HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—It is hard to believe that the college football season is already two-thirds complete. With four games remaining the Thundering Herd is right where everyone predicted it would be, 8-0 and in the thick of the conversation for being the top ranked G5 school.
While the national college football experts are quick to dismiss Marshall as a contender for the final playoff spot, the Herd is at least being mentioned in the conversation. While the strength of schedule will certainly prevent it from actually capturing one of those coveted semifinal slots, as long as Marshall remains undefeated it will come up in the discussion.
However, anyone who thinks Marshall’s record is the result of the strength of schedule obviously has not actually watched this team play. The Herd’s 45.9 points per game is third in the NCAA behind TCU (50.4) and Baylor (49.0). The defense is allowing just 16.5 points per game which is good enough for eighth in the country. If Marshall runs the table and continues putting up the same average numbers, it will be hard to dismiss it for an Access Bowl bid.
First playoff ranking
Herd fans are eagerly anticipating the first College Football Playoff Committee rankings due out Tuesday night. Just keep in mind, there is a lot of football left to be played and the rankings will look dramatically different when the final rankings are released on Dec. 7. Although, it should give some insight into how the committee views Marshall, its perfect record and strength of schedule stacked up against the other G5 contenders.
“Struggled” to a 19 point win
Marshall certainly did not play its best game Saturday against FAU but it did win the game by nearly three touchdowns and the defense pitched a shutout in the second half. The turning point in the game came on Marshall’s fourth down stop in the endzone when Darryl Roberts broke up a potential touchdown pass. When Marshall needed to make stops in the second half it did. The offense was able to grind out the clock in the fourth quarter and salt away the win. You know the program is in a good place when some criticize a 19-point win.
Cato’s inconsistency on the deep ball is probably the only thing that kept the game from being a 49-16 game. If he connects on two of those vertical routes no one was going to chase down Angleo Jean-Louis or Deon-Tay McManus from behind.
Taking what the defense gives
The Herd’s offense took several shots downfield and had receivers open. On more than one occasion Deon-Tay McManus and Angelo Jean-Louis had a step on the defensive back. Quarterback Rakeem Cato admitted after the game a couple of those throws took off on him and he overthrew the open man. But why did he keep taking the shots downfield?
“They (FAU’s defense) did what they did last year. On some of the plays they were bracketing up the inside guys and leaving us one-on-one on the outside,” explained Cato.
I don’t understand the nuisances of the offense and can’t even begin to pretend to comprehend Cato’s progressions. So while it may appear Cato was overlooking open receivers, they may have been his third or fourth read. The defense was giving him man coverage, and Cato was taking it.
He just missed.
Froh #2 in passing yardage
Former Marshall quarterback Blake Frohnapfel is making the best of his opportunity at UMass. Frohnapfel has thrown for 2,921 yards this season. That is second in the country. Just think how differently things may have played out if Tommy Shuler had not talked Rakeem Cato into changing his mind and coming to Marshall instead of FIU.