Myrtle Beach Bowl Preview: UConn vs. Marshall
The Huskies will end their season against one of the Group of 5's elite.
After a long four weeks off, UConn football returns to close the season out against the Marshall Thundering Herd.
Most Husky fans are eager to turn the page to hoops season by this point in the year. Football has struggled to keep our interest this late for a while…
But this year’s team is here, enjoying the great okay weather at a vacation destination that’s just a two-hour flight from Connecticut. So, what can UConn fans expect from the Huskies’ swan song of 2022?
With such a long break between their final game of the season, a 34-17 drubbing at the hands of Army, UConn is set to receive a big boost in offensive playmaking: Cam Ross and Keelan Marion, the two receivers at the top of the depth chart preseason, will be available, and running back and kick and punt returner Brian Brewton could also make an appearance.
UConn’s receivers struggled to get separation at times during the season, so offensive coordinator Nick Charlton relied heavily on the run game, screens, and short passes to move the ball down the field. With four more weeks of practice under his belt and his two top receivers set to make an appearance, we might get to see more from Zion Turner than we have all year in addition to a bigger playbook from Charlton — It’s customary to empty the tank in bowl games.
UConn’s defense got a moral boost, if not a physical one, this week as well: Their leader and captain, middle linebacker Jackson Mitchell, all but announced his intention to return to the team in 2023.
Led by Mitchell, UConn’s front seven will have its hands full with the Marshall rushing attack, one of the top units in the G5. The Thundering Herd average over 185 yards per game on the ground, No. 38 in the nation in that category. Florida State transfer Khalan Laborn’s 1423 rushing yards made him the leading rusher by a wide margin in the Sun Belt and the No. 12 rusher in the nation.
If UConn can stop Laborn and Marshall’s rushing attack, they’ll still need to successfully move the ball against one of the elite defenses in the Group of 5.
Marshall’s identity is built on hard-nosed, defensive football. Bill Connelly’s SP+ has them as the No. 8 defense in the nation, giving up just over 100 rushing yards per game and ranking in the top half of the FBS in passing yards per game allowed. They also have a proficient pass rush, ranking No. 7 in the nation in sacks, with a pair of experienced defensive linemen leading the unit. Redshirt junior Owen Porter is the big dog on the defensive line; his 9.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss lead the team, and the dangerous Koby Cumberland brings 6.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss to the other side of the line.
In addition to a nasty defensive line, Marshall has one of the elite coverage units in the nation. Micah Abraham and Steven Gilmore are two strong corners leading a unit with a combined nine years of experience at the FBS level and the swagger to go along with it.
Abraham leads the Sun Belt in interceptions with five on the year, along with eight passes defended on the year. His counterpart Gilmore has three interceptions of his own and has given up just a single touchdown the entire year. Opposing quarterbacks have completed just 45.8% of their passes when they throw his way.
UConn has a tall task ahead. The Huskies’ comparable win was against Liberty, a team similarly built around running the ball, but Liberty was without its leading rusher. Boston College has a similar talent level to Marshall but had seemingly given up on the season and Fresno State’s high-powered passing attack looked disastrous in UConn’s upset win earlier in the season, but Marshall is fundamentally a different team.
The Huskies’ path to victory lies in continuing their effective run game from the regular season while bottling up Laborn on the defensive side of the ball and forcing Marshall into third and long situations where they’ll have to throw.
This matchup offers a fitting test for a UConn team that’s exceeded expectations all year. Kick-off is on Monday, December 19 at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN.