Spring Football: ; Offensive Lines Under Close Watch; Holliday Notices Herd Is Starting to Click Up Front

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HUNTINGTON - Doc Holliday witnessed it. A chunk of yards gained on the ground here, a wide running lane opening over there. Maybe, just maybe, Marshalls head football coach was seeing his offensive line finally click during spring drills this week. Hopefully that means that offense is getting a little bit better and that offensive line is starting to come together, the second-year Herd coach said after the defense finally struggled to stop the youthful offense. Maybe. Hopefully. That unit is awfully thin. Not in terms of weight, but in depth. They are short, too. Not in height, but experience. Seniors Ryan Tillman and C.J. Wood, the left tackle and right guard, respectively, have started a combined 59 games for Marshall. The rest have five starts between them, and that includes Alex Schooler, who is out this spring after having offseason shoulder surgery. That means offensive coordinator Bill Legg, who doubles as the line coach on that side of the ball, had a tough task this spring. He requested three things of the big guys up front. Be better fundamentally. Become more physical. Do a better job of finishing. At the end of the day thats all Im worried about right now, Legg said. Tillman and Wood are the obvious anchors for the Herd, but there is promise elsewhere. Garrett Scott, a 6-4, 287-pound true sophomore, skipped his precious redshirt year last season because of a dearth of available bodies on the line. He has been starting at left guard this spring. Corey Tenney, a 6-7, 296-pound sophomore, has emerged as one of Leggs surprises at right tackle. Tenney has two career starts, while Schooler, Jordan Jeffries and Chris Bowers have one each. Jeffries, a 6-7, 315-pound sophomore, is battling Tenney for first-team reps. Bowers is competing with freshman Chris Jasperse at center. We are not playing a game; we dont have an opponent, Legg said. We are trying to become a better football team through repetition. Were going to become a more physical team and were going to play hard from snap to whistle, which means we need to do a better job of finishing. If we get those things straightened out then we can go into the summer and get stronger. After Wednesdays practice, Holliday was cautiously optimistic about the offensive lines progress. The one thing I think about this offensive line, and I told them yesterday, is its the first day that I really feel like theyve taken a step where they are blocking people and knocking people off the ball ... We got a long way to go there. We still arent near where we need to be on that offensive line, but I like those guys and I like their attitude and their work ethic.

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Spring Football: ; Offensive Lines Under Close Watch; Holliday Notices Herd Is Starting to Click Up Front

SOPHOMORE TIGHT end C.J. Crawford hauled in at least five catches in 7-on-7 and in situational sc...

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