Marshall looking at six
WAKE FOREST, N.C. -- After averaging more than 250 yards rushing his past three games, tailback Keith Marshall of Raleigh (N.C.) Millbrook found few running lanes Friday night in a 55-23 loss to area power Wake Forest-Rolesville.
"I was frustrated, but I just do what the coach tells me to do," said Marshall, the country's top-rated all-purpose back. "I think I played good. I was a little banged up."
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The 5-feet-11, 190-pound Marshall, with coaches from Georgia and South Carolina watching on the sideline, finished with 17 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns, which covered 30 and 22 yards. On a chilly night, he had limited touches in the second half.
"On both of [the scoring runs], what happened was, there was a bad snap or something, so I guess there was hesitation [by the defense]," Marshall said. "And that opened it up. The last few weeks it was open a lot but that was a real good defense."
On Saturday morning, Marshall planned to leave at 6 a.m. on a flight out of Raleigh for his official visit to Notre Dame.
"I'm excited because I haven't been up there yet," Marshall said Friday night "I want to see the gameday atmosphere and I haven't met with the academic people at all."
The Irish expect to have several big-name players on hand. Marshall knows a few of them.
"I've talked to [Georgia offensive line commit] John Theus before about Georgia because he's committed there," Marshall said. "Then I talked to William Mahone, the running back that's committed [to Notre Dame]. He's recruiting me."
Marshall hasn't officially narrowed things down yet, but on Friday he talked about the primary schools in the mix, which he said are (in alphabetical order) Clemson, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Notre Dame and South Carolina. Of that group, the Tigers seem to be newest on the scene.
"I used to like [Clemson] a lot but then they switched running backs coaches so they kind of fell off because I didn't talk to them much. But now they're coming at me hard."
Marshall also talked briefly about the others in the hunt besides Clemson and Notre Dame.
Florida: "I like the coaching staff," Marshall said "They seem real cool. They have an opportunity to come next year and play early."
Georgia: "I grew up liking Georgia. I like the running back coach [Bryan McClendon] a lot. I like the atmosphere down there."
South Carolina: I like [running backs] Coach [Jay] Graham a whole lot."
North Carolina: "I like the school, [the] coaches and it's close to home."
The Notre Dame trip will be Marshall's third official. He has previously been to Florida and Georgia. No other officials are set, but Clemson is a good possibility, he said.
"Right now, I feel that all the schools I'm considering are good," Marshall said.
Asked when a commitment might come, Marshall didn't give a detailed timeframe but said it would happen "probably after the season."
"As soon as possible -- as soon as I know," he said. "It's tough. There's a lot of good choices. I feel like whatever I do I'll have an opportunity to be successful."
Then, he added, "I don't want to have a big ceremony."
Keith Niebuhr can be reached at kneebs01@aol.com. You can follow him on Twitter @KeithRIVALS.