Topic: Vegas odds

[herdfifteen]

MU opens as a 2.5 underdog vs Cincinnati

[MicDrass1]

At Home  ??? ???  >:( :'( :'(

[parshall2marshall]

"... You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say ( 2.5 ) ain't gonna be much." - Martin Riggs ( Mel Gibson ) - Lethal Weapon

[ed swain]

I am glad we are expected to lose .That will make the victory that much sweeter!

[The E-Man]

We better step up our A game. We should never be an underdog at our house, unless it's Bama visiting and we know that wont ever happen.  Again, this is year 10 for Doc and he needs to step up as a coach.

[HerdEcon]

MU opens as a 2.5 underdog vs Cincinnati

I'm surprised its that close. 

[IM4DHERD]

WTF?!?!?!?  Cincy was picked to contend to win the AAC.  Beat UCLA who just beat #19 Washington State.  #2 in the ACC East behind UCF.  SMH - the expectations of some folk are insane.  We beat them, we make a statement, just as we did with a close loss to Boise at their house who just jumped to #16 in the entire freakin' country.  We should not be favored to win, but we can.

[Herdmeister]

WTF?!?!?!?  Cincy was picked to contend to win the AAC.  Beat UCLA who just beat #19 Washington State.  #2 in the ACC East behind UCF.  SMH - the expectations of some folk are insane.  We beat them, we make a statement, just as we did with a close loss to Boise at their house who just jumped to #16 in the entire freakin' country.  We should not be favored to win, but we can.
[/quo

[goherd24]

Boise is light years ahead of Cincy, but a true #16 in the country, they are not. We have to beat Cincinnati, period.

[HerdEcon]

According to Sargain:

Boise is 25
Cincinnati is 54
Marshall is 74 (highest ranked CUSA team)
North Texas is the next closest CUSA team to Marshall at 79

The Vegas bookmakers may be considering injuries or players that may not play.  Since the Boise game Marshall has lost some significant starting talent including our top 2 running backs just to name a few.  Still no word on whether Obi will play.  Marshall is also without a good starting linebacker, Yulee.  That's a lot of talent and experience that may not be available for the Cincinnati game.  Some were out for Boise but most were available for Boise including both the first and second running backs. 

[herdfan93]

I'll be very disappointed if we don't win this game. Both teams have had 2 weeks to prepare for this game but Cincy has a short week to prepare for UCF. Because of this I think they will put more time preparing for them rather than us.  Plus besides Knox returning I think we'll see OO or Silva or both returning.  It should be a close game either way but I really like our chances.

[HerdEcon]

I'll be very disappointed if we don't win this game. Both teams have had 2 weeks to prepare for this game but Cincy has a short week to prepare for UCF. Because of this I think they will put more time preparing for them rather than us.  Plus besides Knox returning I think we'll see OO or Silva or both returning.  It should be a close game either way but I really like our chances.

At the beginning of the season I had both Boise and Cincinnati as losses.  So I will not be anymore disappointed than any other loss.  I am disappointed that the Marshall offense isn't playing better.  Laying that egg in the second half of the Boise game doesn't set well with me.  Maybe I just need to get over it.

Back on point, the mounting injuries worry me.  Considering how the offense is playing I'm not sure Marshall has enough weapons on offense to overcome the injuries.  I don't care how deep the RB position is, losing the top 2 RBs is big.  They were the top 2 for a reason.  Green needs to show some consistency and the WR corps need to step up and make some plays.  Missing Obi hurts but it shouldn't hurt that much.  Unlike the RB  position, Obi isn't the only WR on the field most plays.  Losing Yulee hurts more than Obi in my opinion because of depth at LB and I think Yulee was just a better player.

[parshall2marshall]

I thought someone posted that Knox had tweeted he would be ready for Cincy.

[HerdEcon]

I thought someone posted that Knox had tweeted he would be ready for Cincy.

Yes.  Will he be 100%?  IF he plays that is the big question.  We've all seen situations where a player thought he would be ready to play but didn't play after an injury because the coaching staff or medical staff didn't have the same opinion.  No way to know that until he plays a game.  If Knox is back and 100% then that will be a big help.  If there is any question the smart move is to hold Knox out, give him another week and make sure he is 100% for conference play.  Marshall has no chance at an a New Years Day bowl unless it wins CUSA.  At this point winning out in conference play and beating Cincinnati are equally important so its a tough call.  Marshall loses another game New Years Day is out the window.  But if Marshall wins the conference championship then that's an accomplishment in itself.  Not many teams can say they are conference champs in any given season.

No more information than Doc puts out about players injuries its tough to make that call.  Vegas plays it smart and may not be able to make a call on his status either way. 

[Herdmeister]

I thought someone posted that Knox had tweeted he would be ready for Cincy.

If you are referring to my post, it said that he texted a friend of mine the day after the OU game saying he would be ready for UC

[IM4DHERD]

In his presser last week, Doc said something to the effect that the injuries from the OU game were of the 2-3 day type and all should be fine by Cincy.

[MicDrass1]

I felt anything less than a 3-1 start meant our program is stagnant.  We waxed Cinci two years ago at Cinci.  No excuses here.  This game identifies program progression or not.

[IM4DHERD]

Cincy was 4-8 that year and 4-8 the prior year.  Fickell, who many thought should have gotten the OSU job after Meyer, was 5 games in and hadn't made his stamp on the program.  Hardly a comparison.

[MicDrass1]

We usually beat Cinci.  Been doing it a long time.

[Herdmeister]

We usually beat Cinci.  Been doing it a long time.

Other than the game a couple years ago down there, it has been a while. They beat us in 04 in Ft Worth, then in 07 down there and 08 here.
We also beat them in Pontiac, Michigan in 2000. Previously to that our last win against them was in 1938. We did beat them in 1946.

[MUsince96]

Anyone know where ticket sales are at? They used to put out these thermometer graphics showing how close we were to a sellout to urge people to buy tickets. I can only assume we aren't close otherwise the Ticket Office would be pumping it up.

[Herdmeister]

Looks like plenty available

https://ev12.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=GS%3AMARSHALL%3AF19%3AF03%3A&linkID=marshall&shopperContext=&pc=&caller=&appCode=&groupCode=FB3&cgc=

[The E-Man]

I felt anything less than a 3-1 start meant our program is stagnant.  We waxed Cinci two years ago at Cinci.  No excuses here.  This game identifies program progression or not.

I totally agree, either we have it and legit or we're not. It amazes me at the people that have on blinders and can't see our program has not moved up. As you said, we have been stagnant.

[puma]

I totally agree, either we have it and legit or we're not. It amazes me at the people that have on blinders and can't see our program has not moved up. As you said, we have been stagnant.

I'll admit to having my blinders on for a long time. I think a lot of things were camouflaged from the drastic changes in scheduling. Look at the schedules from 2005-2012, they were absolutely brutal. Just about all of them included two P-5 games (one or both ranked), and a ranked UCF, Houston, East Carolina, etc. and a conference slate in the top 50.

And then after 8 years of 5-7 type (or worse) seasons and life as a bottom-dweller, Doc raked in a 10-win season and division title in 2013, followed by a conference championship and NY6 buzz in 2014, and then another 10-win season during a rebuilding year in 2015. It was hard to not get mixed up in the emotions of it all (things are different now, next year will be the year!). And here we are in 2019, currently running the gauntlet of Boise, Ohio, and Cincinnati, all of which would be about on-par for a typical conference schedule in 2010.

I want to beat Cincinnati more than anything just to prove that we're not just another C-USA patsy.

[HerdEcon]

Vegas line has moved to Cincinnati by 3.  Over/Under 46.5.  Yesterday the over/under had dropped from 46 to 45 so Vegas is seeing some money bet on this game. 

Cincinnati seems to have a good passing game helped by their legit duel threat QB.
Marshall's secondary needs to have a good game.  Marshall's offense should be helped by this being a home game.  At least that's what I'm telling myself.

About the Herd being stagnant...  This is a better and more talented Cincinnati team than the Herd has played in the recent past and a better coaching staff.  Fickle has brought in better talent than the Herd has seen at UC.  On defense and special teams it's had for any team to improve on an already good product and Marshall has had some good defenses and special teams (with the possible exception of the Mark Snyder years).  I don't see that we have been stagnant...  On offense we are not stagnant, simply put we have taken a step back.  But its had to compete with the Pennington, Leftwitch, Moss, Bradshaw days.  Players like that don't come around often.  Moss alone was a 100 year flood type catch for 95%-98% of teams.  We can thank Marshall's status as a Div. I-AA team (so he wouldn't have to set out a second year), mommy Maxine Moss and DiTrapino more than anything for Randy.  Doc's biggest failure has been his inability to recruit a good QB and depth at QB.  Apart from the later part of the Cato/Froh period Doc just hasn't had the type of QB needed.  The recent trend of relying on post-injury transfers just isn't working out as far as finding a starter or adding depth is concerned.