When bison fly: with Byron Leftwich at the controls, Marshall's high-octane offense blows away the competition

Sporting News, The, August 19, 2002 by Matt Hayes

The big dog has been around awhile. He has seen just about every type of pretty-boy passer and gimmick offense roll through college football. So take Bob Pruett's word for what it is, not what it looks like.

Yeah, he's the coach at Marshall, and he's provincial to a fault. But he knows what he sees when he looks at his offense: the best quarterback and the most dangerous passing game in the nation.

"I've been in this deal a long time, and I've watched some talented guys," says Pruett, a folksy West Virginia native. "They just don't compare to Byron."

Think about that--Marshall's Byron Leftwich, the best quarterback Pruett has seen. Chad Pennington, Leftwich's predecessor at Marshall, was a Heisman Trophy finalist and a first-round NFL draft pick. And Pruett was the defensive coordinator at Florida in the mid-1990s, when Danny Wuerffel played Steve Spurrier's offense like a Stradivarius.

But Pruett says Leftwich, who set Marshall school records with a huge junior season in 2001, is untouchable. He might be right: Leftwich is white-hot on the NFL radar, has three game-breaking wide receivers with whom to work--Darius Watts, Denero Marriott and Josh Davis--and knows the offense better than new coordinator Mark McHale.

Says Florida offensive coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher, who coached Leftwich the past two seasons: "There is still so much more he can do."

It's not like Leftwich hasn't done much so far. He set MAC records for passing yards (4,132), completions (315), attempts (470) and total offense (4,224) last season. He threw for 38 touchdowns and set the tone for this season in the GMAC Bowl that ended last season. Marshall trailed East Carolina 38-8 at halftime, but Leftwich rallied the Herd to a 64-61 victory in double overtime. He completed 42 of 70 passes for 576 yards, and Marriott caught 15 passes for 234 yards.

The Herd might throw even more this season. Considering the tenuous state of the backfield--starting tailback Franklin Wallace is injury-prone--Leftwich could throw as many as 50 to 60 passes a game. Marriott, Watts and Davis all could be 1,000-yard receivers. And Curtis Jones, once considered the best of Marshall's receivers, is healthy again after sustaining a series of concussions last season.

"I'm not crazy enough to say something I don't believe," Pruett says. "Just watch (Leftwich) play."

And watch the best passing game in the country roll up the points.

2002 unit rankings

Offense

Backfield

1. Florida
2. Miami (Fla.)
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Louisville
6. Colorado
7. Marshall
8. Florida State
9. Wisconsin
10. Texas A&M

Receivers

1. Texas
2. Marshall
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. Miami (Fla.)
6. Stanford
7. Illinois
8. Georgia
9. Oregon
10. Georgia Tech

Line

1. Florida state
2. Wisconsin
3. Michigan
4. UCLA
5. Tennessee
6. Washington State
7. Fresno State
8. Georgia
9. Iowa
10. Stanford

Defense

Line

1. Miami (Fla.)
2. Oklahoma
3. Ohio State
4. Florida State
5. Michigan
6. Southern Miss
7. Kansas State
8. Nebraska
9. Washington State
10. Louisville

Linebackers

1. Florida
2. Georgia Tech
3. Colorado
4. Auburn
5. Georgia
6. Texas A&M
7. Florida State
8. Virginia
9. Oklahoma
10. Purdue

Secondary

1. Oregon State
2. Texas A&M
3. Louisville
4. Illinois
5. Oklahoma
6. Florida
7. Michigan
8. Arkansas
9. Texas
10. Virginia Tech

E-mail staff writer Matt Hayes at mhayes@sportingnews.com.