If not for an excruciatingly poor season offensively in 2022, Marshall might have won the Sun Belt. The Thundering Herd were special defensively, leading the conference in scoring defense (16 points per game). They beat JMU by two touchdowns and they even took down Notre Dame in South Bend.
Marshall held promise, but it fell just shy of winning the Sun Belt East. Marshall finished 9-4, winning five straight games to conclude its 2022 campaign.
Entering 2023, if the Thundering Herd can find offensive improvement, they can win the Sun Belt and be a top-25 team. College football betting odds suggest Marshall will be one of the better teams in the Sun Belt, as the Thundering Herd have a win total of 7.5 at BetMGM with odds of +125 for the over and -150 for the under. Making a bowl game in the Sun Belt East is no easy feat, but Marshall has the chops to go 8-4 or better.
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Marshall’s Defense Capable
The Thundering Herd replaced defensive coordinator Lance Guidry – he left for Miami – with Jason Semore. He was most recently an assistant coach at Georgia Tech.
Semore has plenty of quality players on the roster, including Owen Porter, one of the most dynamic defenders in the Sun Belt. Porter recorded 9.5 sacks last season, serving as one of the most disruptive pass rushers in the conference.
Even if Marshall’s defense takes a small step back, it’s expected to be one of the top-five defenses in the Sun Belt in 2023. Marshall’s defense should keep it in just about every game on its schedule.
Marshall’s schedule is no cakewalk, outside of a likely season-opening win over Albany. After that, Marshall faces East Carolina, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina State in non-conference games. Those games are all winnable for Marshall, but they’re also all games Marshall could drop.
The Sun Belt East schedule is a challenge, but Marshall does host JMU and Georgia Southern. Road games against App State, Coastal Carolina, and South Alabama will be among the team’s toughest in-conference matchups.
Betting On The Offense
Marshall’s potential is through the roof because of its defense – and there’s a lot to like about head coach Charles Huff – but the Thundering Herd need to improve offensively to reach their win total. The unknowns offensively are abundant.
Cam Fancher is the projected starting quarterback, but he’s relatively young. He performed OK at the end of last season during the team’s late-season surge, but he’s never thrown for more than 300 yards or two touchdowns in a game. For Marshall to win the Sun Belt, it needs a bit more than game-managing performances at quarterback.
Stud running back Khalan Laborn is gone, but a healthy Rasheen Ali is a scary prospect for opposing defenses. Marshall has the pieces to run the ball effectively, although its offensive line might best be described as solid rather than elite.
If Marshall can create more dynamic plays, especially from the quarterback position, it can win the Sun Belt. If it can’t, it will be an uphill battle to reach eight wins. I’m inclined to take the team’s over, if forced to take a side, but I’ll want to hear more about the team’s offensive outlook as reports surface during fall camp.
Bennett Conlin is a college football contributor for HERO Sports, and he works full-time covering sports betting industry news and legislation for Sports Handle and US Bets.
