Behind Enemy Lines: Marshall

Middle Tennessee travels to Huntington, West Virginia this week to play Marshall. The spread for the game has been fluctuating from 13.5 to 14.5 in favor of the Thundering Herd. ESPN gives the Blue Raiders a 37.9 percent chance to win the game. Now is the time for a behind enemy lines piece. We reached out to Chris McLaughlin of Herd Nation, getting his take on the game! GoMiddle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 1. The Thundering Herd lost to Penn State by 45. Did you see the rout coming? What was your prediction coming into the game? I was definitely expecting Marshall to lose, but I didn't expect anything close to what we saw. I thought Penn State would win by multiple scores, but I actually felt pretty good about Marshall being able to cover the 24.5-point spread. Obviously, I was way off on that. What was most disappointing wasn't necessarily losing to Penn State — that's a really difficult place to play, and the talent gap is significant. It was how overwhelmed Marshall looked for pretty much the entire game. The Herd never really looked comfortable or competitive, and that's what left me concerned coming out of Week 1. 2. Obviously the PSU game was on the road. The MTSU game will be in Huntington, WV. Thoughts on what the atmosphere will be like for the first home game? I think the atmosphere should be pretty good. A night game early in the season, especially if we get some good weather, is usually a pretty good recipe for getting 25,000-plus Herd fans into the Joan C. Edwards Stadium. That said, I think there's definitely a little bit of a cloud over the program right now. The Penn State game was pretty deflating, and anytime you lose a game like that in such a lopsided fashion, there's going to be some concern and frustration from the fan base. But this is also exactly why the home opener is important. If Marshall comes out and plays well early, gets the crowd into it and takes care of business, I think a lot of that negativity from Penn State can disappear pretty quickly. 3. Before the season began, what was your record prediction for the Thundering Herd? Has your prediction changed after Week 1? I picked Marshall to finish9-3before the season, and I'm not ready to change that prediction after one game. But I'll admit I'm feeling a lot less confident about it than I was a week ago. The biggest issue is that Marshall looked so bad against Penn State that it's hard to know exactly what we learned about this team. Was that simply a case of being completely overmatched by a very good Penn State team, or is there something more fundamentally concerning with this Marshall roster? The next couple of games should tell us a lot more. If Marshall looks like the team we expected coming into the season against Middle Tennessee and the games that follow, I'll feel much better about that 9-3 prediction. 4. Where would you set the spread for the Marshall/MTSU game? The last number I saw had Marshall favored by14 points, after opening around17.5. Honestly, both numbers feel high to me. Coming out of the Penn State game, I don't see this as a game where Marshall should be expected to win by two or three touchdowns. Middle Tennessee is capable of making this uncomfortable, and right now I think this feels much more like aone-score gamethan a 14- or 17-point game. If I were setting the number, I'd probably put it somewhere aroundMarshall -7 to -8. I still think Marshall should be favored at home, but I don't think we've seen enough yet to expect a comfortable win. 5. A few standout players to watch on both offense and defense? Who are some game breakers? On offense, obviouslyCarlos Del Rio-Wilsonis the big one. He had a really difficult game against Penn State, but there's a reason he was named the Sun Belt's preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Marshall is going to need him to bounce back, and this is a great opportunity for him to do that. Toby Payneis another guy I'd watch closely. He had eight catches against Penn State despite the struggles offensively, and he could be a major part of Marshall's passing game this season. If the Herd can get him involved early, that could open things up for the rest of the offense. Defensively,Daytionne Smithis one of the players I'm watching most closely. He has the ability to be a difference-maker in the secondary. I also liked what I saw fromKelvon McBridein his Marshall debut. He had a nice game against Penn State and gives the Herd some athleticism and playmaking ability up front. AndJavae Gilmorewas extremely active defensively. Those are the types of players Marshall is going to need to step up if this defense is going to improve from what we saw in Week 1. 6. Game prediction? How will the game go and what will be the final score? I'm going withMarshall 28, Middle Tennessee 24. I think this is going to be a close game throughout, with the two teams probably exchanging leads a couple of times. I don't expect Marshall to suddenly turn into a completely different team overnight, but I do expect the Herd to play much better at home than they did at Penn State. Ultimately, I think home-field advantage makes the difference. Marshall gets a much-needed bounce-back win, but I don't think it's going to be easy or particularly comfortable for the Herd.Marshall 28-24. GoMiddle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.