The Student Printz

Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Courtesy of Media Relations Runningback Damien Fletcher rushes through the defensive line for a touchdown during last year's game against Marhsall.

Austin Davis said Monday that until last week, he was having trouble sleeping on Friday nights. If that's true, the red-shirt freshman has looked pretty good playing on little or no sleep.

Davis has started his Southern Miss career with three consecutive 200-yard passing performances, and will look to continue that trend Saturday when the Eagles host Marshall at 2:30 p.m. to kick off Conference-USA play.

The Herd (2-1) have never beaten the Eagles, losing by a combined 102-55 in their only three meetings, but this season's Herd has shown what it can do on the field. They might not have turned many heads with their season-opening 35-10 win over Illinoise State or their 17-16 edging of Memphis (0-3), but head coach Mark Snyder's Herd can create problematic matchups with their offense, and feature one of the best defensive players in college football.

Marshall quarterback Mark Cann, a true freshman, has been strong in his first three games, completing 45 of 89 passes for 596 yards, but he's thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns and struggles when he's forced out of the pocket.

Cann's main target, wide receiver Darius Passmore, represents a real threat. Passmore has 17 catches for 334 yards (19.7 avg.) and three touchdowns. Two-time All-Conference tight end Cody Slate has been limited by injury in the first three games, but could see some action Saturday.

The Herd passing game can cause problems, but Marshall's real bread-and-butter is in the run game, an area they have been successful in so far this year. Darius Marshall is the Herd's leading rusher coming in, averaging just over 100-yards a game, including a 140-yard effort against Memphis last week.

On defense, it's all about versatile defensive end Albert McClellan. McClellan is listed as a linemen, but has the athleticism to play both end and outside linebacker, which he often does. The 6-foot-2 252 pounder from Lakeland, Fla. was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, but was forced out of action for all of 2007 with a knee injury.

The Marshall linebacking corp is led by senior Maurice Kitchens, who was second in tackles last season with 90.

The Thundering Herd secondary is anchored by safeties C.J. Spillman and John Saunders. The duo combined for 199 tackles in 2007.

Fedora said that his offense will have its work cut out for them if they plan to continue averaging nearly 430 yards-per-game.

"(McClellan) has come back, and he is playing really well," Fedora said. "They are young in the secondary, but they are doing a lot of things with the blitzes, and changing up their fronts, going from three down lineman to four down lineman trying to confuse you."

The Eagles got some good news in practice on Tuesday, when both Calvin Wilson and Ryan Hebert went through a full practice without a hitch and likely will be healthy when the Herd come to town.

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