HUNTINGTON - Mark Snyder's move toward a gentler, if not always kinder, football camp has claimed one of his offbeat traditions, the special-teams scrimmage.

The Thundering Herd will have a kick-oriented practice in the second of two workouts today, but it won't feature full contact. The teams won't split into green and white sides, there won't be a score kept and the losing team won't hike the stadium steps three times.

"It's not a scrimmage," the Marshall coach said Wednesday. "It's a mock game, more or less; a special-teams rehearsal practice."

Snyder seems to be feeling confident with his units, and his specialists. He probably should, if punter Kase Whitehead and kicker Craig Ratanamorn pan out as they have in practice. The Herd has a veteran presence at long snapper (Sean McClellan) and holder (Emmanuel Spann). Finding backups for those two has been a priority.

The Herd has a glut of proven kick returners. Chubb Small and Darius Marshall have taken kickoffs all the way, and Darius Passmore is a threat to do the same. Add in Spann, a veteran punt returner.

"That will probably be it to start the season. We'll see as we go," Snyder said.

Spann sees a few youngsters who could help in the return game, whether later this season or after he departs.

"DeQuan Bembry caught Coach Snyder's eye in the spring kick scrimmage," Spann said. "Guys like Ahmed Shakoor and Terrell Edwards that are developing, to catch punts and kick returns, so they definitely bettered themselves during two-a-days."

The Herd's new training regimen has included a stretching exercise, complete with industrial-sized rubber bands. Snyder and staff are trying to keep those annoying muscle pulls down to a minimum.

"We've had a lot of hamstring issues going on; it's an epidemic," Snyder said. "We're doing what we call 'prehab.' We don't call it rehab, we call it prehab. And we're trying to forecast any problems we might have and nip it in the bud."

Some players have been held out or tapered back in the past week, notably defensive tackle Ian Hoskins. But, all in all, the Herd's injury load has been refreshingly light. Backup center John Bruhin returned this week, for instance.

Tuesday's workout was pretty much full-tilt, with a short period of all-out hitting. Linebacker Andre Portis started out with a big hit on Martin Ward, while fellow 'backer Phillip Gamble laid the wood to Matt Parkhurst. Antawn Booker belted another linebacker, Tyson Gale, with a big block.

"We've got to have a couple of those," Snyder said. "We'll have one more of those Thursday - in fact, we'll have two periods Thursday where we'll liven it up, and that will be the last live contact until Illinois State."

There's another change in the schedule the players will no doubt like. The dress-rehearsal practice once set for Saturday has been switched to the second workout Friday, and will signal the end of camp.

"We're going to go Friday, so they get 48 hours off, trying to get their legs back. That's been the big thing, too," Snyder said.

Whitehead said he is adjusting to the college game, particularly the punt rush, pretty well. He has played before a crowd of 15,000 in a high school game, so he shouldn't be shocked by the crowd at Marshall's season opener.

The biggest adjustment? Punting on artificial turf. And considering 11 of MU's games will be played on ersatz grass, he'd better get used to it.

"Turf is quite a bit different than grass and dirt," Whitehead said. "It's a lot more spongy. I talked to my dad [a college punter himself] a lot - he played at this level and he tells me the differences and we try to work on the little things. When I first got here, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't hit the ball as well as I was in my senior year in high school."

On the other hand, the place-kickers tend to prefer the carpet. Tyler Warner, the walk-on who is looking plenty respectable as a backup in camp, loves the surface. Of course, he kicked on turf at Parkersburg High.

"I was really thankful for it in high school," Warner said. "Because you go to different schools and their grass is really thick, not fun to kick off of."

Here's another interesting alteration of Snyder precedent: He is taking his seniors to tonight's Paint the Capital City Green at Embassy Suites. Usually he brings his captains.

Then again, he hasn't named his captains, which heretofore has been determined by a team vote.

The event kicks off at 6 p.m., with the formal program beginning at 7:15. There are $35 tickets available at the door.

Reach Doug Smock at 348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.