College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Marshall Thundering Herd season with what you need to know.
CFN in 60 Podcast: 2020 Marshall Thundering Herd
Marshall preview in 60 seconds
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Marshall Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 8-5 overall, 6-2 in C-USA
Head Coach: Doc Holliday, 10th year, 78-51
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 94
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 35
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 83
NOTE: Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Marshall Thundering Herd Offense 3 Things To Know
– It’s not like the offense was totally awful, but it didn’t have enough pop, consistency, or scoring punch. It failed to score more than 36 points against any FCS team, and it stalled out a bit too often. However, the team was 8-0 in the regular season when scoring 20 points or more – losing to UCF 48-25 in the Gasparilla Bowl – and the program is 19-0 when scoring 28 or more over the last three years.
Eight starters are back to what should be a solid offense, even if it’s not anything amazing, starting with …
CFN in 60 Video: Marshall Thundering Herd Preview
– He’s only a junior, but does it seem like Isaiah Green has been around Marshall since the Randy Moss era? He needs to be more accurate – hitting just 56% of his passes with 11 picks – but he’s a solid veteran who can run a little bit.
He loses top target tight end Armani Levias, but he gets back just about everyone else. Four of the top five wide receivers are back – including Willie Johnson and his gaudy 26.9-yard average on just 13 grabs – but Levias was the only one who broke the 350-yard mark.
– Brenden Knox was promising as a freshman, and then took over as a sophomore with a team-high 1,387 rushing yards and 11 scores. He has help with Green a runner, and junior Sheldon Evans was able to come up with five yards a crack in the rotation.
Even with 2018 star Tyler King dismissed from the team early on, the ground game was still the best by far since 2014. It should be even stronger with four starters expected back on the line, but losing all-star center and leader Levi Brown hurts.
The line was fantastic at limiting the tackles for loss, and the slightly-high sacks allowed total is a bit misleading thanks to Green trying to make big things happen.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Marshall Thundering Herd Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Marshall Thundering Herd Defense 3 Things To Know
– The defense wasn’t always a rock against the run, and it was above-average against the pass, and it was decent at times at getting into the backfield, but considering the offense struggled to put up mega points, it did the job by allowing 27 or fewer in nine games. Now it has some retooling to do after losing three of the top five starters.
– The D line takes the biggest hit with three of the top four starters gone. Darius Hodge, though, returns after coming up with a team-high seven sacks, and junior Koby Cumberlander is ready for a bigger role on the outside. The are bodies for the interior, but it’s a really, really smallish group of tackles that will run about 260 pounds a man.
– Tavante Beckett is the lone returning starter at linebacker. The 209-pound outside playmaker led the team with 121 stops, but he needs help. Like the defensive tackle situation, there isn’t a whole lot of size at linebacker, but there are plenty of young options to play around with the rotation.
The secondary can pop a bit – it’ll be the strength of the defense early on. Senior safety Nazeeh Johnson will get all over the field – he made 88 tackles last season – and the versatile Steven Gilmore will move around where needed.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Marshall Thundering Herd Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Marshall Thundering Herd Players
Best Marshall Thundering Herd Offensive Player
RB Brenden Knox, Jr.
The 6-0, 220-pounder took over the offense with his 1,387 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, and he became team leader and the type of Face of the Franchise player who’s about to get a bigger national profile.
He’s not used all that much as a receiver – just 14 catches last year – but he’s got flash to go along with his size. He hit Florida Atlantic for 220 yards and ran for 90 yards or more in nine of his last 11 games.
2. OG Cain Madden, Sr.
3. QB Isaiah Green, Jr.
4. TE Xavier Gaines, Sr.
5. WR/PR Talik Keaton, Soph.
Best Marshall Thundering Herd Defensive Player
LB Tavante Beckett, Sr.
Beckett got in a little work as a freshman at Virginia Tech, missed two years of time, and was unleashed last season as a fantastic all-around disruptive force for the Marshall linebacking corps. He’s an undersized 5-10 and 209 pounds, but he got in on everything, coming up with 121 tackles with two sacks, seven tackles for loss, and a whole lot of pressure behind the line.
2. DE Darius Hodge, Jr.
3. S Nazeeh Johnson, Sr.
4. S Micah Abraham, Soph.
5. CB Steven Gilmore, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Marshall Thundering Herd Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Marshall Thundering Herd Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Marshall Thundering Herd Offense
The passing game has to be more efficient and more effective. There are receiving options for Isaiah Green, and RB Brenden Knox will certainly do his part, but the passing attack failed to click on more than 45% of its passes over the final three games last year and couldn’t generate much of anything down the field. Five of the 16 touchdown passes on the season came in the opener against VMI.
Biggest Key To The Marshall Thundering Herd Defense
Avoid getting pounded on. Marshall just doesn’t have a whole lot of size on the defensive front – more on that next – and it showed against the more physical teams. The Herd were able to get past Ohio despite giving up 223 rushing yards, but they were 0-5 against everyone else who ran for 140 yards or more. The program has won its last ten games when giving up fewer than 140.
Key Marshall Thundering Herd Player To A Successful Season
DT Rodney Croom, Jr.
All of the defensive tackles need to literally play big roles. There’s not a lot of size on the defensive front, but there’s excellent quickness and there should be a good rotation around the 6-3, 260-pound Croom.
The junior came up with 35 tackles and was able to get to the quarterback, but it would be nice for the run D is 282-pound JUCO transfer Esais Carpenter and 301-pound Kyron Taylor could bring the bulk.
Key Game To The Marshall Thundering Herd Season
WKU, Oct. 10
The Herd got by the Hilltoppers 26-23 last season, but this time around it’s a must-win to get off to a big start on a four-game run. After this is a trip to Louisiana Tech followed by a date with Florida Atlantic, followed up by a trip to FIU before getting a week off. Beating WKU four the fourth time in a row would take off a whole lot of pressure.
– Marshall Thundering Herd Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Marshall Fun Stats
– Field Goals: Marshall 18-of-21 – Opponents 13-of-20
– Kickoff Return Average: Opponents 28.6 yards – Marshall 18.6 yards
– 2nd Quarter Points Scored: 118 – 2nd Half Points Scored: 132
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Marshall Thundering Herd Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Marshall Thundering Herd Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Marshall has found itself in a decent groove. It might not be at the level it wants, but winning eight games a season is nothing to sneeze at.
However, head coach Doc Holliday created a three-year powerhouse from 2013 to 2015 that won 23 games, and now it’s just this close to being back there again.
The difference? In Conference USA you have to hit the two-foot putts.
How can the program avoid the misfires and start becoming a double-digit win superstar again? It needs more pop to the offense, a few more big things happening from a defense that’s been good-enough, and it has to win the games it’s supposed to.
Marshall was able to beat Florida Atlantic, WKU and Louisiana Tech last season, but it also lost to Middle Tennessee and Charlotte.
This year, the Herd have the talent and the experience, especially on offense.
The O line should be among the best in the league, Brenden Knox is a terrific back to work around, and Isaiah Green is back at quarterback with a few years of experience under his belt.
But there’s a problem …
Set The Marshall Thundering Herd Regular Season Win Total At … 7.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 6
The schedule isn’t quite as easy as it needs to be. It stinks to miss UTEP and UTSA from the West, and there’s a rough stretch of three road games in four weeks going to WKU, Louisiana Tech, and FIU, and hosting Florida Atlantic.
Throw in a sneaky-tough road game at Ohio, and home games against Pitt and Boise State, and getting back to the ten-win mark might be a stretch.
But staying in that eight-win groove and going to a bowl game? That’s right there for the Herd again.
