from a game for ineffective play.
“It was a tough situation,” said Marshall. “I understand the reason for the decision. Coach (Rich Rodriguez) wanted to try and put some points on the board and we needed a spark. I just took it in stride. It happens all the time.”
Marshall is too classy to bring up the extenuating circumstances he was under or the fact that as a competitor he wanted to finish the game. Don’t forget, the junior is one of WVU’s winningest quarterbacks having forged an impressive 17-7 record as a starter.
Marshall says he used the time standing on the sidelines at Maryland to his benefit, “You definitely have a different viewpoint watching,” he admitted. “There were ‘coulda-shoulda-wouldas,’ ‘I would have done this or I would have done that,’ and you just sit back and learn from that. You can see what they’re doing a whole lot better.”
But the fact of the matter was during most of the time Marshall was in the game he was simply running for his life. Backup quarterback Charles Hales had no better luck, hitting 1 of 5 passes for 11 yards. Even though it was the fourth game of the year, West Virginia was still breaking in a new offensive line that wasn’t even close to gelling the way it did at the end of the season.
“It was a little tough because I played with an experienced group of guys last year and then right off the bat this year we’ve got some inexperienced guys,” said Marshall. “Things weren’t working the way they were a year ago but all you can do is have patience until they could get their things together.”
In the meantime, Marshall had to deal with three and sometimes four pass rushers bearing down on him. Maryland’s experienced and physical defensive front had no trouble getting off blocks and making plays. Marshall said Maryland’s schemes prohibited him from getting out on the perimeter where he is most dangerous.
“That was a good thing they did the last time we played them,” he said. “They made sure they kept me boxed in. I had a hard time trying to get on the corners on bootlegs and things like that.”
According to Marshall good schemes were only part of it, “They’ve got good players, too.”
Eight of Maryland’s 11 defensive starters have started every game and all 11 have made at least eight starts this year.
“They’ve got a good set of linebackers and a pretty strong secondary. And their defensive line is good; they’re stacked,” said Marshall.
One player Marshall is going to have to be particularly aware of is junior defensive tackle Randy Starks. The all-ACC performer has helped Maryland hold four teams to less than 100 yards rushing this year.
“He’s a force in there. He runs well and he’s strong,” said Marshall of Starks.
Marshall says West Virginia is going to have to be better prepared for Maryland’s blitzes.
“They like to come at you, they like to blitz and pretty much try and overpower you,” he said. “We definitely got to have a lot of quick stuff for when they blitz; have some hot routes.”
In addition to having a more experienced offensive line, Marshall also has an extra weapon to keep Maryland’s defense honest in the form of 6-foot-5 speedster Chris Henry. If Maryland wants to crowd the line of scrimmage, stop the run or sell out on a blitz, Marshall can go for hit a big pass downfield to Henry.
“Chris is definitely a threat,” said Mashall. “We didn’t have him the first time around and he’s more experienced now; he’s been in some big games. Hopefully he can contribute and help us out.”
Gator Bites ...
Despite owning that critical information, Marshall isn’t sure if McBrien’s understanding of the Mountaineer offense has played that big a part in West Virginia’s three lopsided losses to Maryland.
“It’s hard to tell,” he said. “There is a lot of speculation about that but you never know. Two years ago we went over there and guys were saying Scott was reading our signals. But I saw Scott all the way down the sideline somewhere way far off to where he couldn’t be giving signals. It’s something that you could bring up but I don’t really know if that’s the case.”
The junior has now moved into 10th place in career passing yards (3,585), 10th in career pass attempts (536), 10th in career completions (288) and tied for 10th with Hostetler and Allen McCune with 26 touchdown passes.
Marshall, the school’s second all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks with 1,144 yards, is also one of the school’s best at avoiding interceptions. His interception avoidance percentage of .0308 ranks fourth among WVU quarterbacks with 100 or more attempts.
Perhaps most impressively, Marshall is already sixth on the school list for touchdowns-responsible-for with 45. He is 22 touchdowns away from breaking Ira Errett Rodgers’ 84-year school record of 66 total touchdowns.
Marshall hurt his index finger hitting a helmet twice in practice before the Syracuse game. He was able to get through Syracuse because it was indoors, but the Temple contest was a different story.
“It was painful because of the weather and the coldness made it stiff,” he said. “I just took a few Tylenol before the game and put some tape on it.”
“We would get together on New Year’s Eve the night before and then wake up the next day and watch the Gator Bowl first,” he said. “This year I will be breaking that tradition but they will be watching me.”
Marshall’s most memorable Gator Bowl was the Virginia Tech-Clemson game a few years ago. “I thought Clemson was going to do something against Virginia Tech and it went the other way,” he said.
