Marshall vs UConn game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Monday, December 19
Marshall vs UConn prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. Myrtle Beach Bowl, Monday, December 19
Marshall vs UConn Myrtle Beach Bowl Prediction Game Preview
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Marshall vs UConn How To Watch
Date: Monday, December 19
Game Time: 2:30 ET
Venue: Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Marshall (8-4), UConn (6-6)
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Marshall vs UConn Myrtle Beach Bowl 5 Things To Know
Myrtle Beach Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
– How did Jim Mora Jr. not make every Coach of the Year list? Before 2022, UConn won exactly ten games since 2015, hadn’t had a winning season since 2010, didn’t play in 2020, and a 2019 victory over UMass was the lone win against an FBS team since the middle of the 2017 season. Mora’s team shocked Fresno State as it went on a 5-1 run to get bowl eligible before dropping the regular season finale. This has been a wildly successful year no matter what happens here.
– It’s been a crazy season for Marshall. It made a massive splash with a shocking win over Notre Dame, and then it promptly followed it up with a loss to Bowling Green as part of a rough 2-4 run with a tough November looming. The switch was flipped, the defense took things up a notch, and the Herd closed out 4-0.
– For years Marshall was a bowl season given. It lost its first two, and then from 1998 to 2018 it went 12-1, with the only loss coming to Cincinnati in the 2004 Fort Worth. Along that ride was a 16-10 win over UConn in the 2015 St. Petersburg. Now it’s on a three-bowl losing streak including a 36-21 rocking from Louisiana in last year’s New Orleans Bowl.
– It’s just the seventh bowl appearance in the history of UConn football. It’s 3-3 with the last win coming over South Carolina in the 2009 PapaJohn.com Bowl. The only bowl between this and the 2010 Fiesta loss to Oklahoma was that loss to Marshall. Yeah, this game means something.
– The Myrtle Beach Bowl is only in its third season, but the first two games at least were interesting. It’s become a landing place for good Group of Five programs, and it’s got the college football day all to itself on a Monday afternoon. Appalachian State ran wild in a 56-28 win over North Texas in the inaugural game, and Tulsa’s 30-17 win over Old Dominion last year was more entertaining than the final score.
CFN Bowl Expert Picks: Dec 16-19 | Dec 20-27
Why Marshall Will Win The Myrtle Beach Bowl
It’s a nice UConn team, but it’s about to run into a brick wall – not literally, but almost.
Marshall might not have a high-powered offense, but the run defense has been tremendous all year long, finishing fifth in the nation allowing just 88 yards per game. No one was able to get to 200 on this bunch – not Notre Dame, not Appalachian State, not Coastal Carolina – and UConn has to run well to win.
The Huskies were able to pull off a few wins when the ground game wasn’t flying, but the O line allows way too many plays behind the line, third downs are almost impossible to convert, and the passing attack does nothing down the field – UConn is dead last in the nation in yards per completion.
On the other side, Marshall is 6-0 when running for 200 yards or more. UConn is 1-6 when allowing more than 155 yards, but ….
Why UConn Will Win The Myrtle Beach Bowl
The running game really could work.
Granted, it cranked up the big yards against some of the worst run defenses in America, but with time to prepare and get everyone healthy again, the offense is about to hit Marshall with a wave of young backs.
Zion Turner is a dangerous young quarterback who can get on the move, the running backs should push for close to five yards per carry, and it should be able to slow the game down a bit.
The UConn defense doesn’t do too much to get behind the line, but it doesn’t take much to disrupt the Marshall attack. The passing game isn’t great, the O is miserable at converting drives into points, and the line is way too leaky.
However …
Myrtle Beach Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
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