Offensive line readies for Curry

The Cougars’ offensive line will be tasked with stopping Marshall defensive lineman Vinny Curry. The Cougars have allowed only eight sacks this year, the second fewest in Conference USA. Curry leads the NCAA in tackles for a loss and is second in sacks. | Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar

Head coach Kevin Sumlin offered a simple solution to stopping Marshall’s pass-rushing monster Vinny Curry.

Blocking.

“Which everybody else had problems doing,” Sumlin said. “We’ve faced some pretty good players before. This year, he’ll probably be as good a player as we’ve seen.”

Curry leads the nation in tackles for a loss with 17, and his 9.5 sacks rank second through seven games. Last season, he led all defensive linemen in tackles.

“He’s big; He’s a long guy; He gets off the ball quick,” freshman tackle Rowdy Harper said. “We haven’t seen anyone his size. UCLA had some big guys, but he gets off the ball really fast too.

“It’s going to be a great challenge and we’re excited to measure up and see how we do against it.”

Pace might be the trick for the Cougars to combat the Thundering Herd’s (3-4, 2-1 Conference USA) pass rush.

“Tempo allows for a lot of things,” senior quarterback Case Keenum said. “It keeps the defense from doing too much subbing. It’s harder for them to disguise things. It’s harder for them to get in calls when we’re snapping the ball really quickly.

“Chris (Thompson) does a great job of getting those guys pointed out. I’ve got faith in those guys and I’m going to trust them. He’s a great player, but we’ve got great players too.”

The Herd trail only the Cougars in C-USA with a plus-five turnover margin. Sumlin placed a premium on taking care of the ball against what he described as an “opportunistic defense.”

“We’ve got to be good on first and second down, and stay out of long-yardage situations and again we’re going to have to continue where we left off against East Carolina, and continue to play well on defense and special teams,” Sumlin said.

Coming off of their most complete performance of the season, the Cougars’ defense will deal with a foe that has given them trouble in the past — a scrambling quarterback, freshman A.J. Graham.

“We’ve got to adjust and be able to stop a varied running attack,” Sumlin said.

“We have to be disciplined in our rush lanes. We have to play a lot more of a quarterback-read, option-type attack and then be able to defend play-action deep balls over the top. It’s a different football game than it was two weeks ago.”

The Herd rank last in C-USA in total offense, but Graham rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns and a 24-20 win over Rice in his first career start, replacing Rakeem Cato.

“He gave them a bit of a spark as a runner,” Sumlin said. “He was able to scramble a little bit more and do some things and generate some offense.”

Back to full health

The bye week could not have come at a better time for the Cougars.

“I know a bunch of guys were feeling kind of sore and run down from all of the games, the big games,” Harper said. “It was great to get our legs back under us. The coaches were smart with it like they always are. Now we’re just ready to start playing again.”

Defensive backs Colton Valencia, Chevy Bennett and D.J. Hayden are expected to be back in the starting lineup for the Cougars.