I still caution all those that say it's 12-0 or bust and one loss is an indictment on Doc Holliday as a head coach. Herd faithful need to look no further than 1998 when we lost a head scratcher with a loaded team at Bowling Green. It can happen and it usually takes luck. Once again all the Herd faithful can remember just how close we came to chocking it away in the MAC Championship game in 1999.

The entire article is kind of lengthy but well worth the read. Here is an excerpt.

"Doc Holliday has been accumulating talent in a way that dwarves most of the other teams, past and present, in Conference USA. There are 39 former three-star recruits listed below and three former four-stars. That is a level of recruiting (and/or transfer-wrangling) nobody else in the conference can touch.

And the scariest part is, in 2013 production began to match potential. With a team that was still relatively young, Marshall improved from 82nd to 52nd overall in the F/+ rankings. Marshall almost won at Virginia Tech (it took a relatively poor performance not to), pummeled East Carolina to win the Conference USA East, and looked like the bigger, stronger, faster team against Maryland in the Military Bowl. The Herd looked the part in 2013 and began to play like it.

And in 2014, they return an ace quarterback, his top target, a couple of explosive running backs, two all-conference offensive linemen, and nine starters from a defense that recorded 102 tackles for loss and improved from 117th io 78th in Def. F/+ last season.

So yeah, Marshall is indeed your Conference USA overlord in 2014. And I'm not sure it's close."


Full Article

I'll say flattering write-up, if not excellent. I just hope our kids don't buy into the hype. They'll have a target on them all season. No one is gonna hand them a damn thing. They still have to earn it. But if there is a year that we're gonna do something big, this would be the one.

I dont think our new conference mates are getting enough credit. I think MTSU and WKU are both good programs. I very seriously doubt we run the table, but man it would be nice.