DOWN GOES THE MONARCHY!

The Herd’s Headset of the HerdLine Podcast

Saturday in Norfolk was a good place to be a Marshall fan, as it has historically been.

In the long history between Marshall and Old Dominion, ODU has only managed to defeat the Herd one time.

And the second time wasn’t happening this season.

Before we get into the breakdown, let’s establish a few things.

ODU is not a very good football team.

They’ve beaten an FCS opponent and somehow found a way to beat Appalachian State thanks in large part to a literal hurricane moving through Boone, creating some less-than-ideal conditions for football.

They were also playing with their third-string quarterback, and their offense has been horrendous for much of the season.

Marshall should have taken care of business.

And they did.

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some alarming things that took place along the way.

The Herd walked out of Norfolk with a victory, but there are still some questions that need answers.

Here is how Trace and I saw things this week!

QUARTERBACK

Headset: ⭐⭐ 2 Stars

Trace: ⭐⭐⭐½ 3.5 Stars

What an odd day offensively.

Zion Turner started the game and was able to move the football pretty well, although much of the production came on the ground.

Under his leadership, the Herd put up 17 relatively easy points in the first quarter.

Then, for a reason that is beyond my understanding, out comes Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, a quarterback we hadn’t seen since the absolute dismantling against Coastal Carolina.

And it wasn’t pretty.

Carlos struggled throughout his time on the field, despite making one good throw that put Marshall inside the 10-yard line.

He finished 3/9 passing for 66 yards.

We saw many of the same issues that have plagued his performances throughout the season.

Balls thrown way too hard.

Receivers being overthrown.

And an overall lack of consistency.

Then came back Zion.

Then came in Khalil Wilkins.

Then came back Zion again.

It was like watching a game of pinball.

Nobody seemed to know who was going to be under center from one drive to the next.

And honestly, none of the quarterbacks did enough to make you feel like they’ve officially grabbed the reins of this offense.

Khalil Wilkins only attempted one pass the entire afternoon, and the offense became very one-dimensional during his time.

As a fan, this is getting tough to watch.

We don’t have a quarterback situation.

We have a quarterback committee.

And somehow, this committee has found a way to win football games over the last three weeks.

It’s working.

But how long can it work?

That remains to be seen.

OFFENSE

Headset: ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

Trace: ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

Marshall moved the football throughout the afternoon.

There were some really good things to take away from this performance, particularly in the running game.

TJ Lester was the standout performer, finishing with 76 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

He played a major role in getting this victory.

Judah Price also had a big afternoon, leading the team with 82 rushing yards and making an impact throughout the game.

But the biggest frustration came when Marshall got inside the red zone.

Multiple times, the Herd found themselves in first-and-goal situations and came away settling for field goals.

That’s frustrating.

You have to turn those opportunities into touchdowns, especially against an opponent like Old Dominion.

Plagued by inconsistent offensive line play, penalties, and questionable decisions, Marshall left plenty of points on the field.

This could have been an absolute blowout.

Instead, we allowed ODU to hang around longer than they should have.

It was an OK performance.

But the inability to finish drives in the red zone is becoming a troubling trend.

DEFENSE

Headset: ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

Trace: ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

The defense had three huge plays, along with one particularly bad drive late in the game.

Outside of those moments, they played a very solid afternoon of football.

Caleb Clark-Glover, Daytonie Smith, and Charles McCartherners all came up with interceptions that helped swing momentum in Marshall’s favor.

Kenyatta Harge had a monster afternoon with two sacks and a forced fumble.

Braydin Ward also got to the quarterback for a sack, and Kelvin McBride added one of his own.

Terrente Hinton delivered multiple big hits throughout the afternoon.

There was plenty to like about this defensive performance.

However, we also have to be fair and acknowledge that those big plays against us happened.

We cannot overlook the moments when this defense allowed ODU to move the football.

Brad Lambert has taken this defense a long way from where it was earlier in the season.

Are we where we need to be?

No.

But this unit is certainly playing better football than what we saw earlier in the year.

Good day.

Not a great day.

But a good day.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Headset: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ 4.5 Stars

Trace: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ 4.5 Stars

Special teams didn’t just contribute to this victory.

They literally won this football game.

First of all, the most exciting moment of the entire afternoon came from Zay Turner-Bradshaw.

A 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown!

Absolutely ELECTRIC!

That’s the kind of play that gets a fan base out of its seat and changes the entire complexion of a football game.

Jorge Diaz-Nicholas was absolutely perfect.

He went 5/5 on field goal attempts and accounted for 18 of Marshall’s 36 points.

Let that sink in.

Eighteen points.

Nearly half of Marshall’s offensive production came from the leg of Diaz-Nicholas.

Cooper Heimbach even had what we would consider an off day.

And what does an off day look like for him?

A 43.6-yard punting average, two punts inside the 20, and a long of 53 yards.

I’ll take that kind of off day every Saturday!

Nearly a perfect afternoon from the specialists.

And if it weren’t for special teams, Marshall likely loses this football game.

COACHING

Headset: ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

Trace: ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

We won.

But it was ugly.

The inability to score touchdowns in the red zone and the revolving door at the quarterback position continue to frustrate me.

I genuinely don’t understand how we are a year and eight games into Coach Gibson’s tenure, and we still have the same guys competing for the QB1 position.

At some point, somebody has to take control of this offense.

I honestly believe the constant quarterback changes contributed to drives stalling and the inability to finish in the red zone.

Then you add in the penalties.

And not just penalties, but some downright dumb ones.

Those things fall on the coaching staff.

This was a bad ODU football team.

A team playing its third-string quarterback.

A team that has struggled offensively all season.

And we never fully put them away.

I’m happy we won.

I’m thankful we won.

But there are things that need to be tightened up if this team wants to accomplish anything meaningful down the stretch.

Winning is great.

But winning shouldn’t prevent us from acknowledging where we need to improve.

OVERALL GAME RATING

Headset: 14.5 / 25

Trace: 17 / 25

COMBINED TOTAL: 31.5 / 50

OVERALL GRADE: ⭐⭐⭐¼ 3.15 / 5 STARS

Marshall got the job done in Norfolk, and that’s ultimately what matters.

Special teams delivered a tremendous performance, the defense created some game-changing plays, and the running game provided enough production to keep the offense moving.

However, the quarterback situation, red-zone struggles, penalties, and inconsistent execution leave plenty of room for improvement.

A win is a win, but this team will have to play better football if it wants to make some noise in November.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Marshall now has as many wins as it accumulated all of last season.

With one more victory, the Herd will be bowl eligible!

That’s progress.

But the next task is going to be a tough one.

Marshall heads south to take on Georgia Southern, a program that seemingly has had our number over the years.

This is not going to be an easy football game.

However, if the Herd can come out of this road trip with another victory, we could be looking at one of the greatest atmospheres we’ve seen inside the Joan since Virginia Tech came to town.

And with 75 Week against Appalachian State on the horizon, there is certainly plenty of reason for excitement.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Georgia Southern is the focus.

Marshall has now won two games in a row.

And a wise man once said that two wins in a row constitute a winning streak.

And a winning streak is always better than a losing streak!

It’s going to be an exciting matchup when the Herd travels south.

And with James Madison taking another loss, the Sun Belt East is wide open.

Especially if JMU has another stumble before the season comes to an end.

Anything can happen.

But make no mistake about it.

MARSHALL STILL HAS A SHOT AT THE SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.

One game at a time.

One Saturday at a time.

But for the first time in a while, we’ve got meaningful football being played in Huntington.

And that’s something worth getting excited about!

DOWN GOES THE MONARCHY!

GO HERD!