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No. 23 Appy St. set to visit Herd and QB Wells

HUNTINGTON (AP) — Quarterback Grant Wells had one of the finest debuts in Marshall football history.

Now the redshirt freshman gets the task of facing a much-tougher opponent when the Thundering Herd (1-0) host No. 23 Appalachian State (1-0) today.

“I think everybody’s ready for them to come in and allow us to prove how good of a team we can be,” Wells said.

Wells threw for 307 yards in a 59-0 victory over Eastern Kentucky of the Championship Subdivision on Sept. 5. He set a school record with the most passing yards in a debut and tied another mark with his four touchdown passes.

Appalachian State coach Shawn Clark is familiar with Wells. Both attended the same school, George Washington High, in Charleston, West Virginia.

Clark followed Wells throughout his prep career and called him “an incredible young man with an incredible arm talent, and he can also beat you with his feet.

“We have our hands full,” Clark said. “It will be a great challenge for us this week.”

Clark was Appalachian State’s offensive line coach for four seasons before being named head coach at his alma mater last December.

Wells won the starting job over Luke Zban after two-year starter Isaiah Green entered the NCAA transfer database in July.

Marshall coach Doc Holliday said Wells needs to continue avoiding turnovers.

“That’s where it all starts,” Holliday said. “Just keep growing as a quarterback. Just keep doing what he did, make great decisions.

“There’s no question when you get into a game of this magnitude, the team that takes care of the ball is probably going to have a chance to win it.”

OLD

ACQUAINTANCES

Appalachian State and Marshall played annually from 1977 to 1996 when both were members of the then-Division I-AA Southern Conference.

When they last met in 2002, Marshall was dominating the Mid-American Conference when it beat the Mountaineers 50-17.

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