College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Marshall football season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Marshall Football Schedule
– Marshall Thundering Herd Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
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2020 Record: 7-3 overall, 4-2 in C-USA
Head Coach: Charles Huff, 1st year
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 67
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 90
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 35
Marshall Thundering Herd College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– Everything was going along just fine over the first seven games – even with a few hiccups – and then it all crashed. The offense failed to get to 270 yards in any of the last three games, the passing game fell flat, the ground game went nowhere, and now there’s a new regime.
New head coach Charles Huff is a young coach who knows offense. A longtime assistant, he helped handle the running backs at Alabama over the last two seasons on the way to get here. He knows running backs, but offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey is still around even after the problems of last year.
Even with the late collapse, Marshall still averaged 391 yards and was second in the conference averaging close to 29 points per game. Nine starters are expected back, starting with …
– Grant Wells. He stepped up and made the quarterback job his, taking over right away and throwing for over 2,000 yards and 18 scores and nine picks. The 6-2, 210-pounder doesn’t add a whole lot to the ground game, but he’s a solid passer who can move the ball around. The backup situation is very, very thin. There’s sophomore Luke Zban, and that’s about it.
The side receivers are strong. 6-4, 227-pound sophomore Corey Gammage led the team with 35 catches, All-Conference USA tight end Xavier Gaines was second with 28 grabs – he can stretch the field – the rest of the main targets are back except for Artie Henry (Virginia) and Broc Thompson (Purdue) who left through the transfer portal.
– The offensive front was fourth in the nation in fewest tackles for loss allowed and only allowed 1.2 sacks per game. Three starters are back, but Tarik Adams is a big tackle who’s part of the mix and North Carolina transfer Billy Ross will play a role.
Again, the new head man knows how to coach up running backs, but he doesn’t have leading rusher Brenden Knox around to work with. Sheldon Evans is a good 200-pound back who ran for 327 yards and four scores as a part of the rotation, and 218-pound sophomore Knowledge McDaniel adds more power and pop averaging six yards per carry.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Marshall Schedule Analysis