NC State football travels to Marshall Saturday after having a week off due to Hurricane Florence. Last season, NC State defeated the Herd, who also had last week’s game against South Carolina canceled, 37-20 in week two.
The Pack (2-0) and the Thundering Herd (2-0) should be well rested and eager to play after a long break, but one of the two will suffer its first loss of the season.
Marshall returns 17 starters after an 8-5 season last year, so there is a lot of experience that will give the Wolfpack its first test of the season. If the Pack’s defense struggles to contain the playmakers from the other side, it will be a close game for a full 60 minutes.
The Pack secondary will certainly have its hands full in the passing game, covering two very talented players at wide receiver for Marshall. So far this season for the Herd, Tyre Brady has 15 receptions for 182 yards and three touchdowns with fellow receiver Obi Obialo tallying eight catches for 107 yards and two scores.
“Offensively, they have a great receiver [Brady] that we really struggled against a year ago, particularly in the first half,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “And the other receiver [Obialo], is also playing well. Both their receivers are averaging over 12 yards per catch. All five offensive linemen are back, so really the newest part of their team is their quarterback.”
A season ago, Brady made 11 catches for 248 yards and a touchdown against the Pack, breaking the record for most receiving yards by an opposing player in Carter-Finley Stadium history.
Marshall’s starting quarterback, Isaiah Green, is averaging 275 yards in two games with five touchdowns and just one interception. He isn’t at the level of former Marshall starter Chase Litton, who threw for over 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2017 before signing with the Kansas City Chiefs, but he certainly has enough weapons around him to have a successful year.
With all starting offensive linemen returning, it could be difficult to put consistent pressure on Green, making it increasingly important for the NC State secondary to step up in coverage.
Not only are there weapons for the pass, but the Herd also have a viable running game led by Keion Davis. Davis ran for 74 yards on just eight attempts in last year’s game and ran for 76 yards in the 2018 season opener. Expect him to have success against a Pack defense that has allowed over 100 yards rushing in each of its first two games.
Marshall’s talented offense brings up two important matchups in Saturday’s game. Graduate linebacker Germaine Pratt will need to attack Davis to keep him from getting to the secondary. Davis also had five catches on the year, so keeping him contained in both areas will be important.
The other matchup is against Brady and Obialo. Junior cornerback Nick McCloud and sophomore cornerback Chris Ingram will likely get most of the reps against the talented receivers and need to slow them down in order for the defense to have success in this game. If not, graduate quarterback Ryan Finley and the offense will have to win a shootout.
NC State and Marshall will kickoff at 7 p.m. in Huntington, West Virginia.
