The first game at Lane Stadium in 2024 should be a good one. Virginia Tech will host Marshall at Lane Stadium for the second game of the home-and-home series. The first game of the series didn't go as expected for the Hokies, losing 24-17 in regulation. The win propelled Marshall into a bowl-eligible year, finishing the season at 6-7 after a loss to UTSA in the Frisco Bowl.
This Marshall team is much different than the one Virginia Tech faced last season, with starting quarterback Cam Fancher transferring to FAU, star running back Rasheen Ali being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens and leading tackle Elias Neal signing with the Los Angeles Rams in the offseason.
The Hokies will be looking to beat a new Marshall team and maintain their lead in the all-time series against Marshall. Virginia Tech has an 11-3 record against Marshall. Notably, Virginia Tech has won nine straight games, winning every match from 1951 to 2018. Marshall has only won the series in 2023, 1940 and 1939.
Virginia Tech Offense vs Marshall Defense
Virginia Tech's offense struggled against the Marshall defense last year, especially in the second half. Virginia Tech punted four straight times to start the first half, totaling just 37 yards of offense on those four attempts. Virginia Tech will be looking to turn the tide against one of the most intriguing defenses in the Sun Belt. Second-year Marshall defensive coordinator Jason Semore will have to completely redesign the defense, which could give Virginia Tech an opportunity to attack the Marshall defense.
The return of Virginia Tech's offensive line has been one of the big talking points heading into the season. The Hokies return most of their starters, but lost starting tight end Dae'Quan Wright in the process. Notably, Virginia Tech returns quarterback Kyron Drones, running back Bhayshul Tuten, and all of its Week 1 starting wide receivers and offensive line.
But it hasn't all been perfect for the Virginia Tech offense, and there is certainly room for improvement, especially when it comes to closing out games. Virginia Tech ranked 88th in the FBS in points allowed per fourth quarter, averaging just 6.2 points per quarter. This is to be expected given the nature of the Virginia Tech offense, which clearly wasn't fully focused on the pass, which could cause problems late in games where the Hokies are losing.
Before Kyron Drones replaced Grant Wells as the quarterback, Virginia Tech's offense was more stagnant. They averaged 3.0 points in the fourth quarter in two games. Since Kyron Drones took the reins, it's been a breath of fresh air. In 13 games (11 starts), Drones has passed for 2,085 yards and 17 touchdowns with only three interceptions. Perhaps Drones' biggest impact has been his rushing ability. Drones has recorded 818 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
Marshall's defense will look very different than last year, with defensive coordinator Jason Semore saying, “You can replace guys, but I don't think you can replace the leadership of guys like Owen Porter, Eli Neal and Micah Abraham. We want to find guys that are ready and dependable by the spring and earn those positions. This spring is a real competitive season trying to figure out how to set up a strategy for next year.”
As mentioned above, Marshall lost key players on the defensive end, including defensive back Micah Abraham, who was drafted in the sixth round by the Colts, and defensive end Owen Porter (Vikings) and linebacker Elias Neal (Rams), who signed UDFA contracts after the 2023 season.
Marshall also made waves in the transfer portal, signing six transfers on defense, including several from major programs. Marshall's defensive transfers include Isaiah Johnson (Arizona State), Monroe Beard III (Tennessee State), Deeve Harris (Colorado), Ashton Heflin (Georgia Tech), Jason Shuford (East Carolina) and Jason Harris (Arizona).
Marshall's defense was extremely solid in 2023, especially on third down, converting just 32.4% of its third down attempts, the best rate in the Sun Belt region.
However, it's hard to put any faith in the defense considering how inexperienced the Marshall defense is in 2024. The Marshall defense could easily hand this game to Virginia Tech and may need to make some major changes before facing the Hokies.
Marshall offense vs Virginia Tech defense
Like Marshall's defense, the offense is missing many key pieces for the offensive line in 2023. Marshall lost its two biggest pieces in the offseason, losing quarterback Cam Fancher to the transfer portal and highly impactful running back Rasheen Ali to the NFL Draft.
Marshall's 2023 season began with an offensive explosion, averaging 30.3 points/game through the first six games of the season and going 4-2 in that span. Marshall wasn't bad defensively either, blowing out a 41-point lead against NC State, a top-25 defense in opponents' points allowed per game.
Games 7 through 9 played out very differently for the Marshall offense than the first six. Marshall failed to reach double digits in points for three straight games, with Game 7 against James Madison being perhaps their worst game. None of Marshall's nine points in that game came from the offense. The Marshall defense forced a safety in the third quarter, after which Marshall kick returner Jayden Harrison returned the ball for a 94-yard kickoff return to the house. The offense was awful, with minus-four total yards, 174 passing yards and one interception.
Games 8 and 9 followed a similar pattern. In Game 8, Marshall's only points came in the second quarter on two field goals by Rese Verhoff of 23 and 44 yards, respectively. Marshall also committed five turnovers in the game, four of which were interceptions. Game 9 wasn't much better either. Cam Fancher was intercepted three times against Appalachian State and only managed 144 passing yards in the entire game. Marshall scored nine points in the game, three of which were red-zone field goals and six of which were red-zone touchdowns, followed by a failed two-point conversion attempt.
That stretch of games was the main reason former Marshall offensive coordinator Clint Trickett was fired from the staff after the 2023 season. New offensive coordinator Seth Doge has a big task to get the Marshall offense back to being relevant again.
One of the biggest challenges for Marshall's offense is the quarterback position. Marshall acquired two veteran quarterbacks in Braylon Braxton from Tulsa and Mitch Griffith from Wake Forest. Griffith has played in four consecutive Wake Forest games. However, it was his 2023 season that made his biggest impact for the Demon Deacons. Griffith appeared in nine games for Wake Forest and finished the season with 1,553 yards passing and 128 yards rushing.
Braxton, a quarterback from Tulsa, also made an impact on the team. Braxton played in six games in 2023 and nine games in 2022. Braxton's 2023 season was plagued by injuries and he only started eight times for Tulsa (five in 2023 and three in 2022), but he still wanted to make his impact known. Braxton completed 56.4% of his passes in 2022 with a passer rating of 132.6. His final stats for 2022 included five rushing touchdowns, over 1,000 passing yards, and a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 10-to-2. Due to an injury at the beginning of the 2023 season, his stats in 2023 did not match his previous numbers. In 2023, Braxton posted a passer rating of 68.8 and a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 2/6, but only 4.3 yards per carry on the ground.
Neither quarterback is a front-runner to be the starting quarterback, but Marshall will undoubtedly find a way to use them in the offense. Cole Pennington, the son of Chad Pennington, is likely to be Marshall's opening day starter. Pennington struggled in the 2023 season, throwing six interceptions and zero touchdown passes. Pennington also didn't contribute much to the rushing game, finishing last season with minus-69 yards rushing.
It's a realistic expectation that Marshall might experiment at quarterback similar to what Michigan did with Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy. I wouldn't be surprised if Pennington ends up learning under a veteran like Braxton or Griffith at the quarterback position, but I expect Pennington to take the reins of the franchise for the foreseeable future.
Virginia Tech will have to navigate the difficult path of Marshall's offense and could face some surprises on the defensive end.
But Virginia Tech's defense isn't weak. The school ranks 15th nationally in yards allowed per game and adds another boost to an already excellent defense. Most notably, Duke transfer Aeneas Peebles could make a big impact in this game. Peebles is a 290-pound All-ACC defensive tackle who led Duke in TFLs last season.
Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delaine are also expected to be two of the best cornerbacks in the ACC, anchoring a Virginia Tech defense that allowed just 168.8 passing yards per game last season, ranking fourth in the nation.
Virginia Tech also appears to have filled some holes on defense. After last season, there were questions about Virginia Tech's interior defensive line and the Hokies' linebacker group. The Hokies added the aforementioned Eneas Peebles to their defensive line, but also junior college project Kemari Copeland and Kevrin Gilliam, a 6-foot-3 lineman from Oklahoma. Virginia Tech also answered questions at linebacker, adding Sam Brumfield, a transfer from Middle Tennessee. Brumfield led the team with 81 tackles entering the 2023 season.
Unless Marshall quarterback Cole Pennington has a breakout, Virginia Tech should be able to stifle the Marshall offense, especially through the air.
Final thoughts
This Marshall team is definitely different from the one that lost to Virginia Tech last year, and it's definitely different from the Hokies team that Marshall beat this season. If Virginia Tech can limit their mistakes and take advantage of Marshall's under-practiced unit, Virginia Tech will have no problem turning around how last season played out. Virginia Tech will likely be the favorite to win this game and pull out a win in front of the best fans on the planet at Lane Stadium.
