West Virginia running back Tony Mathis rushes up the field on a carry as the Mountaineers take on Virginia Tech during an NCAA football game on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.
West Virginia running back Tony Mathis rushes up the field on a carry as the Mountaineers take on Virginia Tech during an NCAA football game on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.
Marshall picked up a trio of new football commitments this week with a special teams pickup, as well a running back and a defensive back.
Most notably, former WVU and Houston running back Tony Mathis Jr. committed to Marshall on Wednesday. Mathis played at WVU from 2019-2022 before heading to Houston.
Mathis may be one of the biggest adds that Marshall has gotten for the 2025 season purely due to his playing experience. HeÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™s one of many to receive extra eligibility due to COVID-19, beginning his career as a freshman in 2019.
Mathis played in 31 games with 11 starts at WVU, totaling three 100-yard rushing games in that time. In 2022, Mathis was WVUÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™s lead back. He finished 10th in the Big 12 in rushing yards per game with 56.2 and was No. 11 in the conference in rushing yardage.
At Houston, Mathis played in 10 games, with two starts in 2023. He finished with 41 rushes for 170 yards and played a role on special teams. Mathis didnÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™t see action in 2024 due to an injury during fall camp.
The running back department at Marshall now includes Michael Allen, JoÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™Shon Barbie, Anthony Quinn Jr., Stanley Jackson, Antwan Roberts and Mathis.
Cornerback Al Ashford also announced his commitment on Wednesday. Ashford had multiple offers ranging from Furman, Montana and South Dakota State before choosing Marshall. He spent last season at Northern Arizona.
Ashford played in all 13 games last season for the Lumberjacks, with 14 solo tackles. He had five solo stops against Weber State in November for his season high. Ashford recorded one pass breakup.
He began his career at Wisconsin with a redshirt freshman year before transferring to Utah State. He played corner at Utah State, totaling four tackles in 13 games. Ashford was a three-star recruit in high school who was ranked the No. 14 prospect in Colorado. He only lost one game in his prep career and won two state championships.
Presuming he plays corner, Ashford joins TaShawn Jeter and Jason Haggerty among players officially listed at that position on the Marshall roster. The Herd has a total of 12 other defensive backs listed on its active roster.
On special teams, Old Dominion transfer long snapper Brock Walters announced his intent to transfer to Marshall on his social media. Walters was ranked as the No. 13 snapper in the country when he signed with the Monarchs.
Walters played in six games in 2023 as a punt snapper before missing the rest of the season due to injury. He was a redshirt for his sophomore season in 2024. Walters has an average snap speed of 0.65 seconds. He also received an offer from Norfolk State.
{div class=”x_elementToProof” data-olk-copy-source=”MessageBody”}Tyler Kennett is a sports writer for The Herald-Dispatch. Reach him at tkennett@hdmediallc.com. Follow @tylerkennett on X.{/div}
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
