Marshall College Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

Marshall Football Preview 2024

Marshall football keeps on winning and keeps on going to bowl games.

But it’s Marshall, so it doesn’t feel like enough.

It’s been close to 30 years since the program was an FCS superpower, and it’s now nine years since a wonderful 33-8 run from 2013 to 2015. But there have been plenty of wins since then, the last two years in the Sun Belt have been solid, and …

More. Marshall last won a conference title in 2014 - in Conference USA. It won six MAC Championships, but that’s going back to 2002. Even so, it’s a program that knows success, and it’s up to fourth-year head coach Charles Huff and his staff to do a bit more.

It’s hard in a Sun Belt loaded from top to almost bottom, and there are enough personnel losses to make it a bit bumpy at times, especially down the stretch. But Marshall should keep on winning and go to another bowl game.

But it’s Marshall. Don’t be stunned if its November and it’s playing for something more.

Marshall Preview 2024: Offense

- Oh sure, it was all fun when the offense was rolling. The Herd attack went off over the first six weeks of last season, averaging well over 400 yards per game and scoring in bunches, and then came a rough midsection and the struggles kept going from there.

Starting with the 20-9 loss to James Madison, the Herd failed to put ten points on the board in four of their next five games and went 0-5 when scoring 17 or fewer. And now the program is deep into the transfer portal.

- The pass protection has to be stronger and the ground game has to move on without Rasheen Ali. Jordan Houston comes in from NC State to combine with Ethan Payne to handle the rushing attack, but the line has to generate a more consistent push.

Three new starters are in from the transfer portal around veteran Logan Osburn at center. The depth is an issue, but the starting five should be okay with a little time.

- The quarterback play has to be better at not screwing up. Top passer Cam Fancher is now at Florida Atlantic. He and Cole Pennington combined to throw 18 interceptions, but overall the QB situation is fine. Pennington is better than his stats, Wake Forest transfer Mitch Griffis is a veteran, and Tulsa’s Braylon Braxton might be a sneaky-good factor in this mix.

The receivers are almost all coming from the portal. Michigan State’s Christian Fitzpatrick should be the best of the bunch on the outside, Bralon Brown (Ole Miss), Tychaun Chapman (North Carolina), Carl Chester (Tulsa), and Elijah Metcalf (Middle Tennessee) will all be thrown into the equation.

Marshall Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense wasn't nearly as good as the 2022 version , but it had a good pass rush and the ability to bend without a lot of breaking. The portal hit this bunch hard, but Marshall got its own new parts with Jacarius Clayton (Mississippi State) as the possible new top edge rusher. Ashton Heflin (Georgia Tech) a young prospect joining MLB J’Coryan Anderson in the linebacking corps.

- That defensive front six has some homegrown veteran parts, too. The combination of Isaiah Gibson and TyQaze Leggs should form one of the Sun Belt’s better tackle tandems. Replacing pass rushers Elijah Alston and Owen Porter will be tough, but Michael Green should ramp up the stats with more work.

- Losing top CB Micah Abraham is tough, and S Dyoni Hill was a playmaker, but JJ Roberts and AG McGhee are excellent safeties who get around the ball. The corner situation is a little bit iffier, but helped by Arizona State transfer Isaiah Johnson, there’s depth to figure it out.

Marshall Key To The Season

Interceptions. Stop throwing them.
Seriously, what’s with this program and interceptions?

There were 18 last year. The ten in 2022 weren’t killers, but the 13 in 2021 and ten in 2020 were. 2016 was the only time Marshall football got through a season with fewer than double-digit picks in over 15 years.

In case you were wondering, 53 teams last season didn’t throw ten interceptions.

Last year, Marshall was 0-3 when giving away three or more, and 1-4 when turning it over three times or more.

Marshall Key Player

Cole Pennington, QB Soph.
Or any of the other quarterbacks.

Cam Fancher wasn’t always perfect, but he had his moments. Chad Pennington’s son stepped in when Fancher got hurt, threw no touchdown passes and six picks in his little bit of work, and he played well in a win over Georgia Southern. The program needs a quarterback who can produce on a consistent basis - and stop throwing picks.

Marshall Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Mitch Griffis, QB Jr.
Again, it’s hardly a sure thing who the starting quarterback will be, but Griffis is in his fifth season and is still just a junior. He threw for close to 2,000 yards with 15 touchdowns and eight picks in his time at Wake Forest, and he can run a bit. If it’s not Pennington, the Herd have a good second option.

Top Transfer Out: DE Elijah Alston, Sr.
The Herd did a good job in the transfer portal to fill a slew of holes, but finding a dangerous pass rusher like Alston is tough. It took a few years, and then he blew up with six sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss with his 45 stops. He took his talents to South Beach to play for Miami.

Marshall Key Game

Appalachian State, Oct. 5
It’s the Sun Belt opener, it’s right out of the gate, and it’s a chance to get off to a great start with five winnable games to follow before dealing with Coastal Carolina and at James Madison over the last few weeks. The Mountaineers won 31-9 last year, but the two teams are 2-2 over the last four years.

Marshall 10 Best Players

1. JJ Roberts, S Sr.
2. Michael Green, DE Soph.
3. AG McGhee, S Jr.
4. Logan Osburn, C Sr.
5. TyQaze Leggs, DT Sr.
6. Christian Fitzpatrick, WR Sr.
7. Cole Pennington, QB Soph.
8. Mitch Griffis, QB Jr.
9. JJ Roberts, S Sr.
10. Tychaun Chapman, WR Soph.

Marshall 2023 Fun Stats

- Fumbles: Marshall 23 (lost 11), Opponents 12 (lost 5)

- Punt Return Average: Opponents 11.7 yards, Marshall 2.1 yards

- Marshall 1st Quarter Scoring: 55, Marshall 2nd Quarter Scoring: 101

Marshall 2024 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen

This might be a lot like last season when Marshall was hit-or-miss.

It struggled against Albany, but beat Virginia Tech. Hung around with NC State, but got dropkicked by Georgia State. This year, it might take a little while to gel with all the new parts from the portal, and there’s exactly one week to do it.

This year the Virginia Tech game is on the road. Forget about it on the road against Ohio State, but getting Western Michigan at home helps.

There’s no Troy, South Alabama, Louisiana, Texas State, or Arkansas State - all five of those are nice misses - and Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina are home games.

Here’s the issue - three of the last four games are on the road - Southern Miss, Old Dominion, and James Madison - and they’re all going to be an issue.

Even so, it’ll be an eighth-straight season with a bowl game, and after a 6-7 campaign, Marshall will come up with its tenth winning campaign in 12 years.

Set The Marshall Win Total At … 6.5

Likely Wins: Stony Brook, ULM, Western Michigan

50/50 Games: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, at Georgia Southern, Georgia State, at Old Dominion, at Southern Miss

Likely Losses: at James Madison, at Ohio State, at Virginia Tech