CFB on Saturday afternoon and we will see the Marshall Thundering Herd travel to Blacksburg, Virginia to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies. The start time is 12:00 pm (Eastern) and the game will be televised on ESPN U. Current Odds have Virginia Tech listed as 9 point favorites, while the total sits at 52.5.
Analysis: Marshall will be looking to get back on track after sustaining its first loss of the season last week at Ohio. The Thundering Herd could not overcome four turnovers or their failure to register any takeaways and lost 34-31 to Ohio. Coach Doc Holliday's squad had outscored Miami-Ohio and Gardner-Webb, 107-14, in its first two games to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 1999. Marshall led the FBS in passing yards per game last season thanks to Rakeem Cato extended, who his streak of games with a touchdown pass to 21 as he found his favorite red zone target, Gator Hoskins last week at Peden Stadium. Cato went 30-of-45 for a season-high 366 yards with a rushing touchdown and an interception in the loss. Junior wideout Tommy Shuler had a strong showing in the loss as well with nine catches for 87 yards. He is the fifth-leading receiver in the C-USA at 82.3 ypg. Steward Butler is the top rusher for the Herd with 282 yards and three scores. The Herd ranked 101st in the FBS in total defense (456.6 ypg) and 119th in scoring defense (43.1 ppg) last season. They are currently fifth in the nation with only 252.7 yards allowed per outing and also place in the top 25 in points allowed per game (16.0), thanks to new DC Chuck Heater.
Hokies defeated East Carolina, 15-10, last week in Greenville to notch their second straight victory since their 35-10 season opening loss to Alabama. Beamer has 218 career wins just with the Hokies, which is the eighth most any coach has amassed at one school at the FBS level. Virginia Tech struggled to put points on the scoreboard last week against the Pirates. It was limited to only 311 yards of total offense on 77 plays. Logan Thomas was a big time rushing threat over the past two seasons, compiling 995 yards and 20 TD’s over that stretch, but this season Thomas has been held to an average of just four yards per game on the ground. Freshman halfback Trey Edmunds appears to be the new workhorse in the rushing game accounting for 56 of the team's 101 rushing attempts and has produced 242 yards and three rushing TDs. The Va Tech defense is back and looked good vs Alabama, holding the Tide to only 206 yards of total offense, which is the second-lowest total it has amassed under Nick Saban. They got off to a slow start last week against ECU, giving up 109 yards and a score in the first quarter, but allowed just 95 yards and three points over the final 45 minutes. Virginia Tech is 9-2, in the all-time series. and have not lost a game in the series since 1940.
Pick: Going to look to the Under in this one. both teams have been playing very good defense this year and only one team can score. The Marshall offense will not get much off of the Hokies, while Virginia Tech’s offense will struggle as well vs a much improved Marshall defense. This game could finish in the 30’s.
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