Both Cincinnati and Marshall come into this game Saturday 2-1 and both teams come into the game having a bye the previous week. What does that mean exactly? Well both teams had time to take an early look in the mirror and spend extra time fixing mistakes, for Cincinnati this hopefully meant Desmond Ridder had time to shake off whatever has had him looking slightly off up to this point in the season, and hopefully Cincinnati has begun clean up the penalty situation (30+ penalties through 3 games).
Marshall enters the game having won a close one against Ohio U. and a hard fought road loss to Boise St. The Thundering Herd are averaging 32 points a game and are one of those rare teams in this era of football who rack up more yards rushing than they do passing, but don’t read that as they are incapable of producing offensive numbers, they enter the game with over 600 yards passing on the season and over 700 rushing.
Sophomore QB Isiah Green will be leading this offensive squad, his numbers don’t jump off the page when you look at them, 61% completion six touchdowns and two interceptions, but as previously mentioned he’s not in this offense to put up video game numbers in the passing game because of who he has in the backfield with him.
Sophomore RB Brendan Knox leads the Thundering Herd on the ground and he has been off to a great season thus far. Knox comes into the game with 247 yards and four touchdowns averaging a whopping 6.9 per carry. For reference, Bearcat stud RB and potential conference player of the year, Michael Warren II has 220 yards and a 4.6 avg currently, so what Knox is doing for the Herd can not be downplayed.
Defensively Marshall is a very sound football team. They have not played any incredibly gifted offenses to this point in the season, but going to Boise St. and holding them to 14 points should not be dismissed so quickly. The Thundering Herd only give up around 20 points a game and junior linebacker Tavante Beckett is a big reason why, leading the team in tackles with 31.
Marshall is always a tough road game for opponents and I expect this Saturday to be no exception. The Bearcats needs to play a clean, full four quarters of football or risk falling to 2-2 with UCF coming to town next Friday.
**It is also worth noting so there is no confusion on Saturday this game will be shown strictly on Facebook Watch and not on TV. Check here for all info on how to find the game on Facebook and yes I know it doesn’t make sense please don’t get me started, I could write another full post on how dumb of an idea this is.
