Topic: CFN article on Marshall Football (Good Read)

[saherdfan]

https://collegefootballnews.com/cfn/marshall-thundering-herd-college-football-preview-2023-breakdown-prediction-top-players-win-total

If we could come up with a passing game, and Ali doesn't get hurt we could have a great season.  I really think this year's "D" could be just as good or even better with the additions the portal provided.  Starting to get excited about football season.

[saherdfan]

We are lucky to hold on to Ali this year.  He is a big time RB.

[Big City]

Herd goes on the road and beats teal nation by 18.

CCU won't even be a bump in the road.

[svherd]

Herd goes on the road and beats teal nation by 18.

CCU won't even be a bump in the road.

Hope you are correct. We win the league if that happens. Jmo

[MicDrass1]

Offense needs to avg 7.0 ppg more than last year to help our D.  O should be better and ST

[coalherd]

IMO, an early win on the road against ECU could spell the difference between a good season and a very good, even great, one!

[Herdiowa]

Herd goes on the road and beats teal nation by 18.

CCU won't even be a bump in the road.

I just don?t get the the JMU train.  They didn?t have their QB last year and we dominated them. 
I predict some @ss kickings for them. 

I think App State will be down a little.  I think we should be favs for the East and I usually don?t predict that type of stuff. 

[MicDrass1]

IMO, an early win on the road against ECU could spell the difference between a good season and a very good, even great, one!

Huff?s Herd plays well on road most of time.  I like Herd in road games.  Biggest difference with Huff at helm.  Pruett was a road warrior as well. 

[IM4DHERD]

Ummm...They show JMU in a bowl game?  Thought they weren't eligible for SB Championship game nor a bowl game until next season, not this one??

[Johns1124]

Ummm...They show JMU in a bowl game?  Thought they weren't eligible for SB Championship game nor a bowl game until next season, not this one??

They didn't get their waiver for a bowl game this year. But.....

They may be able to go if there are not enough teams to fill the bowl slots. Which seems to be the trend over the last few years.

[gochneaur645]

I just don?t get the the JMU train.  They didn?t have their QB last year and we dominated them. 
I predict some @ss kickings for them.

They won the East last year and would have played in the title game if eligible. They beat Coastal, albeit without McCall, by 40 in their final game.

[svherd]

JMU fans have become the UCF, Charlotte of the SB. Arrogant jerks

[IM4DHERD]

Their bowl projections have ASU, CCU, JMU and GA So. from the East and Troy from the West in bowl games, 

NOT Marshall.

https://collegefootballnews.com/bowl-projections/bowl-projections-college-football-playoff-predictions-2023-spring

[Johnnyherd]

Their bowl projections have ASU, CCU, JMU and GA So. from the East and Troy from the West in bowl games, 

NOT Marshall.

https://collegefootballnews.com/bowl-projections/bowl-projections-college-football-playoff-predictions-2023-spring

It's because nobody is afraid of an offense lead by Cam Fancher.  That's literally the book on Marshall by every football prognosticator and soothsayer thinks we'll probably have a good defense and in all are games we'll either run the ball or lose.

[muherd34]

Their bowl projections have ASU, CCU, JMU and GA So. from the East and Troy from the West in bowl games, 

NOT Marshall.

https://collegefootballnews.com/bowl-projections/bowl-projections-college-football-playoff-predictions-2023-spring

It's a real possibility we don't make a bowl.  Much tougher schedule this year and we lost alot of pieces on D along with our coordinator.  BUT, it could be an awesome year if all the d pieces come together with the new coach and the offense approves into the 50 range.

[gochneaur645]

It's because nobody is afraid of an offense lead by Cam Fancher.  That's literally the book on Marshall by every football prognosticator and soothsayer thinks we'll probably have a good defense and in all are games we'll either run the ball or lose.

Cam Fancher is 6-1 as a starter. He and our OL should be improved. We have one of the nation's best RB's back. And our defense could be every bit as good as last year. 

Anybody predicting we can't do better than 4-7 (outside of the free space over Albany) is gonna look really dumb. Which they already do for projecting an ineligible JMU to a bowl.

[Johnnyherd]

*duplicate post

[Johnnyherd]

Cam Fancher is 6-1 as a starter. He and our OL should be improved. We have one of the nation's best RB's back. And our defense could be every bit as good as last year. 

Anybody predicting we can't do better than 4-7 (outside of the free space over Albany) is gonna look really dumb. Which they already do for projecting an ineligible JMU to a bowl.

Take out Laborns stats of those games and see how many we would have won, hence we run the ball or lose.  Stats aren't everything but Cam is ranked 111th out of 131 starting D1 QBs. I don't think he rushed for any TDs, maybe 1 or possibly 2. so yeah, he's athletic running the ball but not athletic enough to separate from the defense and score consistently running the ball.

I'm just saying that's why no one is afraid of us and we are picked to lose half our games.

Edit:  he rushed for 1td in 7 starts.

[Flat Tire 2]

Cam Fancher is 6-1 as a starter. He and our OL should be improved. We have one of the nation's best RB's back. And our defense could be every bit as good as last year. 

Anybody predicting we can't do better than 4-7 (outside of the free space over Albany) is gonna look really dumb. Which they already do for projecting an ineligible JMU to a bowl.

Good points. Fancher was basically a true freshman last year due to the restrictions of Covid the previous year. He should improve and hopefully the OL is improved. Football hasn't changed much over the years, the team that controls the lines will usually win the game.  We don't need Fancher to be a superstar to win, he just needs to make good decisions and keep the TO at a minimum. Maybe the transfer from Rice starts? Plus we have one of the best RB in college football returning next year to replace Laborn; so there shouldn't be much of a drop off at the RB position. I am worried about the schedule, the SBC is way better than the last few years of CUSA and the out of conference schedule is no cakewalk. 

[svherd]

Take out Laborns stats of those games and see how many we would have won, hence we run the ball or lose.  Stats aren't everything but Cam is ranked 111th out of 131 starting D1 QBs. I don't think he rushed for any TDs, maybe 1 or possibly 2. so yeah, he's athletic running the ball but not athletic enough to separate from the defense and score consistently running the ball.

I'm just saying that's why no one is afraid of us and we are picked to lose half are games.

Edit:  he rushed for 1td in 7 starts.

You can say that pretty much about any team in Marshall history. Every good team had one key player that made the year or lead us to a great year. It's normal. Think Cato, Leftwich, Pennington, etc. We don't have those guys, we don't have near the success those teams had.

[herdorbust2]

Take out Laborns stats of those games and see how many we would have won, hence we run the ball or lose.  Stats aren't everything but Cam is ranked 111th out of 131 starting D1 QBs. I don't think he rushed for any TDs, maybe 1 or possibly 2. so yeah, he's athletic running the ball but not athletic enough to separate from the defense and score consistently running the ball.

I'm just saying that's why no one is afraid of us and we are picked to lose half are games.

Edit:  he rushed for 1td in 7 starts.

We could go 8-4 and still be one of the better teams in Marshall history. This is maybe the toughest schedule we have ever faced top to bottom. And way more difficult than the last 10 years of CUSA and our time in the MAC. And make no mistake, Fancher is a handful when he is running the ball. If he just improves a little throwing the ball, he will be lethal if used correctly.

[gochneaur645]

Not sure why there's this fixation on Fancher's rushing TD's. A QB can be an effective runner without getting into the end zone. Fancher popped off for plenty of 20-40 yard runs last year which is something we've rarely had the ability to do from that position.

If you're concerned about rushing TD's, you may have heard of this guy we have named Rasheen Ali who led the nation in that stat his last full season.

[Johnnyherd]

First off, I'm pulling for Fancher I hope he tears the Sunbelt into pieces. I was basically answering why we are picked to go 6-6 or 7-5 and why most writers don't have us in the conversation to win the Sunbelt.

Offensively having a QB that is fast and able to run in the red zone, makes an offense deadly.  It's so hard to defend because if you have a linebacker spy, that lower the coverage of the defense by one man and if the QB goes it's a single linebacker against a fast athlete. 

[MUonium]

You can say that pretty much about any team in Marshall history. Every good team had one key player that made the year or lead us to a great year. It's normal. Think Cato, Leftwich, Pennington, etc. We don't have those guys, we don't have near the success those teams had.

but there's no question, and it stands to reason, that the best teams/streaks in MU history were mostly above avg in all 4 phases of the game. 
pick any year and look at each phase- last year we obviously had great D, but everything else was avg at best although the 4th phase (coaching) is perhaps the most debatable about how it should be rated.

[HerdEcon]

The coaching staff seems very high on Fancher. 

Statistically, Fancher did not have a good year last year.  We all know Laborn carried the offense.

I hope Fancher wins the starting job, he could be an exciting QB.  But only if he makes a big step in his passing game. 

If we are unable to pass the ball this season the 3 people I'm going to look at first are the head coach, offensive coordinator/QB coach, and the passing game coordinator.  Between Fancher, TJ, and the running game we should have enough talent to be at least an average passing team if we have good game prep and play calling.  Average would be a huge improvement over last season.