Marshall presents the perfect challenge and measuring stick for the Akron Zips to see how far the rebuilding plan under head coach Terry Bowden has improved over three seasons.
AKRON, Ohio -- This is the kind of game, against undefeated Marshall (3-0), that the rebuilding Akron Zips have been pointing toward.
Three years into the project, head coach Terry Bowden and a now veteran team has a measuring stick -- not too hard (Penn State), not too soft (Morgan State) -- but just right to see where the process now stands.
Bowden, in fact, admits that the Thundering Herd has the makeup of the kind of teams he envisions for the Zips (1-1).
"A great challenge for us,'' Bowden said Tuesday at his weekly media briefing. "(Marshall) runs it well, and throws it very well.
"Yes. I don't think anybody in their right mind wouldn't like to run it (286.7 yards per game) and pass it (333.7 yards per game) like that. Do I envision us being like them? Exactly."
Bowden said Marshall's offense, which has scored scored 42, 48 and 44 points this season, is at the peak of its game behind senior quarterback Rakeem Cato (953 yards, 9 TD).
"They're coming off a manhandling (44-14) of Ohio University last week," he said, noting Akron's defense, which has only given up 21 points to Penn State and none to Morgan State, has to be up to the challenge.
Now the offense, experienced and expected to be a potent unit all season, has to measure up. Because Marshall, against basically a Mid-American Conference schedule (Miami, Rhode Island, Ohio) has extended a string that now stands at nine 40-point games in its last 10 regular-season matchups, including last season.
That could very well continue as The Herd, unlike most mid-major grid programs, has no power five conference team on its schedule this season.
In recent years, the rebuilding Zips have been fed to the wolves against Michigan, Tennessee, Penn State and under-valued Central Florida, then the top layer of MAC teams.
It was hard to measure just where the team stood. Midway through three straight 1-11 seasons, prior to 4-8 last season, losing and inevitable injuries began to wear the team down.
Not now. Standing at .500, coming off a bye week, and with the leaves still green on the trees, the healthy Zips can give a true measure of themselves at 2 p.m. Saturday in InfoCision Stadium against Marshall, a team that once dominated the MAC before sliding down the ranks of also-rans in Conference USA, only to rise again after that league was raided by bigger conferences.
"We clearly think we have a good defense, but this will be a huge challenge,'' Bowden said. "I don't know how you beat Marshall unless we hold them a little (below) their average and we score a little above our average.
"You're not going to win the game unless you can get into the upper 30s, at least. And if the past is any indication you will have to score over 40 to win this game."
The Zips, behind second-year starting quarterback Kyle Pohl and one of the top 10 returning receiving units in the nation, now have the chance to send a message to the rest of the MAC's East Division, if not the league, that the time is now for Akron.
"We know we got to put up some points,'' Pohl said after Tuesday's short, yet lively, practice. "I think that's something we can definitely do. It all comes down to us being able to execute, doing the little things better."
The plus for Akron was the bye week, not only to get guys healthy, and for Ohio State transfer offensive lineman Tommy Brown to get up to speed now that he has been declared eligible, but to fine tune an offense that put up 41 points in the opener vs. Morgan State, but just three against the Nittany Lions.
"That (bye) was really big," Pohl said. "It gave us a chance to clear our minds after a long camp and two tough games. Now we're back into it. Everybody is positive, and everybody has the right attitude."
Now, can the Zips score enough points to topple the Thundering Herd.