HUNTINGTON -- In an effort to keep his team as healthy as possible during training camp, Marshall Coach Mark Snyder let some of his proven veterans sit out the Thundering Herd's first scrimmage.

Among those watching from the sidelines Saturday were senior wide receiver Darius Passmore and junior tight end Cody Slate, a pair of gamebreakers whose speed provides mismatches at their positions.

On a morning in which the offense was very "vanilla," as Snyder described it, Slate and Passmore could have added the chocolate sprinkles, peanuts, whipped cream and cherry on top.

"Wow," redshirt freshman tailback Terrell Edwards said when he realized the Green (offense) defeated the White (defense), 55-33, even without Slate and Passmore. "The score would have been a lot different if they would have played. Once you add those guys in and create that factor, you will see a whole other team."

Snyder said as much in his post-scrimmage comments.

"We didn't show hardly anything of who we're going to be today on either side of the ball," he said. "But I thought they executed about like we expected. I was pleased."

The offense unofficially racked up 410 total yards (227 rushing and 183 passing) during the 94-play scrimmage.

Edwards ran for a team-high 82 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. Sophomore tailback Darius Marshall had 58 yards and one score on five carries.

True freshmen Martin Ward (14 carries for 57 yards) and Jordan Taylor (seven carries for 23 yards and one touchdown) combined for 80 yards and another score.

Marshall's first- and second-string quarterbacks both looked good. Redshirt freshman Mark Cann completed 11-of-16 passes for 67 yards, while sophomore Brian Anderson connected on 14-of-20 passes for a team-high 105 yards.

"Me and Mark both were pretty happy about our reps today," Anderson said. "We pretty much equally shared. He took the ones in the first half and I took them in the second half.

"We got out there and the offensive line did their job. We did a good job running the ball, which sets up the play-action pass game as well as the pass game. I was happy with everybody. They made some good catches, some good runs and some good blocks. We just tried to do our job as quarterbacks."

There was only one turnover, a Ward fumble.

"We definitely protected the ball well," Anderson said. "We had that one fumble, but, as a group, the quarterback unit definitely protected the ball well.

"I don't know if we even had a pass tipped. I'm not for sure. We completed a high percentage of balls and we got the offense into down-hill plays that kept us out of big losses for the most part."

Ten players caught passes Saturday, including two tailbacks and three tight ends.

Sophomore wide receiver Bryant Milligan led the way with four catches for 37 yards. Milligan also had an 11-yard carry.

"Bryant Milligan continues to impress," Snyder said. "I think he's doing a good job."

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SNYDER HAD an opinion on the competition at the offensive tackle positions, but he didn't share it with media members.

"We'll go in and look at the film before I comment," Snyder said. "I have my opinion after watching it live, but I want to watch the film to make sure what I saw was true.

"I thought a couple of the tackles did a pretty good job today," he added, "because (junior defensive end) Albert (McClellan) went a little bit over there and I thought they did a decent job."

The first-string offensive line currently features redshirt freshmen C.J. Wood and Ryan Tillman at right and left tackle, respectively, with junior Daniel Baldridge and sophomore Brandon Campbell behind them.

Wood and Tillman have no experience. Baldridge and Campbell, on the other hand, have 10 and three career starts, respectively.

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IN THE injury department, junior cornerback Zearrick Matthews was on crutches Saturday.

Junior wide receiver Chuck Walker wore a brace on his right knee and redshirt freshman center John Bruhin wore an orthopedic boot on his left foot.

True freshman wide receivers Corey McCutchen and Antavious Wilson wore shorts and stood on the sidelines. Junior tight end Maurice Graham and sophomore tailback Jo Jo Cox were dressed but didn't participate.

Contact sports writer Jacob Messer at jacobmes...@dailymail.com or 304-348-1712. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/marshall.