The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
The Marshall Thundering Herd came into the season with a lot of question marks and fairly low expectations. Coach Mark Snyder is generally considered to be in a hot-seat season, having not led the team to more than 5 wins in his 4 seasons to this point. Things started a bit shaky, barely escaping 1-AA Southern Illinois and then suffering a blowout at the hands of Virginia Tech. Since then, though, Marshall has had a pretty good run, knocking off Bowling Green and launching their C-USA campaign at 2-1.
- Wins: B. I suspect that if you offered Marshall fans 4-2 at midseason, they’d probably take it. They did let a winnable game against ECU slip away, but they’re still in the hunt for the division title.
- Offense: C+. Junior RB Darius Marshall (yes) has been a revelation, currently 2nd in America in rushing yardage at 147.20 per game, less than a yard behind the leader. Unfortunately, this has failed to set up the passing game, which is 107th, and they haven’t found anyone to help Marshall out in the running game, so the team average is just 49th in the country and 4th in the league. Scoring offense is poor as well, 22.17 ppg, good for 9th in the league.
- Defense: C. The total defense has been poor, allowing 391 ypg. The Virginia Tech game did throw the average a little bit, but games against Southern Illinois and Tulane should have offset that more than they did. Scoring defense is saving the team, with only 22.83 ppg, 3rd in the league.
- Special Teams: C+. Punting has been a problem (108th/10th in CUSA), but the return game has been decent, ranked 6th in the league for both punts and kickoffs.
- Turnovers: B. +4 overall, which is providing some help to the otherwise somewhat struggling defense.
- Grading Curve: No change. Marshall is definitely playing better than originally expected, but hasn’t really picked off a major upset. The Bowling Green win was a mild surprise at the time, but a win over East Carolina would have had a big impact on their season. I did have them 9th in my pre-season rankings, and they’re currently 6th on my chart and climbing.
- Final Grade: B-. Overall, a very good start for the Herd, but I wonder if the shaky production numbers on both sides of the ball suggest some vulnerability down the stretch. They’ve been able to pick off two of C-USA’s bottom teams, now they’ll have to try it against squads located farther up that list.
Remaining Games:
- at West Virginia
- UAB
- at UCF
- Southern Miss
- Southern Methodist
- at UTEP
Best Case Scenario: If Darius Marshall stays hot, and they can get a little passing going around him, Marshall could come alive and run through the rest of C-USA and wind up 5-1 in the second half. 9-3 on the season would be enough to go bowling, and I think 7-1 would win the division and set up a game with Houston or Tulsa in December.
Worst Case Scenario: Opponents key in on the running game and make the Herd pass to win, which they can’t do. 2-4 to wind up at 6-6, probably out of the bowl picture, and shopping for a new head coach.
Prediction: I think they’re looking at about 3-3 the rest of the way, which gives them a 7-5 record and a decent chance to get picked for one of C-USA’s bowl games.