Marshall's defense had seven players over a 70 PFF grade, but had its fair share of struggles with a season-high 14 missed tackles in the Herd's 23-13 setback to Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday evening.
Full grade breakdowns, by position, are below:
DEFENSIVE LINE:
The defensive line was a missed bag of results for the Thundering Herd, with Immanuel Bush, Owen Porter and Koby Cumberlander all grading above 70 PFF to head up the defensive front.
Bush, in 27 snaps, pressured the quarterback three times. He had Marshall's best pass rush grade (73.8) and the defense's second-best run defense grade (77.7) en route to a 75.5 PFF overall mark.
Porter, who posted a 73.3 grade, notched five tackles and two quarterback hurries. His 75.3 run defense grade was the third-best mark on the unit. Cumberlander, who posted a 71.0 PFF, had two tackles, two quarterback hurries and a sack, while posting the fourth-best tackling grade on the defense.
However, the remainder of the defensive line struggled. Esisas Carpenter (62.9 PFF), Anthony Watts (53.4 PFF), Damion Barber (53.1 PFF), Emmanuel Balogin (52.5 PFF), Elijah Alston (51.3 PFF), Isaiah Gibson (49.7 PFF) and Sam Burton (49.6 PFF) combined for just six tackles between them.
LINEBACKERS:
The linebacking core proved to be the best performing position group of the defense, as all four of Marshall's linebackers who played against UL-Lafayette (Jace Bobo, Charlie Gray, Abraham Beauplan, and Eli Neal) posted a PFF grade of 67.4 or better.
In 14 snaps, Bobo posted the highest grade of the group, notching five tackles in all while posting a 75.2 PFF grade. Charlie Gray notched four tackles, including one for a loss and a quarterback hurry, en route to a 73.6 PFF grade. The aforementioned duo tied for the second-highest tackle grade on the defense at 79.4.
Beauplan, who led the way with 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry in 57 snaps, collected a 70.3 PFF grade while Eli Neal's 67.3 mark rounded out the defense. Neal posted seven tackles, a sack, and a quarterback hurry and had the highest run grade (80.1) on the entire defense. The linebacking core did miss five tackles between them, however.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
For Isaiah Norman, it was a very solid performance as Norman's 71.2 overall PFF grade in 62 snaps -- including a team-best 81.6 tackle rating -- led the way. However, Norman's four tackles and quarterback hurry could not overshadow the remainder of the defensive backfield, who struggled against Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday.
E.J. Jackson, who played just seven snaps, had a low 64.2 PFF rating while Steven Gilmore (62.9 PFF), Micah Abraham (60.2 PFF), Jadarius Green-McKnight (59.3 PFF) and Andre Sam (54.8 PFF) allowed 14 receptions between them on 19 combined targets, with UL-Lafayette racking up a total of 224 yards passing on the quartet of their 230 in all. Abraham and Sam also combined to miss five tackles by themselves.
| Defense | Run Defense | Tackle | Pass Rush | Coverage |
| 68.3 | 73.9 | 60.7 | 60.6 | 67.4 |
| Player | Total Def. Grade | Run Defense | Tackle | Pass Rush | Coverage |
|---|
| Immanuel Bush | 75.5 | 77.7 | No Grade | 73.8 | No Grade |
| Jace Bobo | 75.2 | 71.0 | 79.4 | 63.0 | 61.9 |
| Charlie Gray | 73.6 | 68.1 | 79.4 | 69.2 | 70.7 |
| Owen Porter | 73.0 | 75.3 | 62.2 | 59.5 | 69.0 |
| Isaiah Norman | 71.2 | 72.3 | 81.6 | 60.0 | 68.8 |
| Koby Cumberlander | 71.0 | 56.7 | 77.6 | 68.7 | 70.6 |
| Abraham Beauplan | 70.1 | 73.0 | 59.1 | 55.4 | 65.5 |
| Eli Neal | 67.3 | 80.1 | 57.9 | 68.0 | 58.3 |
| E.J. Jackson | 64.2 | 60.0 | 74.3 | No Grade | 62.5 |
| Esaias Carpenter | 62.9 | 63.4 | 27.8 | 58.2 | No Grade |
| Steven Gilmore | 62.9 | 66.8 | 80.3 | No Grade | 61.3 |
| Micah Abraham | 60.2 | 64.0 | 27.7 | 60.0 | 59.4 |
| Jadarius Green-McKnight | 59.3 | 61.6 | No Grade | No Grade | 58.1 |
| Andre Sam | 54.8 | 62.4 | 49.5 | 60.0 | 56.1 |
| Anthony Watts | 53.4 | 53.4 | 72.4 | 56.8 | No Grade |
| Damion Barber | 53.1 | 54.4 | No Grade | 56.3 | No Grade |
| Emmanuel Balogun | 52.5 | 54.5 | No Grade | 55.7 | No Grade |
| Elijah Alston | 51.3 | 52.2 | 74.7 | 50.1 | No Grade |
| Isaiah Gibson | 49.7 | 48.8 | 70.2 | 56.3 | No Grade |
| Sam Burton | 49.6 | 57.4 | 24.8 | 47.9 | 60.4 |
