Written by Brett Korpi
Saturday night the Florida Atlantic Owls travel up to West Virginia to take on the Thundering Herd of Marshall. It is a match-up of teams at the bottom of the Conference USA standings. However, there could be a lot at stake as coaches of both teams could see their job security at risk with a loss.
Let’s take a look how this game stacks up.
Marshall (1-4, 0-1 C-USA)
It is somewhat a surprise that Head Coach Doc Holliday and his team are having the season that they are. The Herd has had a string a ten win seasons, and despite a large turnover of the roster from last season, recruiting looked to have them in good shape. However, they are in anything but good shape right now.
Their defense has not been able get settled with all their new faces and are letting up an unimaginable 41 points per game. That is including a shut-out victory in their opener against FCS opponent Morgan State University.
On the bright side, their offense is able to sling it. Just not at a rate to compete with the porous defense. Marshall is averaging 35 points per game. The leader of the unit, quarterback Chase Litton is averaging 305 yards a game through the air, and has accumulated 13 touchdowns. He has a big target is 6’7” receiver Michael Clark who is averaging 20 yards a catch and has 4 touchdowns. Keion Davis is the Herd’s leading rusher with 253 yards and 2 scores. Tony Pittman has added to the ground game with 2 scores of his own and 7.5 yard per carry.
FAU (1-5, 0-2 C-USA)
On the other side of the field it is no surprise that the Owls find themselves in. Head Coach Charlie Partridge has a record of 7-23 entering the game, and his team is a mess. Their lone win came also came against an FCS opponent, and it was a closer than it should have been 38-30 defeat of Southern Illinois.
The Owl defense has been equally as bad as Marshall’s, giving up 37 points per game and a whopping 245 yards per game on the ground. They have been able to get to the quarterback with 10 sacks and 6 interceptions on the year. They do have a pair that have stood out in defensive end Trey Hendrickson and cornerback Jalen Young. Hendrickson has led the pass rush rush with 3.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss. Young has been all over the field accumulating 61 tackles and an interception.
Offensively, Florida Atlantic is only averaging 22 points per game. Quarterback Jake Driskel has thrown 5 interceptions to his 4 touchdowns and is only averaging 192 yards through the air. Part of that has to do with a poor offensive line that has given up 17 sacks this season. It’s a good thing they have All C-USA punter, Dalton Schomp. The Owls do have two bright spots in running back Buddy Howell and receiver Kalib Woods. Howell has 8 touchdowns on the year, including 3 in last week’s loss to Charlotte, and is averaging 82 yards per game. Woods, is also receiving 82 yards per game is prone for big plays, however only has 1 score on the year.
Prediction:
Their will be a lot of points with 2 inept defenses facing off. Look for Davis and Pittman to get through the sieve of an owl defensive front for big plays. The Thundering Herd will run wild to a 49-35 victory.
Let’s take a look how this game stacks up.
Marshall (1-4, 0-1 C-USA)
It is somewhat a surprise that Head Coach Doc Holliday and his team are having the season that they are. The Herd has had a string a ten win seasons, and despite a large turnover of the roster from last season, recruiting looked to have them in good shape. However, they are in anything but good shape right now.
Their defense has not been able get settled with all their new faces and are letting up an unimaginable 41 points per game. That is including a shut-out victory in their opener against FCS opponent Morgan State University.
On the bright side, their offense is able to sling it. Just not at a rate to compete with the porous defense. Marshall is averaging 35 points per game. The leader of the unit, quarterback Chase Litton is averaging 305 yards a game through the air, and has accumulated 13 touchdowns. He has a big target is 6’7” receiver Michael Clark who is averaging 20 yards a catch and has 4 touchdowns. Keion Davis is the Herd’s leading rusher with 253 yards and 2 scores. Tony Pittman has added to the ground game with 2 scores of his own and 7.5 yard per carry.
FAU (1-5, 0-2 C-USA)
On the other side of the field it is no surprise that the Owls find themselves in. Head Coach Charlie Partridge has a record of 7-23 entering the game, and his team is a mess. Their lone win came also came against an FCS opponent, and it was a closer than it should have been 38-30 defeat of Southern Illinois.
The Owl defense has been equally as bad as Marshall’s, giving up 37 points per game and a whopping 245 yards per game on the ground. They have been able to get to the quarterback with 10 sacks and 6 interceptions on the year. They do have a pair that have stood out in defensive end Trey Hendrickson and cornerback Jalen Young. Hendrickson has led the pass rush rush with 3.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss. Young has been all over the field accumulating 61 tackles and an interception.
Offensively, Florida Atlantic is only averaging 22 points per game. Quarterback Jake Driskel has thrown 5 interceptions to his 4 touchdowns and is only averaging 192 yards through the air. Part of that has to do with a poor offensive line that has given up 17 sacks this season. It’s a good thing they have All C-USA punter, Dalton Schomp. The Owls do have two bright spots in running back Buddy Howell and receiver Kalib Woods. Howell has 8 touchdowns on the year, including 3 in last week’s loss to Charlotte, and is averaging 82 yards per game. Woods, is also receiving 82 yards per game is prone for big plays, however only has 1 score on the year.
Prediction:
Their will be a lot of points with 2 inept defenses facing off. Look for Davis and Pittman to get through the sieve of an owl defensive front for big plays. The Thundering Herd will run wild to a 49-35 victory.