In the grand scheme of things - College Football Playoff, Power 4 Conference Championship games, the drama surrounding our Head Coach, this game doesn't mean a hill of beans. But in the immortal words of Lt. Frank Drebin, this is our hill and this is our beans.
The 2019 FAU team was the last team we beat that finished with double digit wins, but the last time we beat a team that had double digit wins at the time was the 2014 MAC Champion Northern Illinois team in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Louisiana lost QB Ben Woolridge (who beat us here two years ago and who some thought was on the way to winning Conference OPOY) three weeks and backup Chandler Fields has stepped in and been better than Woolridge. The run game is potent with a 3-headed running back trio that has combined for nearly 1,900 rushing yards and 18 TDs. Lance LeGendre is the big play WR and sophomore tight end Terrance Carter is a real weapon for them with 48 catches for 689 yards on the year. They do a really good job of protecting the quarterback with only 15 sacks allowed in 12 games (#23 in the country).
Defensively, they have two really good 'backers in KC Ossai (103 tackles) and Carmycah Glass (69 stops). Their secondary is smart and always seems to be in the right place at the right time (15 INTs on the year is 15th best in the country). They don't get after the quarterback much on defense - their leader in sacks has 5.5, another player has 5, another has 3.5, and then it's several guys with 1. Overall, they are 83rd in the country with 1.75 sacks per game.
For a team that is so good against and run and the pass, their 3rd down defense has been awful - giving up almost 45% conversions.
Their placekicker Kenneth Almendares is exceptional and is a finalist for the Lou Groza Award. He is 26 of 28 on FGs. Both of his misses were over 50 yards.
Their kickoff return team has also been exceptional - currently 6th in the country averaging 26.75 per return.
Similar to Saturday night, this game will likely come down to turnovers and special teams. If the Huff distractions don't get the better of us, we can compete with this team and win.
The 2019 FAU team was the last team we beat that finished with double digit wins, but the last time we beat a team that had double digit wins at the time was the 2014 MAC Champion Northern Illinois team in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Louisiana lost QB Ben Woolridge (who beat us here two years ago and who some thought was on the way to winning Conference OPOY) three weeks and backup Chandler Fields has stepped in and been better than Woolridge. The run game is potent with a 3-headed running back trio that has combined for nearly 1,900 rushing yards and 18 TDs. Lance LeGendre is the big play WR and sophomore tight end Terrance Carter is a real weapon for them with 48 catches for 689 yards on the year. They do a really good job of protecting the quarterback with only 15 sacks allowed in 12 games (#23 in the country).
Defensively, they have two really good 'backers in KC Ossai (103 tackles) and Carmycah Glass (69 stops). Their secondary is smart and always seems to be in the right place at the right time (15 INTs on the year is 15th best in the country). They don't get after the quarterback much on defense - their leader in sacks has 5.5, another player has 5, another has 3.5, and then it's several guys with 1. Overall, they are 83rd in the country with 1.75 sacks per game.
For a team that is so good against and run and the pass, their 3rd down defense has been awful - giving up almost 45% conversions.
Their placekicker Kenneth Almendares is exceptional and is a finalist for the Lou Groza Award. He is 26 of 28 on FGs. Both of his misses were over 50 yards.
Their kickoff return team has also been exceptional - currently 6th in the country averaging 26.75 per return.
Similar to Saturday night, this game will likely come down to turnovers and special teams. If the Huff distractions don't get the better of us, we can compete with this team and win.
| Marshall (9-3) | Louisiana (10-2) | |
| PPG | 31.9 (39th) | 35.6 (15th) |
| Points Allowed | 24.8 (68th) | 22.8 (44th) |
| Total Offense | 380.5 (75th) | 445.7 (18th) |
| Rush Offense | 200.4 (19th) | 180.0 (44th) |
| Pass Offense | 180.1 (116th) | 265.7 (28th) |
| Offensive Pass Effic | 140.72 (43rd) | 161.98 (11th) |
| 3rd Down Offense | 39.1% (81st) | 46.4% (18th) |
| Total Defense | 388.3 (89th) | 341.8 (42nd) |
| Rush Defense | 189.3 (110th) | 152.7 (74th) |
| Pass Defense | 199.1 (40th) | 189.1 (29th) |
| Defensive Pass Effic | 123.48 (46th) | 118.24 (28th) |
| 3rd Down Defense | 33.3% (25th) | 44.7% (113th) |
| Turnover Margin Per Game | +0.75 (17th) | +1.00 (9th) |
| Penalty Yards Per Game | 42.17 (19th) | 43.75 (27th) |
| Net Punting | 37.33 (101st) | 39.12 (62nd) |
