Marshall- Southern Mississippi
Time: 4 PM ET
Spread: MAR -25.5
Total: 62.5
Betting odds courtesy of Bookmaker
Marshall has been rolling through its soft schedule as everyone expected them too. At 8-0 Marshall heads to Southern Miss this week in a game that college football oddsmakers are favoring the Thundering Herd by 25.5-points.
The total is set high, primarily because Marshall averages 45.9 points per game on its own. Given that total, it will require just 16 points from hosting Southern Miss to match the total in college odds. Marshall will punish Southern Miss with the football, which is another reason the college football point total is 62.5.
Last week, Marshall knocked off Florida Atlantic 35-16, and that was Marshall’s lowest scoring game of the season, having mustered 44 points or more in its previous seven games. The Herd rank 7th in the nation in rushing yardage with 290 per game, while also near the top in pass yardage (30th).
Marshall QB Rakeem Cato has been sensational this season with 2,130 passing yards on the season and an additional 255 rushing yards. He’s thrown for 20 TDs and rushed for five of Marshall’s 27 rushing TDs. Devon Johnson leads the way rushing the ball with over half the team’s yardage on his own, good for 1,203 yards on the season on an 8.8 yard per carry average. That’s pretty much to say Johnson has been unstoppable for the Herd.
At WR, the Herd have five options with 225 yards per better on the season. The best of those options thus far has been Tommy Shuler, who has scored five TDs and racked up 446 yards this season. Angelo Jean-Lewis leads the team in yards per reception with 25.7 yards per catch, while also having scored four TDs on the year.
Marshall has a great passing offense to go with a top-notch RB. It’s hard to see this going wrong for the Herd against a 3-6 Southern Miss team that has lost four of five in Conference USA play.
The Golden Eagles have been good passing the ball, but have no real rush offense to speak of, ranking 93rd in the nation with under 90 yards per contest. The offense resultantly, is bad. The Golden Eagles average just 19.7 points per game while surrendering 33.9 to opponents. The Eagles have allowed 30 points or more in five of its nine games this year, and it seems pretty obvious that Marshall can best that mark.
Eagles starting QB Nick Mullens is questionable to play after sustaining a foot injury last week. That certainly won’t make things any easier for an offense that has trouble getting much going anyway.
