HUNTINGTON - With a full complement of scholarship players and depth he hasn't enjoyed since arriving at Marshall, Thundering Herd coach Mark Snyder has a few new challenges this month.

One of the most visible is the sudden abundance of running backs. With two veterans, one redshirt freshman and four incoming recruits, how do you properly evaluate them all? In 11-on-11 drills, there is but one football.

"It's going to be a delicate balance," Snyder said. "We feel like we know what the first three can do, and I do think Terrell [Edwards] needs some reps. Chubb Small had an outstanding summer, ended up winning the overall [summer conditioning] award, breaking five [personal lifting records], all those things, yes.

"When we go to 'twos,' we'll roll those three or four young guys, and see who steps out of the pack."

The division of labor would be interesting enough if the Herd only had its top two backs from last year, sophomore Darius Marshall (631 yards, three touchdowns, 5.1 yards per carry) and senior Small (424 yards, five TDs, 6.1 average). Throw in redshirt freshman Edwards, the biggest of the bunch at 6-foot-2, and you have a lively battle.

Edwards lacks game experience but isn't a raw rookie. He enjoyed a breakout spring but may have benefited as much from a difficult situation last year.

With injuries chipping away at the depth chart, Herd coaches pulled him out of scout-team duty and prepared him to play if needed. His redshirt was maintained, but he was never certain of that until the end.

"My brain was, like, on wildfire," Edwards said. "It was an emotional roller coaster, back and forth, because I was getting excited to play and I wouldn't play and I'd get down on myself. I'd have to constantly talk to [position] Coach [Jared] Smith and keep regrouping myself. He said, 'Hey, if you don't play this year, you'll be ready for next year and understand the speed of the game.' The only way I got through that is Coach Smith.

"Nobody came out and said, 'Hey, Terrell, you're going to redshirt.' I guess it was understood for a while that I was going to redshirt. It has done me plenty of good, because I've gotten a lot bigger [212 pounds], I've gotten faster, stronger and I've adjusted really well. Even though most guys look at it as a bad thing, I definitely think it's a positive for a young guy."

The established trio is joined by Demetrius Thomas of Theodore, Ala., Martin Ward of Jonesboro, Ga., Jordan Taylor of South Bend, Ind., and Jo Jo Cox of Jeffersonville, Ga.

Cox is a former Clemson signee. Ward and Taylor were targeted by MU late in the 2008 recruiting cycle. 

Ward can laugh a little about the test-score adventure that helped steer him to the Herd. He was initially headed to the Southeastern Conference, even committing to Georgia.

"Everything got mixed up and schools started dropping [their interest] left and right," Ward recalled. "I took one [test] and then I took another one. My second one [which made him eligible], my test scores got mixed up again - I sent my first one instead of my second one. So I was heading to a D-I-AA school, but my [high school] coach called Marshall and they gave me another look."

The youngsters have completed their first two practices - really 11/2, after Wednesday's workout was truncated by a drenching thunderstorm. Even practicing in shorts and no pads, the rookies have been hit by the realization that they're not in high school anymore.

For Ward, that includes catching punts. He was taking turns with Marshall and Darius Passmore in that discipline Wednesday.

"The ball hangs for so long, you have to watch it very carefully," he said. "It might go past you, or it might hit you in the face."

The hang time is different. So is the speed of the game, and of a college practice. The latter gives many newcomers the most problem in the opening days of their first camp.

"In high school, you walk out on that field and it takes a little while to build up to [top] speed," Taylor said. "As soon as you hit that field [in college], it's bang, bang, bang, bang all the way to the finish.

Edwards was there, a year ago. He can sympathize.

"The toughest part was learning everything," he said. "In high school, you have 10 plays you rotate, but in college you have a whole playbook with 500 plays you have to know, especially with our new offense, all of the complications and signals, not having a huddle to calm down and regroup yourself. It is definitely a changing experience."

So is this cold, cruel fact of college football: Only one man can possess the pigskin at a time. Kelvin Turner, who transferred from MU after a seven-touchdown season, could probably attest to that.

"The coaches in high school told me it's going to be fast-paced," Taylor said. "I realize it's like a business; it's a job."

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