Marshall Football: Thundering Herd have what it takes to win C-USA in 2019

Marshall football will be seeking a Conference USA title in 2019 and it has the talent to do just that. Will Doc Holliday and Co. get the job done?

Marshall moved to the FBS level in 1997 and has been one of the best programs in the Group of Five since then. The Thundering Herd have appeared in 14 bowl games during that time period and have won 12 of them while winning their last seven.

When Marshall moved up to the FBS level, they started out in the MAC before moving to C-USA in the mid 2000s. They have found success in both leagues as they have a combined eight seasons of at least 10 wins.

With that said, Marshall’s fan base has come to expect their team to compete at a high level and always be in contention for the C-USA title, and 2019 is no different.

Marshall went 9-4 last year and barely missed making it to the C-USA title game. It had two conference losses, one against a fellow East opponent and one against a West foe. The East opponent they loss to was Middle Tennessee, who ended up making it to the conference title game. However, Marshall was without their starting quarterback.

Marshall’s starting quarterback didn’t start the game in their loss to the West opponent, Southern Miss. Isaiah Green, came off the bench against Southern Miss after missing a few games to injury and almost led the Herd to a win. So in both their conference losses, their starting quarterback didn’t play a full game.

The Herd’s only other two losses last year were against two Power Five schools: NC State and Virginia Tech. Marshall does not have any Power Five schools on the schedule this year, but still have a tough out of conference schedule as they play a few of the best teams in the Group of Five in Boise State, Cincinnati and Ohio.

Despite a few challenging out of conference games, the schedule is very manageable and they return plenty of talent and will be one of the favorites to win the conference this year.