The Marshall University Football team (4-2, 2-1 Conference USA) returns to Joan C. Edwards Stadium Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. matchup against Florida Atlantic University (3-3, 1-1 C-USA).

“(FAU) has tremendous talent on both sides of the ball,” Marshall head coach Doc Holliday said. “It’ll be a challenge for us that we are looking forward to. I know our fans are excited and it’s going to be a great atmosphere here on Saturday afternoon.”

Marshall and FAU have met five times before, and Marshall leads the all-time series 4-1. The Owls got their first-ever win against Marshall last season but have yet to win in Huntington. A win for the Owls would make it their first road victory of 2018.

FAU’s junior running back Devin Singletary was named C-USA preseason offensive player of the year and presents a threat on offense. Singletary is C-USA’s all-time career rushing touchdown leader and FAU’s all-time scoring leader. He also holds the C-USA record for consecutive games with a touchdown (19). Last season, Singletary became the first player in FAU history to be named an Associated Press All-American. Holliday acknowledged the challenge that Singletary poses for the Herd’s defense.

“(Singletary) is probably a guy you’ll see in the NFL this time next year, he’s a really good player,” Holliday said. “We’ll have to do a great job of wrapping him up and getting multiple guys to him because he’s a hard guy to bring down.”

At quarterback, the Owls have redshirt freshman Chris Robison, who transferred to FAU from Oklahoma. So far this season, Robison has completed 64.6 percent of his passes (115 of 178) for 1,416 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. He set the program’s passing yards record (471) and completion percentage record (82.5), both of which came against Air Force.

On defense, the Owls have senior linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who was named C-USA defensive preseason player of the year. FAU is the only school in the country to have two players with conference preseason honors. Last year, Al-Shaair led the conference in total tackles and was fifth nationally (147). He is also a three-year C-USA postseason honoree.

Marshall’s offense has several threats, as well. Last week, redshirt senior wide receiver Tyre Brady recorded his third 100-yard receiving game of the season. Brady is averaging 14.7 yards per catch and is tied for 14th nationally in receiving touchdowns (6).

At running back, Marshall has redshirt sophomore Tyler King who is 38th nationally in rushing yards per game (88.3). King is averaging 6.1 yards per attempt this season and has the third fewest carries of anyone in college football (87) with at least 500 rushing yards. After rushing for 195 yards on 22 carries in Marshall’s win against ODU, King was named C-USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week. The Herd also has redshirt senior running back Anthony Anderson, who ranks 36th nationally with six touchdowns. Anderson is averaging a touchdown for every six rushing attempts.

Redshirt junior quarterback Alex Thomson has started two games in place of redshirt freshman Isaiah Green, who was injured in a game versus Western Kentucky University earlier this season. Last week, Thomson threw a 33-yard pass to Brady—the longest pass of his Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) career. Thomson is 35-for-63 (55.6 percent) for 355 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in his past
two games.

On defense, Marshall is ranked 14th nationally in sacks with 20 this season. Redshirt junior defensive lineman Ty Tyler is ranked 15th nationally with six sacks and is 10th nationally in sacks per game. Last week, Tyler recorded a sack for the third consecutive game. Redshirt senior defensive lineman Ryan Bee jumped into 10th place in school history with 17 sacks.

Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium is nationally known for being one of the toughest places to play, with the Herd winning 82.1 percent of its home games. That is the fifth-highest mark in the country.

Morgan Griffith can be contacted at [email protected].