Notre Dame football vs Marshall: Game preview and prediction in Week 2

Notre Dame football vs Marshall: Game preview and prediction in Week 2

Marshall Thundering Herd (1-0)

It’s time to talk about Marshall. The Thundering Herd have a proud history of playing very good football, and let’s face it, when Randy Moss is an alum, you’re doing something right. A year ago, this was a team that wanted to toss the ball around the yard, as they averaged an impressive 295 passing yards per game.

This year though, the Herd might have different offensive approach, as they lost starting QB Grant Wells to the transfer portal in the offseason. In their week one romping of Norfolk State, Marshall ran for 380 yards, a ridiculous total no matter who you’re playing. I’m interested in seeing if the Herd tries to run with a similar intensity against Notre Dame’s much superior front 7, or if they will try to spread out the Irish defense and push the ball downfield.

I would expect Marshall to utilize a quick passing game early, to try to get the ball into their playmakers hands and settle into a rhythm early. Their QB, Henry Colombi, was deadly accurate in week one, completing a very impressive 24 of 26 passing attempts. He finished with only 206 yards though, leading me to believe most of these attempts were short in nature.

Marshall also has a deadly RB duo in Ethan Payne and Khalan Laborn, who each topped 100 yards rushing in week one. I’d also expect at least one trick play leading to a pass downfield, whether it’s a flea-flicker, reverse, or wide receiver pass the Irish need to be ready when it comes, because Marshall has nothing to lose and will be looking to take their shot at some point early on.