GoMiddle Picks MTSU/Marshall

Last week Middle Tennessee State was pummeled by the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Just incase you are not keeping tabs when it comes to the staff picks, Matthew Dossett and Garrett Hinners are 3-1, while Rickey Fuquay Jr and Austin Lewis are 4-0

Here are the picks for the MTSU/Marshall game.

Redshirt Sophomore Quarterback Asher O'Hara tallied 110 yards on 15-of-22 passing; however it was a rough outing for the Blue Raiders as they fell by 45 at (14) Iowa.

The real season is finally upon us and the preseason favorite comes to "The Boro". The home team has won six out of the last eight meetings in this series.I said earlier that the defense will carry us to the Promised Land; however I feel like it has gotten worse since Week 1.

This game will come down to whether the Blue Raiders can stop the run against a Marshall team who averages 206.5 YPG which is second in Conference USA. Sophomore running back Brenden Knox is tied for second in the Conference USA with four rushing touchdowns. I believe that he will have a field day on the ground and extend the losing streak to three for the Blue Raiders.

Marshall 35, Middle Tennessee 28

Middle Tennessee State will host the Marshall Thundering Herd for an afternoon game inside Floyd Stadium.

As I am typing this, Marshall is currently pegged as a four point favorite. To be quite frank, I really do not know what to expect from this game.

Last week MT was slaughtered by Iowa, but Marshall is not Iowa. Nor is Marshall the Duke Blue Devils for that matter.

For Middle Tennessee State it is going to boil down to play in the trenches. Simply put, the line play on both sides of the ball has been lethargic. How much of that was the fact they were playing teams with massive lines like Iowa and Duke? I'm not sure. What I am sure of is the fact that line play for MT has been lackluster so far.

If you forced me to guess, I would say this game will be a relatively low scoring, whacky affair. Ultimately, Marshall gets the victory.

Conference play is starting and it's a welcome to the MTSU fans who had to live through three body bag games to start the season. Middle Tennessee is hosting Marshall and this match up has been pretty even historically.

In their last six match ups both teams are 3-3. Only two of these games have been close, however. In the span of a month the Blue Raiders' defense has gone from great to bad, in part because of the competition they have been playing, but there are legit issues showing. MTSU's defensive play will be the difference in this game, win or lose.

I think we see points from both offenses, but Marshall wins it by a touchdown. So, I like the -4 play, but I think the best play is the over 56. Marshall 35 - 28 MTSU

Middle Tennessee (2-2) begins their conference schedule against Marshall (2-2) this Saturday. It’s a matchup between two evenly matched Conference-USA teams.

After a disappointing performance against Iowa, I expect Asher O’Hara and the Blue Raider passing attack will return to form against the Thundering Herd defense. The Middle Tennessee rushing attack - currently missing-in-action - will remain that way. Without consistent offensive line play, the running backs will have little room to work against the Marshall defense.

On the defensive side of the ball, Scot Shafer will coordinate another solid performance, but ultimately, it won’t be enough. Marshall wins this game by a final score 31-27.