HUNTINGTON - After Marshall plays Cincinnati on Friday, it has nothing but Conference USA opponents for the rest of the season.

And that means nothing but Conference USA offenses. For defensive coordinator Rick Minter, the Bearcats will provide a good enough approximation.

When Brian Kelly took over as UC's head coach in 2007, he certainly wasn't dragging along a Woody Hayes scheme.

"It's an important game for our defense, because of the style Brian's offense brings," Minter said. "Much more Conference USA-like, in terms of spreading, no-huddle, fast-paced, NASCAR, the Indy races they call it. That's what we're going to be faced with the rest of the year.

"No more Wisconsins, no more Illinois States, slowly getting out the huddle and running the ball. This is basketball on grass at its best, so really, it's not only a challenge for us, but it's an opportunity to mold and shape ourselves to all the conference teams."

Minter's boss, coach Mark Snyder, likens the Bearcats' attack to that of Southern Mississippi: "Riding the side, a little bit of power, [Kelly] wants to throw the football."

Kelly has enough targets in the passing game. Marcus Barnett was a second-team all-Big East receiver last year with 62 catches for 862 yards and 13 touchdowns, but he is currently the No. 3 man. Possession receiver Dominick Goodman leads with 28 catches for 389 yards and three TDs, while Mardy Gilyard has 26 receptions for a team-high 435 yards and five scores.

Gilyard, who sports the same No. 1 as Marshall's Darius Passmore, has risen from a role as part-time starter last year. He also leads the nation in kickoff returns, averaging more than 36 yards per attempt.

Herd cornerback D.J. Wingate is familiar with him, from their days on Florida's Atlantic coast. Wingate played football and ran track at Daytona Beach's Mainland High, while Gilyard starred in the same sports at nearby Flagler Palm Coast.

"He's a few years older than me. He and I triple-jumped together," Wingate said. "I got a chance to be around him, run with him, play against him in high school football. Very good athlete."

The Bearcats are running by committee again, with John Goebel leading Jacob Ramsey by a yard for the team lead, 183-182. Both are classic Ohio-type bruisers, listed at 225 and 230 pounds, respectively.

The obvious question is how much the Bearcats will go to the ground, with redshirt freshmen Zach Collaros and possibly Chazz Anderson pressed into duty. The Bearcats' pass-run ratio is nearly even, and the young quarterbacks are mobile enough to keep the ball themselves.

"We've got about six snaps of him, seven snaps of him on film," Snyder said of Collaros, who entered the Bearcats' game last week for the injured Tony Pike. "Very athletic, you can tell he's a three-sport star. I think Coach Kelly ran him the first two or three plays he was in there, so that tells me he's a pretty good athlete.

"And they'll have a package for him. I'm sure we'll see the other guy, too. I don't know much about the other guy."

One would expect Minter, who hasn't seen a blitz he doesn't like, to throw as much as he can at the youngsters in passing situations. But Minter, who is well-acquainted with Kelly's system from a year as a radio analyst in Cincinnati, will approach his game plan with a dose of caution.

"It's a quarterback-friendly offense," Minter said. "You don't see them sacked too much, they get rid of the ball, they have outlets. They've got a wide-open style, their tempo, their style, their play-calling, their selection, their personnel groupings, all those things work to their advantage, protecting the quarterback."

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