9/16/2014 Holliday's work ethic has always impressed Bowden - Bluefield Daily Telegraph: College Sports

Holliday's work ethic has always impressed Bowden By GARY FAUBER for the Daily Telegraph | Posted: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 12:40 am Terry Bowden remembers the lasting impression made by his West Virginia University teammate, Doc Holliday. “I always thought of myself as an overachiever walk­on, and I could outwork anybody,” Bowden said. “When Doc came around, that was one guy who I always said I better work as hard as him, because I can’t outwork that guy. Whether it’s jogging or (just) hard work.”

Bowden and Holliday were both high school wrestlers in the state of West Virginia, and both played college football in Morgantown, Bowden’s hometown as the son of former Mountaineers coach and Hall of Famer Bobby Bowden. They were teammates when Bowden was able to see first­hand the work ethic of the Hurricane native. Holliday took that mentality to the coaching ranks, and Bowden has heard stories from the likes of former N.C. State head coach Chuck Amato and former Florida head coach Urban Meyer, who is now at Ohio State. Holliday was an assistant under both men. “I’ve never coached with Doc ... He has always been the overachiever,” Bowden said Monday on the Mid­American Confer­ence coaches call.

“A tough guy. Bring your lunch box and go to work. Guys better work as hard as him because I’m not sure anyone will ever outwork Doc. I think everybody thinks of Doc in that way.”

On Saturday, Bowden will finally stand across the field from Holliday, who will take Marshall (3­0) into Akron, Ohio, to face Bowden’s Zips. The game will kick off at 2 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3.com.

The 57­year­old Bowden is in his third season as the head coach at Akron, his second stop in the resurrection of his coaching career. He left Auburn in 1998 after six seasons with the Tigers, and didn’t return to the sidelines for another 11 years. He coached at North Alabama for three seasons, racking up an overall record of 29­9­1, before assuming the task of changing the football culture at Akron. The Zips have played 28 seasons of Football Bowl Subdivision football, and 21 of them ended with losing records. He seems to be living up to expectations in the home of the All­American Soap Box Derby. He http://www.bdtonline.com/sports/college_sports/article_88255e3e-3d5b-11e4-92b3-8b47e370edbe.html?mode=print 1/3 9/16/2014 Holliday's work ethic has always impressed Bowden - Bluefield Daily Telegraph: College Sports brought with him a spread offense that he learned from Mike Leach, whose philosophies are the basis for what current WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen utilizes. Akron is 1­1 this season, but nearly beat Michigan in Ann Arbor last year and played Penn State tight in Happy Valley before losing 21­3 two weeks ago. The Zips are 8­18 under Bowden, who brought Amato on as his associate head coach and defensive coordinator. They went 1­11 in his first season, but ended 2013 on a roll, with three straight wins and four out of five to close out a 5­7 season. That was a nice roll, but nothing like the wave Marshall is riding into Saturday, when it visits Akron for the first time since 2004.

Akron is coming off a bye week, which Bowden says helps with preparation, but it’s hard for him to forget how well the Herd has been playing since an unbeaten November last season. Marshall has won nine of its last 10 dating back to that time. “You almost wish they had a week off so they would not be so consistently good,” Bowden said. Bowden is well aware of the multitude of weapons Marshall has on offense. Davonte Allen and Angelo Jean­Louis have emerged as deep threats to complement senior Tommy Shuler in the intermediate game, and Devon Johnson has appeared unstoppable in his first three games at running back. “It just doubles the problem,” Bowden said. “If a team can’t run at all then you can put your corners over (the outside receivers) and put the safeties over the top and get a virtual double team.

“But if they can run then you can’t do that. Marshall has established a running attack ... and that eliminates all the double coverage you want to have. I think Ohio showed what happens when you try to one­on­one with them. They got burned every single time.” Bowden also said quarterback Rakeem Cato “throws the best deep ball I have seen in a long time.” The Zips are averaging 22 points per game, which Bowden knows will have to improve for his team to have a chance that averages 44.7. “If it’s a scoring match then it’s going to be in their favor,” Bowden said. “You go back even to the Middle Tennessee game (last season). They lost but they scored 49 points, and you look at the points they put on the board week after week after week.

“Offensively, we have to go in there and score points. But that’s just execution and making plays, and we’ve got to do that. “On the other hand, you have to hope your defense plays as well as it has been playing. Our defense has gotten better and better. We think we’ve a pretty good defense, but this is clearly a huge challenge

http://www.bdtonline.com/sports/college_sports/article_88255e3e-3d5b-11e4-92b3-8b47e370edbe.html?mode=print 2/3 9/16/2014 Holliday's work ethic has always impressed Bowden - Bluefield Daily Telegraph: College Sports for our defense. “We’ve got to go into a game like this feeling like we’re not going to win the game unless we get up into the upper 30s in points, at least. And if past history is any indication, we’ve got to scored over 40 to win this game.” — E­mail gfauber@ register­herald.com; Twitter @GaryFauber

http://www.bdtonline.com/sports/college_sports/article_88255e3e-3d5b-11e4-92b3-8b47e370edbe.html?mode=print 3/3