The Thundering Herd gallop into Boone, North Carolina after an upset loss to ECU to face Appalachian State while the Mountaineers are hoping to keep their mojo intact after dismantling Elon last week. Let’s analyze this Thursday night showdown and keep cashing our college football picks!
Thursday, September 23, 2021 – 07:30 PM EDT at Kidd Brewer Stadium
Marshall got their 2021 campaign off to an excellent start when they trounced Navy, 49-7, in Annapolis as 3 ½ point road chalk, and followed that up with another impressive performance when they throttled FCS entry, North Carolina Central, 44-10.
Last week should have been a cakewalk for the Herd over previously winless ECU, and the college football odds at all of the best online sportsbooks seemed to agree, installing Marshall as 11 ½ point home favorites. However, there’s a reason why they play the games on the field even when it looks like a mismatch on paper. Marshall not only failed to cover the number but lost the game outright, 42-38, after getting outscored 21-0 in the final quarter.
It was the first loss of the Charles Huff era, who replaced Doc Holliday in the offseason after his decade-long reign as Marshall’s head coach.
"We didn’t make enough plays today," Huff said. "That’s on me, first and foremost."
"It hurts," he said, "but we have to move on."
"We can’t hang onto this one too long," he added.
Ironically, Marshall’s three-headed monster of quarterback Grant Wells, running back Rasheen Ali, and wide receiver Corey Gammage, all had career days with Wells passing for 433 yards, while Ali chewed up 189 yards on the ground including three trips into the end zone, and Gammage had eight receptions for 180 yards. But the defense could not contain the Pirates when it counted and all those offensive fireworks went for naught, dropping Marhsall to 2-1 on the young season.
Just about a year ago, Appalachian State traveled to Marshall as six-point road favorites but the trip did not go well, as the Thundering Herd won a 17-7 defensive duel which would turn out to be only one of three losses the Mountaineers would suffer in 2020.
Needless to say, Appy State has had this date circled on their calendar and will be looking to move to 3-1 after convincing wins over East Carolina and Elon. Not exactly ranked opponents to be sure, but wedged in between those victories was a gritty performance against Miami in which they ultimately fell, 25-23, on the road to the Hurricanes as 7 ½ point road pups.
Senior quarterback, Chase Brice, has been a key performer for the Mountaineers this season, completing 67 percent of his passes and averaging over 250 passing yards per game. Camerun Peoples and Nate Noel have gotten the lion’s share of the carries in the backfield while Thomas Hennigan and Corey Xavier Sutton have been Brice’s main targets.
I can very easily imagine the squares using rudimentary logic when handicapping this game. It will go something along the lines of; ECU beat Marshall, Appy State beat ECU, Appy State > Marshall. By how much? Eh, who cares, spreads don’t matter so we’ll bet the winner – Appy State.
And you wonder why Joe Q. Public gets massacred at the windows every year? It’s that kind of superficial analysis that can get quite costly. And while the public doesn’t always back the wrong team, it seems as though even when they get the cover, which is routinely on the favorite and the over, their rationale rarely manifests in why their wagers were winners.
As for this game, Marshall should never have lost last week, holding a comfortable 17-point lead entering the fourth quarter. But lose, they did, and don’t think for a moment it hasn’t been eating them up throughout the week. Chances are each and every one of them wanted to get back on the field the following day to atone for their fourth quarter malaise.
But wanting something and doing something about it are two different things. However, the Herd has the talent and the depth to pierce this Appalachian State defense which means this should be a high-scoring affair. Assuming that’s the case, I can envision Marshall not only covering but winning this game outright with a balanced attack that will keep Appy State guessing.
Remember, Marhsall’s talented triumvirate of Wells, Ali, and Gammage are all coming off sensational games and there is little doubt they can post big numbers against what appears to be only a middling to semi-decent Mountaineers’ defense. I’ll take the team averaging 43.7 points per game plus the 7 ½ point head start by the oddsmakers. Grab the points and back the road dog here.
College Football Pick: Marshall +7 ½ (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.