— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall’s football team has reached a critical point in the 2026 season.
The Thundering Herd will turn a corner or risk enduring a second straight losing season.
Answers as to which direction Tony Gibson’s second season as head coach are trending toward will come Tuesday when Marshall plays host to South Alabama at 7:30 p.m. from Joan C. Edwards Stadium. The game can be seen on ESPN2.
The Herd and Jaguars are heading in opposite directions. While Marshall (3-3, 0-2) dropped its first two Sun Belt Conference games to James Madison and Coastal Carolina, South Alabama (4-2, 2-0) won its two league games over ULM and Arkansas State.
South Alabama is led by a familiar name in college football circles in former Texas quarterback Major Applewhite. This is Applewhite’s third season as Jaguars’ head coach and he has a 15-16 record.
Marshall has used 10 days between games to examine everything from coaching decisions to personnel and even administrative tasks.
Gibson was upset about much of what transpired back on October 10 in a 27-21 loss to Coastal Carolina, including the team’s continued penchant for costly turnovers.
Marshall fell behind 27-0 before rallying against the Chanticleers and Herd quarterbacks threw three interceptions, while the offense lost three fumbles.
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson has been Marshall’s starting quarterback for each of the first six games, but Gibson says there has been an open competition for the job over the last week that also includes Zion Turner.
“These guys have been competing and who we feel best with after a week of prep is who we’ll go with on game day,” Gibson said. “We’ve got to quit beating ourselves. That’s been the common theme around here this year. We’re not taking care of the football right now. We’re struggling in the red zone.”
Marshall’s defense had one of its better performances this season against Coastal Carolina, though the Jaguars figure to pose a stern challenge as they rank No. 15 among FBS teams with an average of 38.8 points.
“We just have to play smarter,” Gibson said. “It doesn’t matter who we play right now because we’re playing against ourselves and we’re beating ourselves way too much right now.”
With a national television audience and plenty at stake including the pursuit of a first Sun Belt victory, Gibson is hopeful his team offers a strong response against South Alabama.
“If you’re a competitor, you want to compete and you want to win and that should excite you more than it upsets you,” Gibson said. “The goal is for us to win football games. We’ve got to play guys that are going to give us the best chance. What we can’t do is keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results.
“We’ve seen enough. The coaches and players have to own their part.”
South Alabama blanked Marshall, 28-0, in 2023 in the only previous meeting between the two programs.