HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Today marks the end of preseason practice for Marshall's football team.
The Thundering Herd were to finish off training camp with a morning session and an afternoon rehearsal scrimmage.
Every snap of the Conference USA squad's final two-a-day could be crucial for Daniel Baldridge, Brandon Campbell, Ryan Tillman and C.J. Wood.
Two of those four will complete the starting lineup for an offensive line that has been set at center and guard since preseason practice began Aug. 5.
Senior right guard Matt Altobello and sophomore left guard Josh Evans will flank senior center Brian Leggett one week from Saturday when Illinois State visits Edwards Stadium to face Marshall in the teams' season opener. None of them have been seriously challenged in training camp.
The only question marks have been on the edges.
Marshall Coach Mark Snyder declined to name the starting offensive tackles Thursday. Instead, he likely will do so Tuesday, when he is expected to release the season-opening depth chart at his weekly press conference.
Baldridge, a 6-foot-9, 310-pound junior, and Wood, a 6-5, 288-pound redshirt freshman, are competing at right tackle, a position usually reserved for a team's best run blocker.
"You have to bring the best that you can to the table because the coaches are going to put the best player out there to play," Baldridge said. "Every day is a competition. It's nothing personal against each other. You just go at it and try to do the best you can."
"Me and Baldridge are getting the best of each other," Wood added.
Campbell, a 6-5, 310-pound sophomore, and Tillman, a 6-5, 282-pound redshirt freshman, are battling at left tackle, a position usually reserved for a team's best pass blocker.
"It's pretty intense," Tillman said. "Me and Brandon push each other. We mess around, but we help each other out in different situations.
"He'll do something better than me and he'll tell me what he did. I'll do something better than him and I'll tell him what I did. We're just helping each other out and trying to do what's best for the team."
"The better man will win," Campbell added.
Experience has taken a backseat in this competition.
Baldridge and Campbell have 13 career starts, with Baldridge accounting for 11 of those. Tillman and Wood, on the other hand, have none. Yet it is the latter duo that has received the bulk of the first-string repetitions during preseason practice.
"It is kind of awkward for two freshmen to come in and take our spots," Campbell said. "I guess it is my drive every day. It pushes me more and more to get my spot back."
Baldridge missed all of spring practice while he recovered from a shoulder injury.
"I'm just continuing to get better and knocking the rust off since I hadn't played all spring," he said.
Offensive line coach Mike Cummings has rotated the four tackles with the first- and second-string units this week to give them equal opportunities.
Cummings is pushing the tackles as hard as -- if not harder than -- they are pushing themselves.
"Coach never lets up," Baldridge said. "He can't. He has to put the five toughest guys out there."
"He's coaching us pretty hard," Tillman said. "He wants to make sure whoever is in there is ready and prepared. He's just pushing us and trying to take us where we can't go ourselves."
Much to the delight of Snyder and Cummings, defensive coordinator Rick Minter has turned up the heat on the offensive tackles by attacking them with aggressive and athletic defensive ends who pursue quarterbacks like dogs chase cats.
No one has caused more problems for the foursome than junior Albert McClellan and sophomore Vinny Curry.
"I'm pretty sure if we can do the things we need to do against them," Tillman said, "we can do it against just about anybody in the conference."
The offensive line will be protecting an inexperienced quarterback regardless of who Snyder and his staff choose: sophomore Brian Anderson or redshirt freshman Mark Cann.
"That's where it's all going to start for us," offensive coordinator John Shannon said. "If we are solid and do a good job up front, then that allows us to run the football and that allows us to do our play-action pass and that allows us to do our drop-back pass.
"The biggest point is it allows a quarterback who hasn't played in 10 or 12 games or who hasn't played in a couple of years to gain experience and feel confident in what's going on. It's like anything else. The more you make him feel comfortable, the better he's going to be."
Contact sports writer Jacob Messer at jacobmes...@dailymail.com or 304-348-1712. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/marshall.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Today marks the end of preseason practice for Marshall's football team.
The Thundering Herd were to finish off training camp with a morning session and an afternoon rehearsal scrimmage.
Every snap of the Conference USA squad's final two-a-day could be crucial for Daniel Baldridge, Brandon Campbell, Ryan Tillman and C.J. Wood.
Two of those four will complete the starting lineup for an offensive line that has been set at center and guard since preseason practice began Aug. 5.
Senior right guard Matt Altobello and sophomore left guard Josh Evans will flank senior center Brian Leggett one week from Saturday when Illinois State visits Edwards Stadium to face Marshall in the teams' season opener. None of them have been seriously challenged in training camp.
The only question marks have been on the edges.
Marshall Coach Mark Snyder declined to name the starting offensive tackles Thursday. Instead, he likely will do so Tuesday, when he is expected to release the season-opening depth chart at his weekly press conference.
Baldridge, a 6-foot-9, 310-pound junior, and Wood, a 6-5, 288-pound redshirt freshman, are competing at right tackle, a position usually reserved for a team's best run blocker.
"You have to bring the best that you can to the table because the coaches are going to put the best player out there to play," Baldridge said. "Every day is a competition. It's nothing personal against each other. You just go at it and try to do the best you can."
"Me and Baldridge are getting the best of each other," Wood added.
Campbell, a 6-5, 310-pound sophomore, and Tillman, a 6-5, 282-pound redshirt freshman, are battling at left tackle, a position usually reserved for a team's best pass blocker.
"It's pretty intense," Tillman said. "Me and Brandon push each other. We mess around, but we help each other out in different situations.
"He'll do something better than me and he'll tell me what he did. I'll do something better than him and I'll tell him what I did. We're just helping each other out and trying to do what's best for the team."
"The better man will win," Campbell added.
Experience has taken a backseat in this competition.
Baldridge and Campbell have 13 career starts, with Baldridge accounting for 11 of those. Tillman and Wood, on the other hand, have none. Yet it is the latter duo that has received the bulk of the first-string repetitions during preseason practice.
"It is kind of awkward for two freshmen to come in and take our spots," Campbell said. "I guess it is my drive every day. It pushes me more and more to get my spot back."
Baldridge missed all of spring practice while he recovered from a shoulder injury.
"I'm just continuing to get better and knocking the rust off since I hadn't played all spring," he said.
Offensive line coach Mike Cummings has rotated the four tackles with the first- and second-string units this week to give them equal opportunities.
Cummings is pushing the tackles as hard as -- if not harder than -- they are pushing themselves.
"Coach never lets up," Baldridge said. "He can't. He has to put the five toughest guys out there."
"He's coaching us pretty hard," Tillman said. "He wants to make sure whoever is in there is ready and prepared. He's just pushing us and trying to take us where we can't go ourselves."
Much to the delight of Snyder and Cummings, defensive coordinator Rick Minter has turned up the heat on the offensive tackles by attacking them with aggressive and athletic defensive ends who pursue quarterbacks like dogs chase cats.
No one has caused more problems for the foursome than junior Albert McClellan and sophomore Vinny Curry.
"I'm pretty sure if we can do the things we need to do against them," Tillman said, "we can do it against just about anybody in the conference."
The offensive line will be protecting an inexperienced quarterback regardless of who Snyder and his staff choose: sophomore Brian Anderson or redshirt freshman Mark Cann.
"That's where it's all going to start for us," offensive coordinator John Shannon said. "If we are solid and do a good job up front, then that allows us to run the football and that allows us to do our play-action pass and that allows us to do our drop-back pass.
"The biggest point is it allows a quarterback who hasn't played in 10 or 12 games or who hasn't played in a couple of years to gain experience and feel confident in what's going on. It's like anything else. The more you make him feel comfortable, the better he's going to be."
Contact sports writer Jacob Messer at jacobmes...@dailymail.com or 304-348-1712. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/marshall.
