2021 New Orleans Bowl: LOUISIANA (36) MARSHALL (21)

[fpc4life99]

You are trying real hard to be someone who knows something here . . . hey this is the super bowl sport . . .

Your right.

[JayWalker]

I've heard as many as 10 this number includes Smith and Humphrey, but we will see when the depth chart comes out today, if those rumors are true.

Don't think it's going to be that many. We know Smith, Humphrey and Leblanc are out. There may be a couple more, but I don't think any more than that.

I have been wrong before.

[RaginDave]

Don't think it's going to be that many. We know Smith, Humphrey and Leblanc are out. There may be a couple more, but I don't think any more than that.

I have been wrong before.

What you possibly wrong beforeI don't believe it.Aren't you the something of truth guy.

[Turbine]

Wish I could make it, but my better half is 8.5 months pregnant. So, we are staying in for the next few weeks in case the little one is ready to come into the world sooner than our due date in early January.

But I will be watching on TV and yelling as if I was there!

Was April fools day involved in any way?

[Grantvb]

As much as I love BIG Sauce, I don't want him to hurt any chance of playing at the next level, but propagating more damage to an existing injury.

[fpc4life99]

Don't think it's going to be that many. We know Smith, Humphrey and Leblanc are out. There may be a couple more, but I don't think any more than that.

I have been wrong before.

Jay, what I was told earlier this week came from a player and it wasn't injury related. Again, I will be thrilled if am wrong.

[UL_Cajuns]

I see they opened up sections 107 and 109 today on visitor side on Ticketmaster now.

I wonder how many tickets have been sold thus far?

[angeleast]

I see this as a huge opportunity for some guys that deserve more PT.

Exactly 2nd string etc. Get to show what they made of!!

[RedTails]

Are we already facing a cULture crisis? Are players upset that others are opting out or what?

[ManAboutTown]

Are we already facing a cULture crisis? Are players upset that others are opting out or what?

I would argue that points to a strong culture

[RedTails]

I would argue that points to a strong culture

Touché. I just assumed players were supportive of their teammates "opting out." Guess my assumption was wrong and it's a bit more complicated than that.

[CajunEXPRESS]

To my way of thinking opt out is a perfectly healthy individual to skip any game to avoid injury. Yeah, you can skip any game if your health is adversely impacted. If you’re simply using the time to prepare for pro days? Good riddance.

[Big Buds]

I would argue that points to a strong culture

100%

[RaginDave]

NEW ORLEANS BOWL PREVIEW VS MARSHALL UNIVERSITY @ HUNTINGTON, WV

Well to start, I am disappointed in the opponent that we are playing, not because Marshall is not a good program and a decent team, but we are 12-1 ranked in the Top 25 and a conference champion, they are 7-5 and finished tied for the 4th best record in a weaker conference. Let’s take a deeper dive into Marshall. Marshall opened the season 2-0, with a strong showing on the road vs Navy and at home vs FCS member NC Central, winning by scores of 49-7 and 44-10 respectively. They then lost 3 straight close games vs ECU at home 38-42, App State 30-31 in Boone and Middle Tennessee 28-34 in Tennessee, dropping them to 2-3 on the season. Marshall got on a roll after that winning 4 straight including a home game vs ODU 20-13 in overtime, 49-21 in Denton, TX 49-21, 38-0 over FIU at Home and finally 28-13 over FAU in Boca Raton, FL. At this point they were 5-3 and still in contention for the CUSA championship, unfortunately they finished 1-2 and fell out of any opportunity they had to win their side of the CUSA. They lost 14-21 vs UAB at home, beat Charlotte 49-28 in Charlotte and finished losing to WKU at home 53-21. Overall, it was an up and down season for Marshall, but this team lost 4 of their 5 games by less than 1 TD. This team could easily have finished the season 11-1, with wins over bowl eligible teams like App, ECU, ODU, UNT Middle and UAB. Granted they didn’t but had they been able to win some close games and it would and should have been a different season. The other incentive that this team has, is they are about to become a member of the SBC, how much incentive do you think they need to say they defeated the undisputed SBC champion and only lost to the runner up by 1 point, meaning they feel going into 2022 and beyond that they could compete at the highest level of the SBC. Now let’s get into the meat and potatoes of this team.

QB—Honorable Mention All CUSA QB Grant Wells is their guy, he is a local kid from Charleston, WV and a pretty good one. He was a 1st Team all CUSA player last year. He started his (Covid year/2020) as a freshman and played in 10 games for Marshall and preformed pretty well. Wells is a pretty big young man at 6’2” and 203 lbs. He can move the ball down the field through the air but can also make a ton of mistakes. He is completing a very high 67% of his passes with 16 TD’s but a whopping 12 INTs on the season. And to the Cajuns advantage he is not a super mobile guy, although he can move a little in and outside the pocket, that is not what he wants to do. He does have 56 carries on the season but only 170 yards from scrimmage but has accounted for 7 TDs on the ground. I am thinking many of those were short yardage situations. Wells did miss part of the Herd’s last game of the season with a head injury but should be ready to play in the bowl game. Their backup is Luke Zban who has played in 7 games this season, but only significant stats in 2 of them, mop up duty vs NC Central and filling in vs WKU in a blowout loss to the Hilltoppers.

RB—Unlike many of the teams we have played this season and like us, this team does not incorporate a RB by committee, it is literally 1 guy, but one really good one. Ali Rasheen is that guy, he was a 1st team all CUSA selection this year. Rasheen is a 6’0” 201 lb Redshirt freshman from Cleveland, OH. Rasheen has over ½ of the Thundering Herd’s carries on the season and if you take out their 2 QB’s who account for a total of 79 carries, Rashaan has 230 of their 340 carries on the season. On the year he has carried it 230 times for 1239 yards and 20 TD’s. He is getting about 5.4 yards per carry and 103.3 yards per game. Behind him is Redshirt Junior Sheldon Evans, but he only has 65 carries for 291 yards and 5 TD’s. Rashaan is also a big-time threat out of the backfield catching passes. He is 2nd on the team with 45 receptions for 337 yards and a TD. So, he is not only good running the ball, but they use him as a receiver as well. Sheldon Evans can catch the ball out of the backfield as well, he has 11 receptions for 114 yards and no TDs on the season.

WR/TE—They do like to spread the ball around to several different receivers. But what makes them so tough is the fact that they will throw it to their RB’s, WR’s and TE’s. Their main guy is a WR, and he is good. Corey Gammage is 6’4” 220 lb. WR from Florida. He has 69 catches on the season for 828 yards and 2 TD’s. Behind him is a talented TE Xavier Gaines. Gaines has 41 catches on the season for 476 and 3 TD’s. Behind these guys are several pretty good receivers. Ahmed Shadeed has 36 catches for 436 yards with 3 TD’s, Willie Johnson has 32 catches for 625 yards and 3 TD’s (He is their deep threat guy, averaging 19.5 yards per catch), Jayden Harrison with 22 catches for 248 yards and 2 TD’s and X factor is a guy who has only played in 6 games but has 19 catches for 268 yards and 2 TD’s in Talik Keaton.

OL—On the Offensive Line they have been very consistent, really playing the same starting 5, except for 1 player all season. At RG, Logan Osborne was the starter early in the season, he has been replaced by James Magee. And this unit has a ton of experience. The best player on the OL is probably Alex Mollette a 6’3” 294 Senior at Center, and was a 1st Team ALL CUSA Selection but the other guys are experienced as well, including Will Ulmer 6’5” 314 LB Senior at LT and was a 2nd team ALL CUSA guy, Alex Salguero a 6’4” 324 LB Senior at LG, Kendrick Sator a 6’6” 305 LB Junior at RT and finally the afore mentioned James Magee a 6’4” 315 Junior at RG. As you can see this is a big, strong, and experienced group on the offensive line.

OFFENSE—On offense the Thundering Herd are averaging 34 points per game, which is really good and while they attempt to be balanced, this is all about the ability to throw the ball down the field with this offense. They are only averaging about 160 yards per game on the ground, while they are averaging a whopping 311 through the air for a total of 471 yards per game. Like I said they are balanced in the number of plays (52% pass vs 48% run) they are not in yards, 66% of their yards are through the air. They are very good at 3rd and 4th down conversions, they are converting on 42% of their 3rd down conversions and 63% of their 4th down conversions. And for a team that likes to throw the ball, they do not give up allot of sacks, only 17 through 12 games this year. They score in bunches when they score, with 7 games this year they have scored more than 30 points, including 4 games that they have scored more than 40.

DL—For the most part they play a standard, 4-3 attack, but will bring in a nickel back in obvious passing situations and they rotate about 8 or 9 guys on the DL. The DL is not the strength of this team, but it is deep. A couple do jump off the page for you, including Owen Porter and Koby Cumberlander, both DE’s for the Herd. Combined they have 14 TFL and 8 sacks from the DE spot. You will also see a lot from Sam Burton and Shane Simmons from the DE spot. Simmons is a grad transfer from Penn State who has 4 sacks on the season. In the middle they have Rodney Croom, Jamare Edwards and will rotate Esaias Carpenter and TJ Johnson. Edwards and Johnson can be disrupters on the D-line. They both can get to the QB and behind the line, Edwards has 11 QB hurries on the season. Again, this is not the best unit on defense, but they are deep so you will see, like the Cajuns a number of guys rotating on the DL to keep them fresh, and they do have some really good players there. Edwards was a 2nd Team All CUSA last year and probably the guy you must account for the most in the middle. UPDATE—JUST READ THAT JEMARE EDWARDS HAS ENTERED THE TRANSFER PORTAL, HUGE LOSS IF TRUE.

LB—This might be the best unit on the defense. Abraham Beauplan and Eli Neal are 1st and 2nd on the team in tackles by a large margin and Charlie Gray is not far behind them. Beauplan leads the team from the WILL LB position and was a 1st team All CUSA selection. with 104 total tackles 9.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks, while Neal has 92 tackles with 7 TFL and 5.5 sacks, which leads the team. Charlie Gray plays the SAM LB and has 50 tackles on the season with 6 TFL. There is not a ton of depth at the LB position, but a guy off the bench who is really good is Brian Cavicante, Cavicante is a transfer from Delaware State, he has 31 tackles on the season off the bench. Another name to keep an eye on is J’Coryan Anderson.

DB—They are pretty good in the back 1/3 as well. Steven Gilmore a Junior is probably their best cover corner. Gilmore has 3 INTs on the season and leads the team in that category and finished on the 2nd team ALL CUSA team, on the other side is LeAnthony Williams, a grad transfer from Clemson and Joshua Bowers. But the guy that gives you the most issues is their Nickle back Cory McCoy, McCoy is a senior transfer from McNeese State. McCoy leads the DB with tackles with 63 and 2 INTs as well on the season. From the safety position the best of that group is Nazeeh Johnson, Johnson has 60 tackles on the season, next to him will be Brandon Drayton. The back 3rd is very experienced with Gilmore a Junior, Johnson a Senior, Drayton a Senior, Williams a grad transfer and McCoy a Senior.

DEFENSE—I talked about how good this team can be on offense, but they are not bad on defense either. They are only giving up 22.8 point per game on the season. They are much better vs the pass than the run. Vs the run they are giving up 187 yards per game, but they are only giving up around 199 yards per game through the air. This could play to our advantage with our stable of RB’s. This unit does like to get after the QB as they have 38 sacks on the season, and they come from several different positions. They are ok on 3rd down defense giving up 37% and very good in the redzone only giving up around 58% TDs in the redzone, so they have the tendency to stiffing up in the RZ.

SPECIAL TEAMS—Nothing jumps out at you in the kicking game for the Herd. Robert Lefevre is their punter and is only averaging about 40.3 yards per punt. He does have a long of 61 and 17 of his 53 have been inside the 20. He has a strong leg as he has 6 punts of over 50 yards. They have used 2 different placekickers, Shane Ciucci a transfer from Fresno State is their main guy. He is 6-9 on the season but only 3-6 beyond 30 yards including 1-3 from 30-39 yards and a long of 46. Andrew Sanders has done most of the kickoff duties and has 29 TBs in 61 kickoffs with about a 60-yard average. As far as punt returns go, Willie Johnson is the main guy, he has 14 returns for 94 yards about 7 yards per return average with a long of 38. On kick returns they have 2 guys that do most of the heavy lifting. Jayden Harrison has 14 returns for 25.6-yard average and a 99-yard TD and Sheldon Evans has 9 for 131 and a long of 36.

Coaching—Charlie Huff is in his first year as HC at Marshall, before that he was the AHC and RB coach at Alabama for 2 years, as well as stops at Mississippi State, Penn State, Western Michigan, Vandy, Hampton, Maryland, and Tennessee State. He did have a brief stop in the NFL as an assistant RB coach with the Buffalo Bills. Also on the staff is a name this area knows very well, in Lance Guidry as the DC.

This is not your run of the mill 7-5 CUSA team, they are very talented at several positions. They like to throw the ball around the field to multiple receivers. They do tend to turn the ball over as they are -7 in the turnover battle on the season, which I think will be a key to a Cajun victory. The Cajuns will have to pressure the QB, as Wells is not much of a scrambler and we can force him into bad decisions as we have done with similar QB’s at Troy, App State and to some extent USA. Again, this team could just as easily be 10-2 or 11-1 instead of 7-5. I still think the Cajuns are better in many aspects of the game, including the trenches (OL and DL) which is where many games are won. The question will be the desire of our players to play this game without their leader (Billy Napier) and missing a few assistant coaches. I think the Cajuns will come up hungry for Coach Dez and win this one, but I think it will be much closer than some expect.

ALL CUSA TEAM FOR MARSHALL
1st TEAM—RB Rasheen Ali, LB Abraham Beauplan and CenterAlex Molette.
2nd TEAM—DB Steven Gilmore, DB Micah Abraham, OL Will Ulmer and KR Jayden Harrison.
HM TEAM—QB Grant Wells, LB Eli Neal, DB Coy McCoy, WR Corey Gammage, WR Willie Johnson, TE Xavier Gaines, DL Koby Cumberlander, DL TJ Johnson, JL Jamare Edwards and LS Zach Appio.

My thoughts are:

Cajuns 31
Herd 20

Geaux Cajuns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[angeleast]

I would argue that points to a strong culture

Agreed 100 %.