Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Marshall, LA Tech clash with championship implications
11/15/2019 8:11:00 AM | Football, Word on the Herd
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Friday night's nationally televised Conference USA showdown is a mega-game within the league. For one, it could ultimately be a preview of the C-USA championship game, which will be held at an on-campus location on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Marshall, at 6-3 overall and 4-1 in Conference USA, controls its destiny in the East. Although the standings show Florida Atlantic atop the division at 5-1, the Thundering Herd is tied with the Owls in the loss column and defeated FAU straight up, so the tiebreaker belongs to MU. Louisiana Tech, meanwhile, doesn't need the benefit of a tiebreaker. The Bulldogs, with an eight-game win streak, are 8-1 overall and 5-0 in league play.
So, this is it. Marshall hosts LA Tech for its memorial game, the annual tribute played on a date close to the anniversary of the 1970 Marshall football team plane crash that claimed the lives of 75 coaches, players, staff, community members and flight crew. CBS Sports Network is in town. The game will be played under Friday night lights. Clear eyes and full hearts, indeed.
"It's like Christmas morning," Marshall offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey said. "It's coming. It's going to be a great test and we needed as much time to prepare for them as possible."
Marshall has not played since Nov. 2, a 20-7 win at Rice. The 13 days of respite have allowed the Herd to recuperate with a pivotal three-game home stretch. Marshall enters Friday night's matchup on a four-game winning streak.
LA Tech played six short days ago, and the Bulldogs' offense ran 93 plays. Louisiana Tech also hasn't had a road test as stiff of this since its last loss – at then-No. 10 Texas in August. Sport Source Analytics compiled a list of the undefeated and one-loss teams in college football and their opponents' winning percentage. Oregon had the best strength of schedule – 58 percent. Louisiana Tech had the weakest number – 37 percent. There were 16 teams in between the Ducks and Bulldogs.
LA Tech has a three-game road winning streak.
"We've got a million different hurdles this week," Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz said. "We've got a short week. We've had six days to prepare for this game, and Marshall had an open date and will have 13 days to prepare for this game. We have final exams this week. We'll be traveling on Thursday on the last day of class. We're playing on the road at their place where they have a great win-loss record as a program playing at home. The weather will probably be a little uncharacteristic from Louisiana weather. We've got some things to overcome."
The Bulldogs, though, present a huge challenge for the Herd. Louisiana Tech ranks No. 1 in Conference USA in points per game (38.1) and total offense (479.1 yards per game). Last month, the Bulldogs ranked No. 1 nationally in points per game (52.0) and No. 2 nationally in total offense (551.7 yards per) in three October games. Then, the school based in Ruston, Louisiana, scored another 52 last Saturday against North Texas, the preseason favorite in the West.
Louisiana Tech has playmakers on defense, too. The Bulldogs are tied for No. 12 nationally with 11 interceptions, and four of those picks have been returned for touchdowns.
"They fly around; they play hard," MU quarterback Isaiah Green said. "They're good at not giving up big plays. If you get greedy, they're good at creating turnovers."
LA Tech is also among the best in the red zone on both sides of the ball. The Bulldogs' offense has scored on 36 of 38 trips inside the 20-yard line – 94.74 percent – which includes 29 touchdowns and seven field goals. One of the times LA Tech came up empty-handed was a fourth-and-2 play against Grambling that was stopped short of the first down, and the other was an intentional knee at the end of the game.
Defensively, Louisiana Tech is third nationally in red zone defense. The Bulldogs have allowed 21 scores on 35 opponents' trips inside the 20, including 16 touchdowns and five field goals. That 60-percent clip ranks only behind Georgia and Ohio State.
"They're a very sound football team," Marshall senior linebacker Tyler Brown said. "You can see that in their record. It's hard to get eight wins out of a nine-game season. You've got to be doing something right."
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NUMBERS WATCH: Marshall sophomore running back Brenden Knox has 164 carries for 933 yards on the ground this season. He needs 67 rushing yards against Louisiana Tech to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
The Herd has not had a 1,000-yard rusher since Devon Johnson gained 1,767 yards on 206 carries in 2014. He also had 17 touchdowns that year.
Knox has 1,511 rushing yards in his two-year career, which puts him 70 yards from tying Essray Taliaferro for No. 20 in program history. Taliaferro had 1,581 rushing yards from 2010-13. Last season, Keion Davis finished his career with 2,014 rushing yards, placing him No. 15 in school history.
Knox has gained all of his rushing yardage in 14 appearances in the backfield – five last season and nine this year. He has 12 rushing touchdowns in those 14 games, and has seven 100-yard rushing games and two 200-yard rushing games to his credit.
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a seven-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
