Herd picked preseason #5 in the SBC

[MichiganHerd]

In their division.

Wouldn't hurt for some to start listening to smart guys close to the program, like SamC and rifle.

We're starting to see a token effort in football. Who would have thought that was possible after going through the Bob Pruett years.

 

[sluggo72]

If Huff were smart, and I don’t know about that, and if he wanted an extension, he’d roll with Cole the entire season We will see

 

[greengeezer]

I’m going to have to find some kind of building project for the fall. Obviously, Marshall football is not going to be very entertaining.

 

[johns1124]

If Huff were smart, and I don’t know about that, and if he wanted an extension, he’d roll with Cole the entire season We will see

And why would he do that?

 

[whf2]

I'm not buying this preseason prognostication for the Herd at all, if it happens, it would be the lowest point in our football history since the rebuild started in 1971 IMHO.

 

[i am herdman]

I'm not buying this preseason prognostication for the Herd at all, if it happens, it would be the lowest point in our football history since the rebuild started in 1971 IMHO.

They may have ranked us too high.

 

[sluggo72]

And why would he do that?

You figure it out as to why

 

[johns1124]

No that's why I am asking for your opinion.

"If Huff were smart, and I don’t know about that, and if he wanted an extension, he’d roll with Cole the entire season "

Based on what?

 

[sluggo72]

No that's why I am asking for your opinion.

"If Huff were smart, and I don’t know about that, and if he wanted an extension, he’d roll with Cole the entire season "

Based on what?

Cause he’s the best!

 

[johns1124]

Based on what?
Your opinion?

If so thank god you are not coaching.

 

[Rock98Dog]

So a 3rd place finish can be heralded as over achieving and rewarded with a 4 year extension?

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

Pretty sad. I still maintain we have a new HC either way in 2025.

 

[The Real SamC]

Strongly worded weekend media dump email saying it is "unacceptable" but accepting it incoming.

This failure is not on CH, who is incompetent and here to suck down another six figure income, before being reabsorbed into the buddy-buddy system of lifetime assistants. This failure is on CS, the non-leader who chose to accept the "unacceptable" to save some money.

Fire CS.

 

[sluggo72]

Strongly worded weekend media dump email saying it is "unacceptable" but accepting it incoming.

This failure is not on CH, who is incompetent and here to suck down another six figure income, before being reabsorbed into the buddy-buddy system of lifetime assistants. This failure is on CS, the non-leader who chose to accept the "unacceptable" to save some money.

Fire CS.

while I agree with what you are saying, I disagree about CS making a decision to keep him . That was 100% on Brad. And if he wins at least 3 game, they will keep him for another year. Especially if he is smart enough to start Cole every game.

 

[BleedsGreen33]

And why would he do that?

No that's why I am asking for your opinion.

"If Huff were smart, and I don’t know about that, and if he wanted an extension, he’d roll with Cole the entire season "

Based on what?

Based on what?
Your opinion?

If so thank god you are not coaching.

Because his last name is Pennington. I'm not saying that Cole isn't any good. Not enough of a sample for that, but his dad wasn't Chad Pennington no one would be singing his praises right now thinking was going to be the future.

I hope he is because that would be pretty awesome, but let's wait and see.

 

[BleedsGreen33]

So a 3rd place finish can be heralded as over achieving and rewarded with a 4 year extension?

There will be a certain person celebrating that like it's the Super Bowl.

 

[BleedsGreen33]

They may have ranked us too high.

Yea. It's hard to argue. For the first time in decades we don't return one starter that is a household name. Not one established star player on either side.

Offense is a HUGE question mark right now.

QB - at this point is not close to being settled. Cole would be an awesome story, but he really hasn't shown IT yet. Now he was thrust into action in very tight spot and it's hard to have expected him to just turn into his dad. I'm not ever sold that he had full support from the staff because we saw Cam come back.

Braylon Braxton was hurt when he was replaced, Parachek is a walk-on that has never posed any real threat to taking over and this kid from North Texas that just came in (Stone Earle) was benched after just a couple games. He did have one decent season at Abilene-Christian.

So here are the choices for QB.

Cole Pennington Career Stats - NCAAF - ESPN

Complete career NCAAF stats for Marshall Thundering Herd Quarterback Cole Pennington on ESPN. Includes scoring, rushing, defensive and receiving stats.

www.espn.com

Braylon Braxton Career Stats - NCAAF - ESPN

Complete career NCAAF stats for Marshall Thundering Herd Quarterback Braylon Braxton on ESPN. Includes scoring, rushing, defensive and receiving stats.

www.espn.com

Stone Earle Career Stats - NCAAF - ESPN

Complete career NCAAF stats for North Texas Mean Green Quarterback Stone Earle on ESPN. Includes scoring, rushing, defensive and receiving stats.

www.espn.com

Also for the first time in forever we don't have an established RB that has produced at a high level. The closes we have is Ethan Payne. While he doesn't suck, I am not sure he's an every down type of back. Those we've never really seen him out there long enough to see how he plays with momentum. There are a couple guys like the NCST transfer, but no guy we can hang our hat on like we could in seasons past.

WR and TE are both question marks as there isn't one established threat that is consistent enough to warrant singular attention from opposing DCs. There are some transfers with P5 on their old jerseys, but that doesn't automatically mean anything. Time will tell.

OL has been a mess since South Bend.

Could all those offensive questions with the fact that we are rolling out there with yet another first time OC calling the plays. Yes he could be really good and he could also struggle.


Defensive might be a little better off, but we still don't have any big time carry overs from last season. Our best players from the last season have graduated, declared, or hit the portal.

Kicking is a nightmare.


Oh and out HC is a lame duck that has allegedly let it be known that he's leaving no matter what.

I hope we have a good season, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if we miss a bowl. People got all over me last year for saying we'd finish between 4-8 and 8-4 and we struggled mightily to get to .500 and finished with a bowl loss and a sub .500 record. This year has more questions than last season.

 

[Marshall2004]

Crazy how CFB has changed. In 1999 I was in high school. We did not have season tickets and not all of the games were on TV. I listened to some on the radio and completely missed a couple. Internet was in its infancy. To this day I can name 20 players off that roster.

2024. Information age. All games on TV. I have had season tickets for 20 years and travel to away games as well. I can name about 8 players off our roster. I have no clue what the expect on the season.

 

[riflearm2]

People got all over me last year for saying we'd finish between 4-8 and 8-4

Oh, this again.

When it comes to these "I told you so" type of posts on here, we usually run the gamut between people 1) misrepresenting what they actually predicted, 2) covering just about all of the reasonable possibilities with their predictions so they can then come back a year later with "I told you so," or 3) grossly exaggerating reality. You managed to accomplish all three with both the claim on this board and the similar one you made on the Fairfield board today.

1) Regarding your claim that you predicted finishing between 4-8 and 8-4 . . . in at least three different threads, you predicted a finish between 4-8 and 9-3, so different than what you claimed you predicted in the two threads today:







2) Predicting a finish between 4-8 and 9-3 is what every reasonable person would have predicted. In fact, Marshall's season winning percentage has been between 4-8 and 9-3 for each of the last seven seasons, so you weren't exactly going out on a limb with this wide-ranging prediction. It's like me predicting that Marshall will have more wins against G5 teams in 2024 than they will against P5 teams in 2024, then coming back to say "I told you so."

3) Regarding your repeated claim that you "people got all over me" when making your wide-ranging prediction, I see absolutely no evidence of that in any of the threads. In fact, if you look at the last image that I posted in this thread, you will see that seven people liked the post in which you predicted a finish somewhere between 4-8 and 9-3. That's not exactly "people got all over me" (or "getting killed" like you claimed in the other thread) for making that prediction.

 

[MichiganHerd]

Oh, this again.

When it comes to these "I told you so" type of posts on here, we usually run the gamut between people 1) misrepresenting what they actually predicted, 2) covering just about all of the reasonable possibilities with their predictions so they can then come back a year later with "I told you so," or 3) grossly exaggerating reality. You managed to accomplish all three with both the claim on this board and the similar one you made on the HN board today.

1) Regarding your claim that you predicted finishing between 4-8 and 8-4 . . . in at least three different threads, you predicted a finish between 4-8 and 9-3, so different than what you claimed you predicted in the two threads today:

View embedded media

View embedded media

View embedded media

2) Predicting a finish between 4-8 and 9-3 is what every reasonable person would have predicted. In fact, Marshall's season winning percentage has been between 4-8 and 9-3 for each of the last seven seasons, so you weren't exactly going out on a limb with this wide-ranging prediction. It's like me predicting that Marshall will have more wins against G5 teams in 2024 than they will against P5 teams in 2024, then coming back to say "I told you so."

3) Regarding your repeated claim that you "people got all over me" when making your wide-ranging prediction, I see absolutely no evidence of that in any of the threads. In fact, if you look at the last image that I posted in this thread, you will see that seven people liked the post in which you predicted a finish somewhere between 4-8 and 9-3. That's not exactly "people got all over me" (or "getting killed" like you claimed in the other thread) for making that prediction.

To be fair, he could have predicted somewhere between 0-12 and 15-0, but he didn't.

 

[RhinoD]

Football is going to be the way it always is... Five things will determine our season.

1. Quarterback play -- If you dont have a quarterback, you have no chance. Period. You can't just run the Wing-T for a year and hope to win 9-7 (we can't make enough field goals to get to 9 anyway).

2. Tackling -- We were up and down at this last year (good against VT after the first possession, pathetic against Georgia State and others). You have to tackle, especially in the front seven - can we? Who knows, its all different guys from last year except for one.

3. Turnovers -- This goes back to QB play in part. But statistically if you lose the turnover margin, you usually lose the game.

4. Coaching -- A good coach doesn't necessarily win you many games, but he doesn't cost you any. Can Huff and his new offensive staff pull it together enough to beat the bad teams on our schedule and at least be respectable against the good teams?

5. Offensive line play -- Its not rocket science, without at least an average line you can't move the ball, you put the defense in bad spots (on the field forever) and you allow your opponent to dictate the game. Will we be any good? No idea, again all new guys except one.

 

[bris1112]

Brutal watching App State pluck a QB outta JUCO and roll.
That bad QB play we've had/probably will have sucks the air out of the room.