HUNTINGTON - After three and a half years of lobbying the Marshall coaches, Ashton Hall finally got his chance to return a punt last weekend at West Virginia.

His shot came in the second quarter, when he brazenly fielded a Scott Kozlowski punt on his own 7-yard line and returned it 18 yards.

As coaches have swung between DeQuan Bembry and true freshman Andre Booker after the season-ending injury to Troy Evans, Hall kept taking punts in practice, and kept at the coaches - even on game day.

"They told me I could go back there my freshman year, but that didn't seem to work out," Hall said with a smile. "I was happy I finally got an opportunity to return one. I had fun, too, so everybody's cool."

So the natural question popped up at coach Mark Snyder's weekly press conference: Will Hall get another chance against Alabama-Birmingham?

"You sound like Ashton," Snyder quipped. "He wants to return punts, kicks, everything. He kills me on game day. I saw him first thing this morning, and the first thing out of his mouth: 'Coach, do I get to go back on punt returns this week?'"

And that's not all. Remember, he was put on offense at one point in the spring game to catch a jump-ball pass for a touchdown. He'd love to play wide receiver.

Oh, and he'd love a crack at that "racehorse" thing, too.

"Oh, no. See, that's my next step," he said. "I'm just trying to gradually work my way to offense, and they'll slide me in there. But my time is getting a little small, so it's getting harder and harder to make it on that side of the ball. But I'll still try."

It probably won't work, because Snyder values him too much on defense and special teams. Snyder did say something Hall wants to hear: "But we do have a role for Ashton this week in the punt-return game."

Catching a punt might be half the fun this week. With punter/place-kicker Swayze Waters finally graduated, UAB had to find replacements. In the punting game, it's true freshman Trey Ragland.

Ragland averages 42.3 yards per boot, and he is a non-traditionalist. In other words, a rugby punter.

Apparently, a hardcore rugby punter.

HUNTINGTON - After three and a half years of lobbying the Marshall coaches, Ashton Hall finally got his chance to return a punt last weekend at West Virginia.

His shot came in the second quarter, when he brazenly fielded a Scott Kozlowski punt on his own 7-yard line and returned it 18 yards.

As coaches have swung between DeQuan Bembry and true freshman Andre Booker after the season-ending injury to Troy Evans, Hall kept taking punts in practice, and kept at the coaches - even on game day.

"They told me I could go back there my freshman year, but that didn't seem to work out," Hall said with a smile. "I was happy I finally got an opportunity to return one. I had fun, too, so everybody's cool."

So the natural question popped up at coach Mark Snyder's weekly press conference: Will Hall get another chance against Alabama-Birmingham?

"You sound like Ashton," Snyder quipped. "He wants to return punts, kicks, everything. He kills me on game day. I saw him first thing this morning, and the first thing out of his mouth: 'Coach, do I get to go back on punt returns this week?'"

And that's not all. Remember, he was put on offense at one point in the spring game to catch a jump-ball pass for a touchdown. He'd love to play wide receiver.

Oh, and he'd love a crack at that "racehorse" thing, too.

"Oh, no. See, that's my next step," he said. "I'm just trying to gradually work my way to offense, and they'll slide me in there. But my time is getting a little small, so it's getting harder and harder to make it on that side of the ball. But I'll still try."

It probably won't work, because Snyder values him too much on defense and special teams. Snyder did say something Hall wants to hear: "But we do have a role for Ashton this week in the punt-return game."

Catching a punt might be half the fun this week. With punter/place-kicker Swayze Waters finally graduated, UAB had to find replacements. In the punting game, it's true freshman Trey Ragland.

Ragland averages 42.3 yards per boot, and he is a non-traditionalist. In other words, a rugby punter.

Apparently, a hardcore rugby punter.

"And he is a magician with it, too," Snyder said. "This kid is good at what he does; it is pretty impressive. And he enjoys what he does. You sit there and watch the film and you can tell he just enjoys what he does."

Wide receiver Courtney Edmonson did some individual drills early in the Herd's practice Tuesday, but stood and carried his helmet for the rest of the time - much like he has done the previous six weeks.

He has been out since early in the season opener with what seems to be a hamstring problem, and that's not very likely to change. The thoughts of shutting him down and applying for a medical redshirt seem more likely by the week.

"I don't know how much I can talk about it, but we played Courtney as a [true] freshman," Snyder said. "Right now, if we go out there and burst him [play him at full speed], he is going to pop that thing again, so he is not ready to go this week."

Starting right guard Jimmy Rogers limped away from the practice, watching the rest with an ice pack on his left knee. Landis Provancha took first-team reps at the position.

Montel Glasco, a reserve in the fairly deep rotation at defensive tackle, watched practice with his left foot in an orthopedic boot.  

Briefly

"We will be there in spirit," Snyder said.

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.