Marshall Thundering Herd vs Navy Midshipmen Prediction, Odds and Preview - 09/04/2021

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 4, 2021

Venue:  Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD

Where to Watch:  CBS Sports

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Thundering Herd -2.5, Midshipmen +2.5; Over/Under:  47.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Thundering Herd -2.5, Midshipmen +2.5; Over/Under:  47 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Thundering Herd -2.5, Midshipmen +2.5; Over/Under:  48 points

 

Marshall Thundering Herd:  0-0 (C-USA East)

Navy Midshipmen:  0-0 (AAC)

 

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Marshall Thundering Herd:  3 game losing streak

Navy Midshipmen:  5 game losing streak

 

The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is taking on the Navy Midshipmen on Saturday to kickoff their college football season schedule. Marshall University finished last season in 1st place of the C-USA East with a 7-3 record overall, going 4-1 in conference play. They were a perfect 2-0 on the road last year where they will be in this one. Navy finished last season in 7th place of the AAC with a 3-7 record overall, going 3-4 in conference play. They were 1-4 at home last season where they will be in this game on the turf.

Marshall is carrying over a 3 game losing streak from last season. They ended their regular season with a 20-0 loss to Rice. They then went on to lose their next game 22-13 in the conference final game to UAB and then lost their last game 17-10 to the Buffalo Bulls in the Camellia Bowl. They had such a good season as they led their NCAA division and then they just completely unravelled in the final stretch. Marshall's offensive statistics were pretty good last season. They were averaging a 60.9% completion percentage, 212.9 passing yards, and 1.9 touchdowns per game through the air. They also averaged 178.4 rushing yards and 1.8 touchdowns per game on the ground. Marshall's defense was absolutely solid last year in both the passing and the run game. They allowed teams a 62.3% completion percentage, 183.9 passing yards, and 0.8 touchdowns per game through the air. They also allowed 95.5 rushing yards and 0.6 touchdowns per game on the ground. New head coach Charles Huff gets to make his debut for this Marshall team this season looking to complete the mission of winning the Conference USA title. He has already inherited a great defense and the offense is definitely trending in the right direction. With the pieces he has at key positions on this team already he could get them all the way to that title game and win it. The Marshall football schedule is ready to kickoff this season with a win under their new football coach.

Navy is carrying over a 5 game losing streak from last season. They lost their last 3 games of the season by slimmer margins though. They lost 10-7 to Memphis, 19-6 to Tulsa, and 15-0 to Army. None of their opponents were able to hit 20 points in those last 3 games despite Navy losing all of them. The Navy offense was not good at all last season, especially in the passing game. They were averaging a 46% completion percentage, 97.4 passing yards, and 0.6 touchdowns per game through the air. They also averaged 177.7 rushing yards and 1.5 touchdowns per game on the ground. Their defense was not that good either, especially when defending the run. They were allowing teams a 60.9% completion percentage, 180.8 passing yards, and 1.1 touchdowns per game through the air. They also allowed 204.7 rushing yards and 2.3 touchdowns per game on the ground. Navy has never really been a team known for passing the ball or putting up tons of points. They like to run the ball but will have a tough time against this good Marshall defense. Coach Ken Niumatalolo is returning once again and it is hard to see him making any ground breaking changes to this team. They will have to do a lot though if they expect to be a force on offense and even defense as it was not that good last season.

Marshall are coming in as a very short favorite after a great season. They have shown that they can move the ball well with both passing and rushing. Their defense has also shown that they can stuff teams and hold them to no yardage when they need to. Navy is weak on both offense and defense and is likely going to get blown out of the water in this one. At such a short line Marshall should be taking in the bets in this one.

 

Thundering Herd Midshipmen Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 4, 2021 (3:30 pm ET start time) is Thundering Herd 24 Midshipmen 7.

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Marshall Thundering Herd: 5-2 ATS in road games over the last 3 years.

Navy Midshipmen: 5-1 ATS when the line is +3 to -3 over the last 3 years. 7-4 ATS in home games over the last 3 years.

 

 

Marshall Thundering Herd:  None

Navy Midshipmen:  None

 

 

Marshall Thundering Herd: Quarterback Grant Wells is one player to watch throughout this Marshall Thundering Herd football schedule. He played in 10 games last season as a freshman completing 165/270 passes for 2091 yards, 18 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He will be looking to build on a good year as this team looks for the C-USA title this season.

 

Navy Midshipmen: Xavier Arline is one of the starters to watch on this roster. This is his 2nd season and he will need to take a big step this year to help out his offense. Last year he completed 4/12 passes for 27 yards and he primarily ran the ball. He will need to step up and throw more in this game if they want to have a chance at beating Marshall.

 

“Yes, we were 7-0 last year. Yes, they did play in the conference championship game. But none of those points carry over. The experiences carry over. And what you learn carries over. But we’ve got to start from scratch.“ - Charles Huff on his team looking for the C-USA title this season.

 

 

“Coach Newberry was only able to put in probably half of the defensive plays that we now have. But now in the 2021 season, we’ve able to build off the foundation of what we did in 2019.” - Diego Fagot on the progression of the defense over the past few seasons.

 

 

 

 

WR Gammage, Corey 

WR Ahmed, Shadeed 

WR Keaton, Talik 

TE Gaines, Xavier 

QB Wells, Grant 

RB Ali, Rasheen

RB       Evans, Sheldon 

 

 

WR Walker, Mark 

WR Cooper, Mychal 

QB Arline, Xavier 

RB Warren, Chance 

RB Acie, Carlinos 

FB Ruoss, Isaac 

 

 

 

Coaches:

Marshall Thundering Herd: Charles Huff (1st season)

Navy Midshipmen: Ken Niumatalolo (15th season)

 

77 degrees F sunny, 64% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 9 mph wind speeds S.