Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the Marshall Thundering Herd season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Marshall Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 9-4 overall, 6-2 in Conference USA
Head Coach: Doc Holliday. 10th year, 70-46
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MARSHALL OFFENSE
– The offense was fine, but it didn’t do enough to help out the solid defense. The Herd averaged an okay 394 yards and 28 points per game, but now almost all of the parts are back to be more consistent and more explosive, starting with …
– Isaiah Green needs to be sharper. The sophomore pushed past strong transfer Alex Thomson for the starting job, and he only completed 57% of his throws with 15 scores and ten picks, However, he put up big yards with 200 or more in the seven of the ten games he played in, and now he knows what he’s doing. Now he needs …
– The receiving corps has to rise up. The Herd lose leading target Tyre Brady and deep threat Marcel Williams, but 6-3, 216-pound Obi Obialo is a good veteran who finished second on the team with 42 catches for 505 yards and four scores.
Getting Tavin Richardson as a grad transfer from Kentucky helps, and the tight end situation is strong with Armani Levias in after catching 25 passes with three scores, and Xavier Gaines a dangerous deep targets averaging over 16 yards per grab.
– The rushing offense had its moments, and it closed with a bang. The top backs return, with Tyler King a quick slasher who averaged over six yards per carry on his 655 yards, and 223-pound sophomore Brenden Knox providing some pop with 578 yards averaging over six yards per try. King might have led the team, but it was Knox who was the star over the late part of the season with all his yards over the final five games.
– Theres’s a chance the line is the best in Conference USA, or close to it after being among the league leaders in fewest sacks and tackles for loss allowed. It starts with getting back all-star Levi Brown at center, and then there’s a little shuffling. Junior Tarik Adams will stick at one tackle spot, and 300-pound junior Will Ulmer will see time somewhere on the left side.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MARSHALL DEFENSE
– The Thundering Herd D was terrific, allowing 20 points or fewer seven times in the last 12 games and was amazing at taking the ball away. Just enough starters are gone to be annoying, and the top three tacklers are done, but …
– The secondary should be a plus. It loses big-tackler Malik Gant, but corner Chris Jackson is back after making 61 stops, and junior Nazeeh Johnson returns to his free safety spot. The hope is for 51-tackle junior Brandon Drayton can step in for Gant, and senior Kereon Merrell returns at the other corner gig. There’s good enough depth to play around with the alignment. The defensive backfield is good, but …
– After finishing second in Conference USA against the run, most of the starters are gone off the front seven. Fortunately, 268-pound senior Channing Hames is back after earning all-star honors as the team’s devastating interior pass rusher.
There will be some moving around with senior Ty Tyler versatile enough to play anywhere up front after coming up with 44 stops, and hoping for sophomore Darius Hodge to grow into more of a pass rusher with a bigger job on the outside.
– Even with the loss of the starters from the linebacking corps, it’ll be fine, just young and without any depth to count on right away. It starts with Omari Cobb a veteran who finished fifth on the team with 60 tackles, and 250-pound junior Jaquan Yulee has to be a thumper now that he moves into a likely starting role.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP MARSHALL PLAYERS
Best Marshall Offensive Player
C Levi Brown, Sr.
Great from the start of his redshirt freshman season, the 6-4, 280-pound versatile interior lineman has been an all-star for the last three years at center. He’s a big, tough blocker with enough mobility to handle the quicker interior linemen. Now in his fourth year as a starter, he’s the unquestioned leader of another good Herd line.
2. WR Obi Obialo, Sr.
3. QB Isaiah Green, Soph.
4. RB Brenden Knox, Soph.
5. TE Armani Levias, Sr.
Best Marshall Defensive Player
DT Channing Hames, Sr.
Part of the rotation on one of Conference USA’s best run defenses, the 6-5, 268-pound Hames was an unstoppable force in the backfield with a team-high 12.5 tackles for loss with 7.5 sacks and 45 tackles.
Too quick for most interior linemen, he’s got a great first move and swarms all around the ball with three tackles or more in nine games. He cranked up the sack total late with two against both Virginia Tech and in the bowl win over USF.
2. DE Ty Tyler, Sr.
3. CB Chris Jackson, Sr.
4. LB Omari Cobb, Sr.
5. S Nazeeh Johnson, Jr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Marshall Offense
Stop giving the ball away. More of a running game would be a positive, and the scoring pop should be a given, but considering the experience and talent returning, the turnover train has to come to a stop after giving it up 47 times over the last two years.
The Herd were able to survive the mistakes thanks to a defense that was great at forcing mistakes, but the offense has to be far more careful with the ball – and it was.
Late in the year, Marshall was able to slow down the giveaways a bit after turning it over 14 times over an early four game stretch. However, the four turnovers were devastating in the 26-24 loss to Southern Miss, and the three in the ten-point loss to Middle Tennessee didn’t help.
Biggest Key To The Marshall Defense
Don’t allow 30 points. More to the point, don’t get into shootouts.
This year’s team is better equipped offensively to come up with more big scoring bursts, and it had more than its share of moments over the last few seasons when everything clicked. However, in a strange twist, the Herd just never seem capable of winning games with lots of points.
When the O scores big, Marshall wins – that almost always corresponds to a big day from the D. When the D struggles, Marshall loses – that almost always corresponds to a mediocre day from the O.
What does that mean? Marshall went 6-0 last season when it scored 30 points or more, and went 0-3 when it allowed 30 points or more.
To take this further and put it a bit on the Marshall scoring defense under head coach Doc Holliday, since the beginning of 2015 after a 41-31 win over Purdue, the team has gone 0-14 in games when it allows 30 points or more.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Isaiah Green, Soph.
All the talk and excitement before last season was over transfer Alex Thomson, a 6-5 passer with NFL tools. But it was Green who stepped up in the 2018 offseason and took over the starting job, and he put up nice numbers throwing for 220 yards or more seven times in the ten games he played in. When he was out, Thomson came in, and the running game took over.
To be fair to Green, he was in his first season and he was learning on the fly. But with the defense undergoing a redo in several spots, the offense has to carry more of the load – that falls on Green. The passing skills are there, and now he has to take his completion percentage up to well over 60% after hitting 58% last year, and cutting down on the ten picks would be a plus.
Key Game To The Marshall Season
at Middle Tennessee, Oct. 5
The Herd have several big hurdles to get over to win the Conference USA East title. They have to go to Florida Atlantic, and they most likely need to win the home date against FIU in the regular season finale, but going to Middle Tennessee is a really, really big deal.
The Blue Raiders won last year when MU couldn’t stop turning the ball over, and it turned out to be devastating in the hunt for the C-USA title. This time around it’s the league opener, and with a win, there’s a shot at all but ending the race if it can win in Boca Raton against FAU, too, a few weeks later.
– Marshall Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Marshall Fun Stats
– Fumbles: Opponents 20 (lost 12) – Marshall 12 (lost 10)
– Sacks: Marshall 40 for 262 yards – Marshall 19 for 120 yards
– 4th Down Conversions: Marshall 10-of-14 (71%) – Opponents 11-of-25 (44%)
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. MARSHALL WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
There’s just enough in place to push for the Conference USA title – or at least come into the season thinking a championship is possible – but there’s just enough missing to make it tough.
How quickly can the Herd rebuild the defensive front six/seven? Can the offense start to do more, and can the passing game be a bit more consistent? Can the turnovers and penalties slow down, and can the team control the clock and games more?
Yeah, absolutely.
The running game should be fantastic, the offense will be stronger, and the defense shouldn’t skip a beat despite the loss of several key parts.
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 8
Head coach Doc Holliday has put together a solid run – with a few clunkers in his tenure – and has now become automatic in bowl games going 6-0. He’ll get his Herd to another bowl, but there are just enough rough games to keep it from being an amazing season.
Going to Boise State and hosting Cincinnati will be dangerous, but there aren’t any non-conference games against Power Five programs.
Going to Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee is dangerous, hosting Louisiana Tech is a problem, and the date with FIU at the end of the regular season will be tough.
There isn’t a game on the slate that MU can’t win, but there’s no UTEP or UTSA, and the Conference USA bottom feeders on the slate will be more feisty.
No, it might not be the season Herd fans want – hoping for the first Conference USA title since 2014 – but it’s still going to be a very, very good one.
And, of course, it’ll close out with another bowl win.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
