— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The formula is simple for Marshall and Georgia Southern on Saturday — win and almost certainly extend the season, or lose and turn in equipment next week.
Georgia Southern visits Huntington for Saturday’s Sun Belt Conference game kicking off at 1:30 p.m. at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. It will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
It marks the final home game for 17 Marshall seniors taking part in Senior Day festivities before kickoff.
The Herd (5-6, 3-4) suffered a frustrating 26-24 loss at Appalachian State last weekend, while the Eagles (5-6, 3-4) were handled at home against Old Dominion, 45-10.
Clay Helton, the former head coach at Southern California, is in his fourth year as the leader of the Eagles and has compiled a 25-25 record in Statesboro.
“You reach Game 12 and you hope you have something on the line,” Helton said. “We and Marshall are playing to keep our seasons alive in a bowl game. You always want to be one of those teams still in the fight.
“We’re trying to do something here at Georgia Southern that hasn’t been done and that is to go to four straight bowl games.”
Entering Week 14, which will be in full swing Friday, there are 72 bowl eligible teams for 82 spots. Marshall and Georgia Southern is one of three matchups this week between 5-6 teams, meaning at least three other teams are guaranteed bowl eligibility.
The Eagles have veteran leadership to aid in their quest for a sixth win, including redshirt junior quarterback JC French, who has thrown for 2,445 yards and 17 touchdowns with eight interceptions this season.
French’s top offensive weapons are wide receivers Camden Brown and Dalen Cobb and running back OJ Arnold.
Brown often gets vertical and has big-play capability, evidenced by his 54 receptions for for 892 yards with 12 touchdowns. Cobb has 52 catches for 471 yards and three scores.
Arnold has 880 rushing yards, while he and French have combined for 11 rushing touchdowns.
Defensively, linebackers Brandon Tyson and Brendon Harrison and defensive back Justin Myers are players to watch. All three have at least 74 tackles this season and have combined for 4.5 tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions.
True freshman kicker Tripp Bryant has hit 13 of 15 field goal tries with a long of 46 yards. The Eagles’ punter is Alex Smith, who averages 42.7 yards per punt.
GSU is 0-3 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, but has won before in Huntington back in 1990, the final year Marshall used Fairfield Stadium as its home.