Welcome to Second Guess Tuesday. Here are the sunny, with a chance of rain, opinions of the day.
- Everybody always is curious about a quarterback battle.
And Marshall fans are no different.
At this point in spring practice, it is primarily a shootout between incumbent Cole Pennington and Braylon Braxton, a redshirt junior who transferred from Tulsa.
A third quarterback — Mitch Griffis, 5-foot-11, 193 pounds — will graduate from Wake Forest in May with two years of eligibility remaining. He was the primary starter for the Demon Deacons in 2023.
A lot is known about Pennington, considering the 6-3, 210-pound redshirt sophomore played last season and is the eldest son of former Thundering Herd and NFL star quarterback Chad Pennington.
But Braxton? He is rather unknown.
So, how is camp going for the 6-1, 228-pound Braxton?
“It’s not the best, not the worst,†he said. “I’m just trying to get better every day. We think we are leaders in that. Coach Huff [head coach Charles Huff] has been a lot of places, had a lot of experiences, had a lot of mileage. I feel like he’s leading us in the right direction.
“Another factor was our offensive coordinator, Seth Doege. We had a chance to watch him play when I was at Tulsa. He was a coordinator at Ole Miss, so I guess the relationship has had him travel to Marshall.â€
So far, Braxton is the No. 2 quarterback behind Pennington. But he is competing for the starting job.
“What I am looking forward to the most, really, is just getting better every day,†Braxton said. “There’s a lot of competition, but I just feel like if I focus on getting better every single day, I will come out a lot better.â€
The competition continues.
- Akron is Zip-ping in the transfer portal.
Akron, a perennial nonconference basketball opponent of Marshall, has picked up a couple of transfers who are somewhat well-known to fans in the Mountain State.
There is the well-traveled James Okonkwo. He is a native of England. Then, he played prep school basketball in Beckley before signing with West Virginia University. After one year in Morgantown, Okonkwo transferred to North Carolina for one season, then transferred to Akron.
Seth Wilson, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard, played in 28 games for WVU, but now too is at Akron.
Marshall could have used either one or both.
- Remember Cam Fancher?
Of course, everybody does. After quarterbacking the Herd the last two seasons, Fancher entered the transfer portal and signed with former Herd opponent Florida Atlantic.
How is he doing there?
So-so.
He played in FAU’s spring game, but the incumbent quarterback — Tyriq Starks — tossed three touchdown passes to only one for Fancher. That produced an interesting comment from FAU head coach Tom Herman.
“Everybody wants to talk about Cam Fancher,†said Herman, “and rightfully so, but Tyriq is going to have something to say about it.â€
Enough said.
