HUNTINGTON - Marshall's 62-0 pummeling of a pathetic Morgan State team brought good entertainment for the home fans and many snaps for just about every Thundering Herd player who dressed.
What it didn't do is leave many reliable impressions. For instance, we're not going to crown Chase Litton the next Chad Pennington/Byron Leftwich after his six touchdowns in the first half. Nor should we declare the Herd's receiving corps studded with stars.
But the game did leave plenty to talk about, including:
n Davon Durant, the reserve superstar?
Weak-side linebacker Chase Hancock didn't have a bad game in his first start, as the Beckley native had four tackles and one of the Herd's 10 quarterback hurries. But when Durant came in, he was spectacular at times.
The former Arizona State defender announced his presence with a rattling stop of Lamont Brown III for no gain. In the second quarter, he clobbered Morgan State quarterback Chris Andrews as he was throwing, and Corey Neely easily picked off the resulting bloop pass.
Durant had seven tackles and two quarterback hurries.
His place behind Hancock is one of the mild curiosities on the Herd's depth chart. Is it a matter of Hancock being much more consistent and coaches sending Durant a message?
Or is it just a matter of time until Durant rises to the starting position and perhaps becomes the star that coaches envisioned? Or does it matter that much?
Remember, this coaching staff doesn't want the same three linebackers playing every snap. With the strong-side linebacker generally coming off the field in the nickel formation, the Herd must be a solid two-deep in the middle and on the weak side.
In that middle, you have Devontre'a Tyler, and I figure coaches want to see if true freshman Omari Cobb can spell him for 10-20 snaps while Shawn Petty is somewhere on this planet nursing an injury. Damien Dozier is going to be nice on that strong side on downs the Herd runs the base 4-3.
That leaves Hancock and Durant on the weak side. With Akron coming to Huntington for a noon game Saturday, it will be most interesting to see how they're used, and how consistent they are.
n Petty's status is becoming a mystery.
Injuries are kept nearly hush-hush under coach Doc Holliday, which is understandable to some degree, what with privacy laws, etc. But Petty was nowhere to be found on the MU sideline Saturday, unless my trusty binoculars missed something.
I don't take that as a good sign. How long-term is that situation?
n Tony Pittman hasn't gone anywhere.
With Hyleck Foster still atop the running back chart, Keion Davis asserting himself and big Anthony Anderson on campus, Pittman faded into the background in the preseason. But he was the most forceful runner out there Saturday, gaining 85 yards on nine carries with a touchdown.
Those carries came in a second half when the game was way out of hand, but he still stood out. As he reminded the media afterward, he missed the spring with two surgeries for undisclosed injuries and faced a long battle to being ready to play.
As for Anderson, he rushed for just 12 yards on six carries, which I don't think was misleading. Remember, he did not play last year at Iowa Western Community College, so he's still finding his way.
n The Herd went 2 of 11 on third down.
Huh? Bet you didn't notice either, but that will be a point of emphasis this week.
n Ty Tyler's performance indicates that Marshall might indeed have four viable defensive ends.
One caveat, though: His six tackles, one sack, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a 20-yard return with another fumble all came in the second half. But the redshirt freshman showed he might be a good fourth end, along with starters Gary Thompson and Ryan Bee and top backup Blake Keller.
n Amareto Curraj has to straighten things out as MU's placekicker.
The 42-yard missed field goal is not on him, as it was partially blocked by a good Morgan State surge. But the missed extra point was, as were two kickoffs out of bounds.
The latter is a no-no. When a kicker does that, he knows he is going to be greeted by a glaring, growling Holliday as he comes off the field.
In partial defense to Curraj, he kicked nine extra points, a field goal attempt and 10 kickoffs. Still, Holliday has kickers in the bullpen.
n Morgan State is not the worst opponent to come to Joan C. Edwards since 1997 ... I think.
After painstaking deliberation, I'll take Gardner-Webb, who came to Huntington in 2013 to absorb a 55-0 drubbing.
The Whatever-They-Weres took two trips inside the Marshall 48, but threw an interception from the 35 and went 9 yards in reverse from the 32. They somehow gained 184 total yards but committed six turnovers.
I would peg today's Morgan State team as an 11-point favorite over that bunch. No joke.
Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.