Post by rainman on Sept 5, 2007 6:03:38 GMT -5
Snyder sees speed on both teams
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Mark Snyder, Marshall’s third-year head coach, talked about his team’s speed as well as that of West Virginia (1-0) in a teleconference on Tuesday afternoon.
“It should be a fun Saturday,” he said of the seventh meeting between the Mountain State’s largest universities in the Friends of Coal Bowl. The kickoff is set for 11:10 a.m. Saturday in Huntington’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
“I think our speed is increased. We didn’t look out of place (in the 31-3 loss at Miami last Saturday). We just didn’t have opportunities to get the ball into our playmakers’ hands very much.”
That was because the quarterback was on his back for most of the day.
But Snyder repeated that he did see a lot more speed out of a faster team than the Thundering Herd has had in the past. He also thought MU tackled well – “a lot better than we’ve tackled before.”
He said his team must tackle well in space against the high-powered West Virginia offense, especially in the open field.
“We did that fairly decent at Miami against some good athletes,” he added.
“The one thing we need to do is get better from game one to game two. That’s for sure because we have a very good team coming in here Saturday. We made a bunch of usual mistakes against a very good Miami front.
“We put ourselves in negative-yardage plays before the ball was ever snapped. Those are hard to overcome when you’re playing a team like Miami in the Orange Bowl.
“That’s a recipe for disaster.”
Asked what challenges the No. 3-ranked Mountaineers present, Snyder replied:
“Their speed. They’re playing hard, defensively. They’re playing with a lot of emotion.
“Offensively, they’re very, very explosive. There is nowhere on the field that is safe. And they’re very sound in the kicking game.”
West Virginia has been installed as a 23 1/2-point favorite. ESPN2 will televise the action nationally.
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Mark Snyder, Marshall’s third-year head coach, talked about his team’s speed as well as that of West Virginia (1-0) in a teleconference on Tuesday afternoon.
“It should be a fun Saturday,” he said of the seventh meeting between the Mountain State’s largest universities in the Friends of Coal Bowl. The kickoff is set for 11:10 a.m. Saturday in Huntington’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
“I think our speed is increased. We didn’t look out of place (in the 31-3 loss at Miami last Saturday). We just didn’t have opportunities to get the ball into our playmakers’ hands very much.”
That was because the quarterback was on his back for most of the day.
But Snyder repeated that he did see a lot more speed out of a faster team than the Thundering Herd has had in the past. He also thought MU tackled well – “a lot better than we’ve tackled before.”
He said his team must tackle well in space against the high-powered West Virginia offense, especially in the open field.
“We did that fairly decent at Miami against some good athletes,” he added.
“The one thing we need to do is get better from game one to game two. That’s for sure because we have a very good team coming in here Saturday. We made a bunch of usual mistakes against a very good Miami front.
“We put ourselves in negative-yardage plays before the ball was ever snapped. Those are hard to overcome when you’re playing a team like Miami in the Orange Bowl.
“That’s a recipe for disaster.”
Asked what challenges the No. 3-ranked Mountaineers present, Snyder replied:
“Their speed. They’re playing hard, defensively. They’re playing with a lot of emotion.
“Offensively, they’re very, very explosive. There is nowhere on the field that is safe. And they’re very sound in the kicking game.”
West Virginia has been installed as a 23 1/2-point favorite. ESPN2 will televise the action nationally.
