— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Bowl eligibility is on the line for both teams Saturday when Marshall welcomes Georgia Southern to Joan C. Edwards Stadium for what is assured of being the last game of the season for one of the two teams.
Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m., and the matchup can be seen on ESPN+.
Both teams failed to secure a necessary sixth victory to become eligible last weekend. The Herd (5-6, 3-4) suffered a frustrating 26-24 loss at Appalachian State, while the Eagles (5-6, 3-4) were handled by Old Dominion, 45-10.
Clay Helton, the former head coach at Southern California, is in his fourth year as the leader of the Eagles and has compiled a 25-25 record in Statesboro. The Eagles have ended each of Helton’s previous three seasons with a loss in a bowl game.
At least 17 Marshall football seniors will be playing their final game Edwards Stadium.
Here are three things to look for Saturday:
Forget about it and move forward
Marshall suffered a full-blown fourth quarter implosion in last week’s loss at Appalachian State. The toughest blow came as Herd quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson was hobbled when running a quarterback keeper on third down inside the red zone.
Zion Turner replaced Del Rio-Wilson for the remainder of the game and he couldn’t guide the Herd to a win.
Del Rio-Wilson will play this week and minus a pair of lineman, Marshall appears in good health offensively.
The prospect of a 13th game and extra practice time is incentive for a much-improved effort by Marshall, especially when factoring in a less than ideal ending to the 2024 season when the Sun Belt champion opted out of an Independence Bowl matchup with Army as a result of roster attrition from former head coach Charles Huff’s departure to Southern Miss.
Eagles missing key parts
Georgia Southern has never won a game at Joan C. Edwards in three tries. Making the Eagles’ job that much tougher is that key players won’t be in action Saturday.
The Sun Belt Availability Report shows 18 Eagles players out this week, including receivers Dalen Cobb and Josh Dallas. Leading rusher OJ Arnold is a game time decision.
The Eagles are also down three tight ends and at least two other running backs.
Marshall is much healthier and needs to take advantage of favorable matchups advantages where the Eagles are in position to rely on less-experienced and productive players.
Playing into December
Saturday is an important day for much of the Sun Belt with six teams vying for bowl eligibility.
In addition to the matchup of 5-6 teams in Huntington, Troy battles Southern Miss for the right to face James Madison in the conference title game, while Arkansas State and Appalachian State meet in a matchup of 5-6 teams.
Texas State (5-6) needs a win over South Alabama for a sixth victory, which is the position Louisiana (5-6) is also in entering its matchup with UL Monroe.
The additional practices provided by a bowl invitation remain an important part of building a program and it’s something MU head coach Tony Gibson has certainly strived for in his first season.
A year ago, Marshall was fined $100,000 by the Sun Belt for opting out of an Independence Bowl matchup with Army as it faced an abundance of roster uncertainty.
This year’s group would like to end its season sometime beyond November, but after the disappointing result last week, pressure has increased.
Can the Herd rise to the occasion?
