Five weeks ago, I wrote about Marshall and its path to the Sun Belt championship game.
One of the most important things the Thundering Herd needed to do to accomplish that was to win their away games. Each of their three losses came on the road and two of the remaining three road contests were against quality opponents — Old Dominion and James Madison.
Marshall won both games, despite being an underdog in each. It finished the regular season on a six-game win streak and capped it with an exciting double-overtime win over JMU after coming back from a 17-0 deficit.
Now, the Herd visits Louisiana on Saturday in the Sun Belt Championship. It’ll be the third consecutive road game for them. College football betting odds have Louisiana as a 5.5-point favorite.
Five weeks ago, the Herd had the seventh longest odds to win the championship at +1300.
Although the dreadful loss to Georgia Southern didn’t keep Marshall out of the Sun Belt title game, it potentially kept the Herd from hosting the title game. That could have been a huge advantage for the Herd if they wanted to win their first Sun Belt Championship. This is Marshall’s first appearance in the game since joining the conference in 2022. The team is confident and playing its best football of the season right now.
Louisiana and Marshall both finished 7-1 in league play, but according to the Sun Belt, the host selection was based on a composite average of selected computer rankings that include all games on the final weekend of the conference regular season.
The Sun Belt’s championship game is somewhat unique because it’s the only conference remaining that has divisions, meaning the division winners will play for the league title. It also means the teams didn’t share a ton of common opponents this season. They had four common opponents — Southern Miss, App State, Coastal Carolina, and ULM.
Both teams won all four games.
Louisiana & Marshall Have Deep Running Back Rooms
One of the reasons the Ragin’ Cajuns have been so successful offensively this season is because they are deep at running back. ULL ranks second in the conference in scoring offense (35.6 points per game) and second in total offense (446.3 yards per game).
This has especially been crucial as Louisiana had a change at quarterback. Starter Ben Wooldridge was injured Nov. 16 against South Alabama, and it was announced he would be out four to six weeks.
Chandler Fields has filled in nicely for Wooldridge, and being able to lean on the rushing attack is a huge help.
The Ragin’ Cajuns have three running backs with at least 65 carries and 450 rushing yards on the year. Bill Davis has 777 yards on 150 attempts with nine touchdowns. Zylan Perry has 95 carries for 621 yards and four scores, while Dre’lyn Washington has 459 yards on 65 carries and five TDs.
ULL ranks sixth in the league with 180.7 rushing YPG.
While Marshall QB Braylon Braxton leads his team with 118 carries (for 544 yards), AJ Turner paces the Herd with 864 yards, which ranks fifth in the league. The duo have combined for 10 rushing scores and lead a Herd rushing attack that ranks third in the Sun Belt (200.8 YPG).
Running back Jordan Houston has 475 yards on 94 carries, and Ethan Payne has 284 yards on 56 carries to go with six scores. Payne has proven to be effective in a goal-line role.
I think whoever sets the tone early on the ground will have the best shot at winning. That means this game can come down to whoever wins in the trenches.
