While the athletic engine is not something turned off frequently throughout a season, the Thundering Herd football team has an important open date this upcoming weekend before they head to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats.

For the athletes, it’s a much-needed time for rest and recuperation. For the coaching staff, it’s an important time to reach out and connect with potential new recruits.

“Going into an open date, the majority of our coaches are on the road recruiting yesterday and today. They will all get back tonight or first thing tomorrow morning and we will get back to practice on Wednesday.” Head coach Doc Holliday said during his Tuesday news conference

The team already has three big games under its belt and a fourth one upcoming, but the players now have the time to catch their breath and study the Bearcats.

“Any time with an open date, you have to concentrate on yourself and get better as a football team, so we will focus on that this week. We will continue to break down Cincinnati tape and get going on them on Monday night. But most of the work this week is on us getting better as a team.” Holliday said.

Coach Holliday believes the midseason bye week is something that the NCAA could double down on for teams starting next season, due to the NCAA buckling down on player saftey and the welfare of their athletes.

“I think you always miss open dates. They talk about player safety and welfare and I think they are moving in that direction. Looks like starting next year, I know they have proposals out there where it is a 14-week season and everyone will get to have two open dates. And to be honest with you, that is a good thing for player welfare because the kids get an opportunity to get a week off and catch their breath. Get healthy before moving into the next group of games,” Holliday said.

The players themselves will use this time to recuperate from their recent clashes on the football field this season. Red shirt junior defensive tackle Ryan Bee said the team will focus on getting treatment during the open date. 

“One big thing for a bye week is just getting everybody back to feeling good again. Throughout the season you will get bumps and bruises, where something’s not feeling right. Well this bye week, we will be able to get treatment and get back to being healthy,” Bee said.

Last season Marshall did not reap the benefits of having a bye week midseason. The team was tasked with playing 12 games in a row over the course of two and a half months. This season’s bye week is much more fortuitous than last seasons.

“Last year when we had that bye week the first week, it was killing us because we had already had three or four weeks of camp and we were just dying to get on the field and go play a game.” Bee said.

Marcel Williams is no stranger to the positives and negatives of having a bye week. Williams spent two years at Ellsworth Community College where his team’s bye week was in the first week of the season, and in his second season he experienced similar bye to that of Marshall’s this year.

“My first year in junior college, we had a week one bye, then my second year it was either week three or week four. I am pretty excited to have a bye week in week four because it’s better than week one. We have been going on nine-week intervals, and this bye week will complete a nine-week interval and then after that, it’ll be nine more weeks so it’s kind of good for the mind and the body how we have been doing things around here.” Williams said.

The Thundering Herd will continue its season Saturday, Sept. 30 in Cincinnati, Ohio against the Bearcats. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will also be on ESPN 3. Cincinnati is currently 2-1 and first in the American Athletic East Conference.

Kyle Curley can be contacted at [email protected]