Marshall quarterback Stone Earle (11) runs with the ball during an NCAA football game against Ohio State on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.
Marshall quarterback Stone Earle (11) runs with the ball during an NCAA football game against Ohio State on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.
HUNTINGTON — A dual-threat quarterback who has improved every week and an explosive running back have helped the Marshall offense turn into an extremely balanced unit.
Success in each of those areas, Thundering Herd coach Charles Huff said, is the byproduct of the other in a new offensive scheme — the pass game opens up the run, and vice versa.
The result is career-best starts to the year for both ball carrier AJ Turner and signal-caller Stone Earle.
“There were at times last year where we were running the ball with Rasheen [Ali] and there were eight, nine guys in the box, but we had to try to do that,†Huff said. “So I think right now, if you look at those runs that AJ has been able to hit, the box has been advantageous because defenses are kind of in a decision-making process because of the way the Air Raid system works. When the box isn’t advantageous, we’re throwing.â€
Turner has three runs of more than 65 yards in four games to start the year. One of those went for a touchdown and the other two set up scoring drives for the Thundering Herd against Virginia Tech and Western Michigan.
Earle has thrown seven touchdowns and turned it over just twice, a fumble and a tipped-ball interception. He has already collected career bests in touchdowns thrown and passing yards (537), all while being the Herd’s second-leading rusher behind Turner.
Marshall has thrown for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns in four games while rushing for 774 yards and three scores, one by Turner and two from Ethan Payne.
Turner credited past Herd running backs Khalan Laborn and Ali for preparing him to be the go-to player in the backfield this season. He added that the Marshall offense hasn’t yet reached its full potential.
“I still feel like we’re not clicking all the way. We’ve still got a lot of more room to grow,†Turner said. “We’ve still got a lot of things to clean up, but we are getting better and just have to keep working.â€
Marshall has engineered back-to-back opening-drive touchdowns for early leads on Ohio State and Western Michigan, but has struggled to continue to build momentum on the offensive drives that follow.
Earle said that’s the next step the Herd hopes to take as it enters conference play.
“That’s one thing that we wanted to clean up after the first and second game is just starting fast, and that’s one thing we’ve been able to do,†Earle said.
“But at the end of the day, we’ll start fast and then we kind of hit this little lull, and then we’re kind of just going up and down. It starts with me. I’ve got to be more consistent in my play.â€
Luke Creasy is a sports reporter for HD Media. He can be reached by phone at 304-526-2800.
