The Razor's Edge

September 5, 2018,  Football  No comments

By Michael Morgan

The Marshall Thundering Herd defeated the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks by a score of 35-28 with strong support from a balanced offensive attack on Saturday in Oxford, Ohio.

The game featured the debuts of kicker Justin Rohrwasser and punter Robert Lefevre. Rohrwasser impressed, making all 5 extra points that he attempted and kicking 4 out of 6 kickoffs for touchbacks. Lefevre punted the ball 6 times and averaged 41.2 yards a kick. The best punt of the game did not come from the punter though.

Quarterback Isaiah Green and the offense came out on a fourth down on the 32 yard-line. Green dropped back, took the snap, and instead of throwing a pass, he turned and punted the ball...

August 31, 2018,  Basketball  No comments

The Marshall University Men’s basketball team looks to remain at the top of the conference and hold off the Middle-Tennessee Blue Raiders and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

The Herd compiled a 25-11 overall record last season with a 12-6 conference record. Considering their record on paper, they may not have been expected to be the team to upset Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this past March.

Last season’s success leaves a question to fans and spectators alike, “What is in store for this season?”

The Herd opens up their 2018 season with an away game against Eastern Kentucky University, then returning home against Hofstra. Their strong play at home a season ago (14-2 record) may give the impression that there will be the same success at home this season.

August 27, 2018,  Basketball  No comments

Fans’ Excitement for the Herd

The Marshall University men’s basketball team is coming off its second straight 20-plus-win  season and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 33 years.  Expectations for the upcoming 2018-19 season could not be higher.

Longtime Marshall fan Brandon Bowman has high hopes for the Herd this season. “After winning Conference-USA and then making the tournament last year, I bet they go even further this year!” said Bowman.

The Herd returns four starters, including star point guard Jon Elmore and shooting guard CJ Burks who look to improve their draft stock for the next NBA season.

Center Adjin Penava left to pursue a career in the NBA.  Marshall student Taylor Perry says that she will miss the Conference USA leading shot-blocker...

August 22, 2018,  Uncategorized  No comments

Michael Morgan

JMC303-101

Covering a College Beat

To begin, I did not realize how much a student could truly be involved within the field, while they are still in school. I believe that in covering a college beat while still attending school, a journalist will learn more by experience than anything that can be taught. Perhaps there will be some faults, but in failing, a writer will learn not to make those same mistakes.

I think that it is interesting as to how many steps you must take to simply talk to someone else likely the same age, simply because they play a sport. I realize that sports information directors have a job to do and that does not always make our job easier as writers...

November 4, 2017,  Football  No comments

At the midpoint of the 2017 season, there have been many surprises, the most recent being Deshaun Watson’s torn ACL. Some of my early season predictions may have been different than expected but I will give an update to my award predictions at the halfway mark of this season.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Due to Deshaun Watson’s injury, Leonard Fournette at this point in the season is the rookie of the year. He missed the last game but after a bye, he is healthy and looks to bounce back against the Bengals this week. He has run for 596 yards in 130 carries (4.6 YPC) and 6 touchdowns in only six games. He has looked like the real deal and more impressively, been very consistent. The only other rookie at this point that I could see potentially winning this award is Kareem Hunt...

August 18, 2017,  Football  No comments

This past offseason has been an exciting one. Draft picks such as Deshaun Watson and Leonard Fournette are looking to make their anticipated debuts or players like Desean Jackson and Brandin Cooks looking to make impacts on new teams.

I will begin by giving my prediction of Offensive Rookie of the Year. I think that Deshaun Watson will eventually be a solid starting quarterback in this league but he will not start the season as QB1. I believe that Leonard Fournette will win the 2017 ROY. Coming out of the SEC, he has clearly shown that he has the physical attributes to handle the NFL being a strong, athletic guy capable of being a 3-down back...

April 12, 2017,  Baseball  No comments

Yes, the headline may sound ridiculous because Tebow was not anywhere near as dominant as Bo Jackson was in the NFL. Another point is that he is not currently playing both sports. But, when was the last time people were this excited for a two-sport athlete other than Bo or “Primetime”?

Tebow is arguably the greatest college quarterback of all-time and had a brief and somewhat successful career in the NFL. After he led the Broncos to an overtime upset of the Steelers in the 2011 wild card game, he did not do much. After bouncing around the league with the Jets and Patriots, he decided to take on broadcasting for a while with the SEC network. After a few seasons, the natural born athlete craved for another chance in professional sports...

February 9, 2017,  Baseball, Uncategorized  No comments

Performance Enhancing Drugs are becoming more of an issue in today’s sports, which have led to more suspensions and fines than ever.

According to an article written in 2011 titled History of Steroid Use on intheknowzone.com, types of PED’s have been used since the times of the ancient Greeks in competitions. Things such as the pituri plant or hallucinogenic mushrooms were used to improve performance. In the 1860’s, swimmers in Amsterdam were charged with taking illegal drugs to speed up their races which has led to many athletes attempting to cheat to gain an edge over opponents throughout history.

There are many different types of PED’s. There may be too many to mention but listed in a 2016 article on treatment4addiction.com titled Performance Enhancing Drugs it is stated that ana...

February 6, 2017,  Baseball  No comments

This article is featured on http://marshallparthenon.com/12931/sports/herd-baseball-playing-underdog-role-in-2017/

Marshall is coming off of their best baseball season in program history with 34 wins including 21 conference wins. The Herd finished in the top 5 of 17 different offensive categories including first in hits (315), RBIs (189), home runs (36), doubles (69), total bases (504) and stolen bases (50). Marshall is returning 14 players from last year headed by Tommy Lane: C-USA Newcomer of the Year.

Lane was a transfer from Mt. Hood Community College and had a breakout Junior Year. He was selected to all conference first team with a .296 batting average, team-high 48 RBIs, and a .402 on-base percentage. I got to talk with Lane and ask him a few questions.

He discussed his reasoning in...

January 13, 2017,  Football  No comments

It seems in recent weeks that the Jaguars front office has been under scrutiny because they stand by their starting quarterback Blake Bortles. Even after hiring Tom Coughlin as Executive VP of football operations, he made a statement that Bortles is still the starter.

 The Jags had clear struggles this season after going 3-13 and firing Head coach Gus Bradley after posting a 14-48 record in 4 seasons. The Jaguars seem to consistently be at the bottom of the conference every year for as long as I can remember. This season can be blamed on offensive line struggles, poor defensive play(very young players with potential such as Dante Fowler JR. and Jalen Ramsey), and lack of consistency at running back.

Blake Bortles had his breakout season in 2015 throwing for 4,400 yards with 35 touchdowns ...