Marshall at Virginia Tech Football Game 2 Preview

welcome to the thundercast your Marshall Athletics podcast produced by the fans for the fans with your hosts Russ living good and KD hudnell we're bringing you the Thundering word on the Thundering Herd each and every week so keep it right here the thundercast is on the loose [Music] [Music] thanks for downloading another episode of the thundercast you can follow us on Twitter at thundercast corod also proud members of the college huddle podcasting Network you can find them at the colge huddle.com Russ big huge game on tap the herd is heading up to blackburg Virginia to face the Virginia Tech hookies for the second consecutive season and we have your com assist ky.com Virginia Tech preview that's right Comm assist we coach you grow uh Russ the game is going down on September the 7th at 4:30 pm on the CW for those that aren't going to blackburg to watch the game the line has moved opened up at Virginia Tech minus 14 now currently as we record Virginia Tech minus 20 and a half with an over and under of 51 and a half the power index has also moved uh now Marshall has a 40% chance to win this weekend against the hokes this will be the 15th alltime meeting against between Virginia Tech and Marshall the hokei own an 11 to three win loss record against the herd Marshall did though win just last season at Jonesy Edwards Stadium 24- 17 but the herd has never won in Blacksburg Virginia we came close many years ago in an overtime Thriller but just came came just short so the herds looking to get that first win in blackburg go two and 0 in two seasons against the hokes and push that one loss record up to 11 and four all the time um I want I've got a new segment that I want to start for our previews this year and I'm just calling it three big questions and there are three my personal questions going into this game of can Marshall do this or will Marshall be able to do that um before I get into my three big questions do you have any notes any of your own bullet points before we uh as we get into this yeah this one's not so much about the X's and O's or the jimmies and the Joe's it's about 40% chance of Victory which last week was 25% that is eak up but the way I understand it that's on a thousand simulations so that would mean that we came out ahead 400 times and they came out ahead 6 UND times in that thousand so we get 40% I understand how all that goes Vegas generally has a really good idea as well of what would be a competitive game and they look for Virginia Tech to win by three touchdowns so something has to give when you take those two scenarios that we have a 40% chance of not covering the spread but of winning out right but they are looking at 21 points better than us um 20 and a half it just looks like um somebody has this drastically wrong and it's got to be somewhere there in the middle uh because I don't see this as like well either Virginia Tech eeks out or loses or they win blowing us away you know I just don't see it that way I see it if we're evenly matched it's going to be a close game I don't see us getting blown out I'm thinking of coming out of retirement downloading the app making my first ever bet getting back into there and taking the herd plus 25 20 and a half I just it looks really really good to me right now it does seem a little weird doesn't it yeah 40% chance but you're a 21% or 20 and a half percent dog uh something doesn't add up but the line has moved nearly an entire touchdown you know you're not talking about a point or two or a field goal it's moved in enti now look I know they got stuff to prove I know it's their home opener and they've got to win a game like they've got to win and and and if you talk to their fan base or listen to Snippets from some of their uh fan driven podcast they expect to come in and beat the freaking breakes off of the herd this week they they think that that's what they think's gonna happen right and I'm sure they thought the same thing a year ago we're just going to March into Huntington West Virginia and beat the breakes off of Marshall well that didn't happen either and I'm with you I don't think it's going to be a blowout victory for either team unless turnovers come into play and and that's the equalizer and you just never know right but all things being considered equal and turnovers don't just go crazy in this game it it feels like a close to average win for either team or a close to average loss for either team I don't feel like anybody's just overpowering anyone yeah which which kind of leads right into my three big questions for me for Mar number number one being who starts at quarterback for the hurt right Stone Earl came in played the Lion Share of the game ended up not being the leading passer I'm not sure he was Head and Shoulders above more efficient than brilin Braxton so who actually will get the start do you see the herd switch it up will Braxton get the start for the herd will they stick with Earl was this a big a bit of games manip like I had speculated for huff in week one was Braxton going to be the guy all along against V Virginia Tech and and stone Earl gets the start for the herd against Stony Brook I don't know all interesting scenarios but for me that's the number one big question who's gon to be uh the starting quarterback for marsh do you think we see a switch I do uh I actually think it'll be Braxton uh I think that uh we gave Earl nine series versus Braxton's three in order to give him a little bit more uh familiarity uh just so he would be ready as a backup um I think that Braxton uh probably is the more elusive of the two Earl surprised me with his wheels I thought he did a very good job running um but I I just look for it to be brason coach Huff said that they will decide on Saturday who's going to be that qb1 you know probably during this game but I also think that if somebody comes out and they have the hot hand whoever it is they're staying in there if they come out and they're cold somebody else is going in there I think that we can we can all agree on that well that's what is the most telling to me and why I ask the question is because they haven't said early in the week Stone erls are Gap it's we'll make that decision later in the week and if you're making that decision later in the week it it feels like a little bit more gamesmanship right that that's what it is you don't put a whole lot on film for Braxton in week one you got the predominant film is g to be on Stone Earl you know so it feels like there's going to be a switch up here for the week two uh but neither guy really blew me away in week one which is like okay so who was more efficient in that game and I feel like brillan Braxton was more efficient and you take away the the big 67 yard passway that we've talked about a bunch of times or just a blown coverage type thing but he still looked pretty good he still threw a really sharp ball he still made some really good reads read his progressions better than I think Earl did earlier in the game and is also able to pick up first downs with his legeds just like Earl can do it's nothing against Stone Earl but I just feel like this is going to be Braxton's opportunity to take a hold of the starting job and and and grasp it for the remainder of the season that's that's just what I feel like number uh number two big question for me Russ is Virginia Tech has reportedly down two starting offensive linemen can the her defensive line have more success meaning continuing the that that success that they saw in week one can they have more success will Gibby and legs be back in the rotation and on the field and if they're not uh will Jabari ishmail be able to play that great bookend to Mike Green can Chris Thomas continue to be dominant on the interior will Landon Watson actually come up and make some more plays along that defensive line type thing will you see some stunts this week to try to get new angles for Mike Green are they going to exploit those that the weaker side of the line all those type of things um you have a response to that kind of to that question as well I do even if Virginia Tech was at full strength with their five starters I thought that our defensive line matched up very well with them uh that is no slight to them that is more about the strength of our defensive line if you go back and look at who we brought in as depth pieces over the off season and you go back and look at what they've done at previous stops you look at their recruiting that they had the intangibles the uh the strength the speed size that they have we have some absolute animals on defensive line uh you mentioned a lot of them but don't uh leave out DV Harris from Colorado JJ Hawkins from Colorado Jason shufford that came over from East Carolina um we have not seen jakarius Clayton I don't know if he's going to red shirt or if he was heard or whatever but we have a lot of weapons and oh by the way we might see legs and Gibby back in there uh at at your two interior defensive line spots and we know what those guys can do right but it's I don't know the extent of why they're out if they're out this week that also gives them an additional off week next weekend before the week after that that you go up to face Ohio State maybe they will leave them out uh to heal up whatever's nagging them the reason that they weren't in that first game if they play I see us pushing that line around quite a bit and getting to drones uh getting to uh to Tuton in the back field for some stops or at least limiting him from picking up five and six at a time um by having our big boys on the interior if they play third question for me heading into this game is can the her defense shut down that Hoke's Run game that Vanderbilt was so successful at doing H racked up only 75 yards rushing as a team in an overtime game Russ and you know if you can keep Virginia Tech from running and you can force them to be onedimensional Kyon drones had his best statistical game as a hokey quarterback and they lost right and we how many times did we see that from our own team last year you know like uh you know C faner had his best statistical passing game but you couldn't get the win because you know you couldn't effectively run the football so can this her defense continue to stifle The Hokey Run game for a second consecutive week can they yes will they that is a big question um you know I just don't know if you're going to limit on 16 runs Kyon drones from getting more than 19 yards you know I know a lot of those were from the four sacks but he did not have that really long run like he had against us last year or uh the just absolute bruising uh picking up your third Downs that that he can do um but toon only had nine carries you know um it it's one of those things where they were down so they had to throw more um they couldn't just you know run the clock out you know they they had to do something through the air they were down 17 to nothing at halftime um so they kind of forced to throw a little bit more I don't know if we hold them to 75 yards but I think if we can hold them to 100 or 125 that's still pretty good considering drones and totin and uh you know some of the jet sweeps that that we'll likely see from uh Jennings Lane couple other guys that we have on there even gnell um it it would be one of those yes we can don't know if we can type deal so those are the three big questions that are surrounding this game for me there are many many more and a lot of games within the games that folks will need to keep an eye on but we've got to talk about some of these players for Virginia Tech and it and there was some speculation around uh the the status of Kiren drones after the game against Vanderbilt head coach Brent price said he came off late with cramps so it's not an injury it was just cramps he he stated that he will be qb1 for Virginia Back Against The Herd in week two so Marshall Fant can put that one out of their thought process you are not going to see a backup quarterback against Marshall it will be Kyon drones last week he went 22 of 33 322 through the air two touchdowns and an interception he was sacked four times against vanderbelt he did add 16 carries for just 19 yards and of those 19 yards 13 came on one rushing play so still very much a dual guy it that just lends itself to can Marshall get to him can they get him off this spot can they Wrangle him down a few times in the back field all that sort of stuff a leading rusher last week for the hokes was Basel toon you mentioned nine carries 34 yards and a touchdown 3.8 yards per carry had a long of 24 though so another eight carries for just 10 yards for toon he did add six receptions out of the back field for another 18 yards and a touchdown so again another dual threat weapon for the hokes and then a quartet of wide receivers that kind of did a little damage last week against Vanderbilt a name that a lot of herd fans are familiar with that we've faced before but for another team Alie Jennings the one time Old Dominion Monarch former West Virginia Mountaineer now current Virginia Tech hokei uh led the team last week in receiving yards he had just two receptions but he had 91 yards and a touchdown 45 a half yard average with a long of 62 Steven Gosnell had three receptions for 72 yards 24 yard average and a long of 44 then Jaylen Lane and Benji gnell had nearly Mirror Image games of one another both four receptions 62 yards for lane 61 yards for Benji gnell 15 and a half yards and 15.3 yard average respectively and both guys with a long of 26 yards what the heck were those two dudes doing to have basically the same exact game all right so when you think about this Hoke's offense outside of drones because we we were fortunate enough to get him in his first career start last year and he played well he's a season older a season more developed and a better quarterback what worries you the most about this Virginia Tech offense well it's just the Playmakers and the weapons that they have you know Jennings is always uh able to take it to the house drones with his legs is able to take it to the house he has a big time arm uh Lane at wide receiver gnell at wide receiver uh gell at tight end uh you know is a is a huge threat toting out of the backfield is a big threat so they've got a lot of weapons to throw they've got a lot of weapons uh on the ground that they can do like I said they did a lot of motion and Jet sweeps fake jet sweeps uh fake the Jet Sweep run with drones uh it's almost like a an option or a triple option there uh with a new look from a spread offense using a wide receiver sweep um so there's a lot of different ways they can come at you it's a uh a very very it could get out of hand if you don't play your best defense kind of deal because their offense is superpowered yeah so fortunately Marshall's really strong on the defense def side of the football we boast one of the best defensive lines in the conference in fact according to Phil steel it's the number one defensive line in the entire Sun Bel conference feel really good about where we are along the secondary and versus what we saw against Stonybrook feel a hell of a lot better about that second level of the defense and the linebackers so let's talk about this hoky defense they're led by linebacker Kelly Lawson a guy that we talked about last year 6' foot6 220 he's a junior now nine total tackles last week and seven of those solo followed up by safety Mo Phillips II 6'2 193 sophomore seven total tackles two solo and a half a tackle for loss then their second linebacker ended up being number three in well tied for second with tackles last week Sam Brumfield 511 225 he's a senior seven total tackles one solo then they had a quartet of players with five tackles each and then impact plays for Virginia Tech against Vanderbilt just two sacks all day long seven tackles for loss kind of opened your eyes a little bit and two passes defended that's it so from an impact play standpoint Virginia Tech did not get after uh Vanderbilt very much and and and Vandy breaking in a transfer quarterback he was a Conference USA guy last year I think he played at New Mexico or New Mexico State one of them um and and so they were just not able to get to him the herd with some mobility in the quarterback room like to see that impact play category minimized for Virginia Tech at least for one more week so what about this hokey defense has your radar turned off well definitely what we saw out of Lawson last year he had that uh I think he was the one that had that interception the Lineback yeah six foot six he's kind of hard to throw over you know got a long wingspan and everything and he he you know let him like you said nine total tackle seven solo two assists uh Dorian strong uh is very good at cornerback to be a shut down wide or shutting down wide receivers and then their defensive line with h Powell Ryland and Peebles you know seems like that they have um quite a bit of weapons there on their defensive line as well so we'll see how they match up against our offensive line that had a very good week last week last note for me on these players is a kicker John love for the hokes went two of two last week on field goals with a long of 40 and three and three of on extra points hate to see this one come down to a kicking game but if it does you know that Virginia Tech has themselves a capable kicker at least from 40 and in um let's talk about some keys to Victory Russ what do you got for your number one key to victory for the herd this week before that I want to say uh love is one of the most accurate in the nation so it's not just from 40 in or 44 in uh he has the leg to Boom it and he had a 90.2% I believe overall last year uh so when they get into his range he's nearly automatic number one key to victory for me uh is Strike early we cannot get behind and let Virginia Tech have the momentum on their home turf if we come out slow and we have to play from behind that kind of puts uh an air of panic into US it puts uh maybe that we have to force it maybe we have to throw more uh get onedimensional on our end so I don't want to see that and it is an intimidating place to play they have that uh wildly intimidating inner sand man when you come in and the stadium is rocking it's a hard place to go go play and get a victory so we have to come in and take the wind out of the Sals early put some points up early so one we can show them we're here hopefully take the crowd out of it just a little bit and then hopefully not have to play from behind yeah that's actually my number three key to victory for Marshall so I'm GNA go ahead and and uh piggyback right off of that it's you got to take an early lead and then avoid that crowd engaging play they're going to be hyped up from the intro so whether you get the ball to start the game or you're going on defense one of the two you're either going to need to get that turnover first or get that three and out and get the ball back immediately and shut that crowd up or you're going to need to go right down the field and at least put a field goal on the board and shut that crowd up right yeah so this place I don't know there are there are there are many many loud like intimidating environments but personally I think Virginia Tech has the greatest intro in college football so I'm not sure that there is a team or an environment that comes out as hype from the get-go as as Virginia Tech it's you've got to silence that crowd you cannot give them a reason to stay in the game often especially early on what's your number two key to Victory number two for me is to force drones out of the pocket with a lot of pressure and Mak him throw on the run if you give him time to set and make a throw he's got an absolute Cannon he's very accurate he can kill you I think thatth from what I've seen I went back and watched their week one game I saw last year both in the prep uh some other games that I watched and the game that we watched live and then watched the replay of he seemed to throw better when he got set than throwing on the run people listening and watching may go really that's pretty much everyone however it was very noticeable he uh he seemed to just not be anywhere near as accurate he seemed to make worse decisions a lot of that was because he maybe had to abandon his first and second read because he had to scramble away so everything really broke down for them when he did not have time to throw so I think that you've got to get him out of that pocket and put a lot of pressure on him all game long and force him to either decide to tuck it and run or to make a bad through yeah I think that's a very very good point and uh Marshall does have the guys to keep him off of his spot and keep him running I won't say running for his life but they're going to keep him on the Move most of that game if not all of that game uh my number one though key to victory for Marshall this week is the Ballers got a ball we saw a lot of guys make a lot of plays for Marshall in week one and and so now we know that there are guys that are capable of getting involved in a game early and contributing to that game so I think it takes a lot of pressure off of any one or two particular guys right we saw so many wide receivers make plays five different ones or four different ones found the end zone um three different I don't know however many found the end zone but man Marshall's got the got a receiving core now that was a question mark for us a year ago do we have the uh amount of weapons that we need to be able to spread the ball around yeah we sure do and guess what we didn't even involve the tight ends in week one so there's nothing on film for Virginia Tech to study with those guys unless they want to go back to watch that game last year which assuredly they will but even though even then that won't have any anything with Toby Payne on it so and and that's not just offense that's defense as well we saw a lot of plays being made from many many defensive guys it wasn't just the Mike Green show right it was green and ishmail really had their way with that Stony Brook line and was able to get into the back field a lot Landon Watson found himself in the back field a lot jayen Yates was in on a [ __ ] ton of tackles you know a lot of these Defenders were in and around the football you mentioned however many assisted tackles there were in the total in the in the uh across the the entire game Marshall swarmed and they're gonna have to do that again you can't put all the onus on one or two guys to go out and win this game for you it's not g to happen it's going to take a full team effort and a lot of guys making the play when their numbers called in order for Marshall to get a win in this game what's your number three key to Victory we have to dominate the field position battle if you let Virginia Tech get to their 30 it's nearly automatic at least three points every time like I said John love has a great leg he's got a lot of distance so if you get to the 30 that's a 47 Yer for him give them a short field they could go three and out or you know six and out and still be putting points up on the board and you just cannot do that you can't have that so we need to get them do long drives if we come away without scoring we need to pin them back back and force them to go all the way down the field um we have got to keep them out of that short field my number three key to victory for the herd is they got to exploit the mismatches this week there will be some you know they are not better than us at every single position across every uh across all sides of the football it just it's not going to happen it doesn't happen and it's and it's not going to be that way this week so we have to exploit the mismatches if they're weak on the offensive line that's where we need to put our better penetrators and better rushers to get to those guys and and force them to be better than they otherwise would have to be right I like our uh fourth wide receiver matching up against their fourth corner you know I like um some of the some of these situations that are going to present themselves to where Marshall can make even if it turn even if it's a scenario where you get to move the ball 10 or 12 yards then you need to exploit that mismatch and get 10 or 12 yards closer that's big to me and and I don't think I can overstate it because it's you're going to have these moments to where a mismatch will occur and if you don't exploit it then it's an opportunity to L because good coaches will recognize that and you won't see it again you know so you're gonna have potentially one opportunity in this game to maximize at any given time and if you don't do it it's gone forever what's your number four my fourth and final is to limit the penalties and keep the turnovers down we obviously did that in uh the the first game against Stony Brook we had one 10 yard holding penalty and that was it we had zero turnovers if we could replicate that we are put in a very good position against Virginia to Tech if you turn it over a lot it's it's not going to be a good day you know so we have got to limit our penalties keep the turnovers down prevent us from beating ourselves and making it easier on this my number four key to victory for Marshall is you got to punch back you got to show some guts and you can't just let one bad thing go against you take you out of the game they're gonna score points they're gonna have however many thousands of fans behind them after every first down after every touchdown after every field goal after every positive thing that place is going to get loud and you have to be able to punch back you can't fold right and and nothing about Marshall has told me that they will fold but you can't do it if you're going to go into an environment like this and hope to get a win in a place you've never won then you have to go punch for punch and the years we came the closest to winning and blackburg that's exactly what we did we went punch for punch and then when you came up for air at the end of the game they got one more Lick in than you did right and and that's the type of of thing that ter thing that gut check thing that you have to do all those guys that are on that roster that are pulling that Jersey across their chest this weekend are there for a reason they were chosen to be there and they earned their spot to be there now you gotta act like it now you gotta go out and show that it doesn't matter what the logo is on the side of your helmet you gotta beat me oneon-one when we're matched up against oneon-one you're going to get your punch in where I'm gonna punch back you might knock me down but I'm going to get back up and then whoever is left standing at the endian game if you're playing like that you really can't be mad I I if no matter what side of the outcome you come out on because you know you didn't quit you didn't you didn't you didn't back down or fold um tough game it's GNA be a tough freaking game we know that man Virginia Tech's hungry you know they you don't think they thought they were gonna go into Nashville and beat Vanderbilt of course they did they I mean look at how many fans traveled to Nashville they basically to took over that Stadium they thought for sure they were going to go into vanderbild and get a win and it didn't happen so they're pissed they're hungry and honestly their team needs a win you know their team needs a win uh Russ who' you got for your MVP this week MVP for me is Elijah metf he was that for me last uh week post game uh and I see more of the same this game uh I see us getting the ball to him in creative ways uh he is also on special teams as the punt returner so I see him having quite a few touches and being able to impact the game by flipping the field on a punt return maybe taking one to the house every time he touches the ball smooth is a threat to take it to the end zone and he found it twice in the first game if he finds it two or three times in this game I think he'll be our MVP again yeah good pick man metav had a great game uh I'm going to go two guys one on offense one on defense this week Landon Watson is the wild card for me in this one because he played so well I know they're going to be game planning big time to stop Mike Green to limit what he can do and if Landon Watson can ease that pressure a little bit free up Mike Green or if he can just exploit some of the added attention that's going to be coming at Green and ishmail you might find himself with the two sack day you know he might be in that double digit tackle realm he was really close last week he's my wild card this week I think he's going to be a the defensive MVP this week and on offense I'm going AJ Turner because of a story that uh was circulating around on uh social media this week about a recruiting trip that he went on there and and uh was apparently forgotten about and the coach went home and wow like yeah Mega yikes right so you don't tell me you can't tell me that this cat hasn't got some motivation to go out and play his best game ever in a herd uniform granted small sampling size yes he went for 100 last week you know he wants to go for 100 this week and he wants to show them what they missed out on um you know we we saw rashin Ali have the big game last year against Virginia Tech AJ Turner's got that burst it's his time this week I I like him offensively to be my guy as much as I want to see our wide receivers find The End Zone a lot of time hope they do I hope AJ Turner goes for a buck 20 and finds the end zone twice well he's a he's a threat catching that out of the back field as well so um yeah that's a great pick give me a score prediction this week you know I went back and forth several different times as I usually do and uh I cannot stand picking against my beloved herd but I have to give it to Virginia Tech at at their house but I see it close I do not see it anywhere near 20 20 and a half points uh I said 3431 and kind of a shootout going back and forth um I cannot wait to be wrong and I cannot wait to be able to have to eat crow so we can say yeah look we won you know because I want us to win but I'm just looking at um everything that's there we're um we're due to be tested majorly by a team that I still think no matter what they did in week one I still think Virginia Tech's going to make a lot of noise uh in the ACC that this year maybe win the whole thing but uh I'm going to officially take Virginia Tech 34-31 so two years ago I picked against the herd going into South Bend and you did not and you were right about that one uh this time I feel like Marshall's gonna go into blackburg and they're going to get a really really really close win the hardfought win that has been eluding us since the dawn of time of Herd games in blackburg give me 31-30 Marshall in what you're saying kind of a shootout but the gut y gutted out win uh to give Charles Huff a power five win in three consecutive Seasons I like it man I I I don't know call me crazy but I'm feeling good about the herd I I'm not shy about picking against Marshall from time to time I feel good about this one though and it has really nothing to do about the game against Vanderbilt last year last week I think vy's actually going to win a couple of games you know they they won't make it won't make any noise in the in the SEC obvious right but they will some games they've got a great offense man Pavia looked really good I watched that game was really good hey before we get out of here I do have to say we because of our Logistics we couldn't be on the boundary Corner podcast and we couldn't have the boundary Corner podcast on our show for this preview but a college huddle uh podcast just like us we're part of the hudle.com boundary Corner podcast tonight as we record this late on Wednesday they had their live show so it will be a preview that you can go check out to see what they have to say about Virginia Tech what they have to see what they think about Marshall so all the Marshall fans please go to boundary corner vt.com you can also find them on YouTube or streaming on your favorite audio streaming platform but go over and find our friends at the boundary corner and see what they have to say about this game that's right you can find it really easy at theol huddle.com Russ you got any final words on this game before we get out of here no final words on the game other than I'm going to be down there and I hope to see a bunch of herd fans so don't don't uh be shy come up and introduce yourself I do want to say thanks again to Comm assist Kentucky uh commis ky.com go talk to Larry nardy and as always we have to shout out our uh title sponsor of this show 304c car.com go there and let them help you the next time that you really need it the most all right we got a big game on tap looking to go two and 0 this week in this young season Russ take us out of here whether you see us at the vet whether you see us at the cam or whether you see us down at blackburg tailgating our faces off and hopefully coming out with a win no matter where you see us we're always going to be saying go hurt go hurt it's another commis ky.com Marshall football game preview and we'll see you next week with a recap later