The Marshall Thundering Herd take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in Conway, S.C., on Thursday, Oct. 30. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Marshall is favored by 5.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -220. Coastal Carolina, meanwhile, enters as a +5.5 underdog and is +180 on the moneyline to pull off the upset. The over/under sits at 55.5 total points.
Here’s my Marshall vs. Coastal Carolina prediction and college football picks for Thursday, October 30.
Marshall vs Coastal Carolina Prediction
- Marshall vs. Coastal Carolina Pick: Marshall -5.5 (Play to -6.5)
My Coastal Carolina vs. Marshall best bet is on the Thundering Herd to cover the spread. Find the best line available on our live NCAAF odds page.
Marshall vs Coastal Carolina Odds
| Marshall Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-5.5 -110 | 55.5 -110o / -110u | -220 |
| Coastal Carolina Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+5.5 -110 | 55.5 -110o / -110u | +180 |
- Marshall vs Coastal Carolina Spread: Marshall -5.5, Coastal Carolina +5.5
- Marshall vs Coastal Carolina Over/Under: 55.5 Points
- Marshall vs Coastal Carolina Moneyline: Marshall -220, Coastal Carolina +180
Marshall vs Coastal Carolina College Football Betting Preview
Marshall Thundering Herd Betting Preview: Del Rio-Wilson The Key Behind Thundering Herd
Despite being stripped of all its parts, Marshall has turned in a decent first half of the season. It stands at 4-3 and will be favored in enough games to be penciled in as a bowl participant in December.
Though it's a long fall from Sun Belt champion — a peak achieved under Charles Huff last year — the Thundering Herd are a perfectly fine contender in the Sun Belt.
Offensively, Marshall builds the whole plane out of quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, who leads the team in both passing and rushing (despite missing most of Week 1 and all of Week 2).
Slow Del Rio-Wilson down, and Marshall's offense likely falls apart. But that's easier said than done and hasn't been fully done yet, as Marshall is 4-1 when he plays a full game, averaging 43.8 points per game.
At this level of football, having a game-breaker at quarterback is enough to stack wins.
But the wins really come into play thanks to a defense that ranks near the top of the nation against the run. Teams find success through the air on the Thundering Herd, so long as they have a quarterback capable of doing so.
Louisiana managed to drop 54 on this defense behind the efforts of QB Lunch Winfield — yes, Lunch Winfield — and a wild 21-point fourth quarter.
A repeatable, sustainable model? Not likely.
Marshall also excels in the turnover department. The Thundering Herd notched 10 turnovers in their last three games, tied with Notre Dame for the most in the country.
With teams like Coastal Carolina and Georgia State still on the slate, Marshall looks poised to continue its lopsided turnover margin.
Del Rio-Wilson doesn't put the ball in harm's way and moves the offense as he moves. It's a winning formula at a moderate level so long as the QB stays healthy.
Behind him… let's not think about it (lost 21-20 to Missouri State).
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Betting Preview: Chants Record Hides Struggles
Coastal Carolina's 4-3 mark is both (a) better than expected, and (b) better than the reality of this team. It has benefited from a soft schedule (ranked 111th, per ESPN FPI) and played some bad opposing offenses like ULM.
The QB carousel continued last week. Coastal gave way to JUCO transfer Samari Collier, who completed 12-of-19 passes but rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-37 win over App State this past week.
Collier becomes the third starting QB this season, succeeding NC State/Maryland transfer MJ Morris (one touchdown against four interceptions) and sophomore Tad Hudson (10 sacks in three starts).
Coastal's offense still centers around the run.
Tim Beck's system skews run-heavy (54%) and fares slightly better when it keeps it on the ground, ranking 90th in Rushing EPA and an abysmal 126th in Pass EPA. In wins, CCU averaged 240.3 yards on the ground; in losses, the Chants haven't broken 100 yards as a team.
The equation is simple: stop the run, stop the Chants.
Defensively, Coastal struggles to stop quality offenses. It's a bad tackling team, and up front, CCU gets manhandled.
The last two games have looked pretty good for Beck & Co., with two consecutive wins.
It turned things around in the scoring department in Boone thanks to a multiple rushing attack. In each of those two wins, though, Coastal's opponents gained more available yards, including an alarming 81% of available yards gained by App State.
There's a lot of concern on both sides of the football, even during this two-game win streak.
Coastal needs two wins to notch bowl eligibility. You'd be hard-pressed to find those two wins, as Georgia State at home is the only game the Chants expect to be favored in.
Other foes include James Madison and South Carolina (both double-digit 'dog spots) and at Georgia Southern (closer, but I anticipate Southern will be favored).
This is a team I'm selling off the two wins.
Marshall vs Coastal Carolina Pick, Betting Analysis
This over/under opened at 56.5 points and moved down to 53.5 before rebounding up to 55.5. Marshall also took quite a bit of movement, jumping from a -2.5 favorite to -5.5.
To oversimplify this game for a bit: Marshall's defense is exceptional at creating takeaways, while Coastal Carolina's offense is one of the most turnover-prone in the country.
As a result of both, the Thundering Herd rank second in the country in net field position, while the Chants are 102nd in that department.
Marshall's defense excels against the run, and Coastal's only offensive reprieve comes via the run. The Chants' QB situation is dire enough to distrust this team entirely.
Home and away splits aren't very stark for Coastal. It lost, 38-0, at home to East Carolina earlier in the year and also took a 45-37 win at Appalachian State on Saturday. CCU also took care of business at South Alabama, 38-20, but was blown out on the road by ODU, 47-7. This isn't a team with a strong home-field advantage.
Against quality competition, Coastal has rolled over and shown its belly. It's 0-3 against top-100 foes, per aggregate industry power ratings, with an average point margin of -39.7 (Marshall, 86th).
Marshall, meanwhile, comes off back-to-back wins over Old Dominion (ODU's first loss of the season) and Texas State. It's a team well-equipped to handle Coastal's offense on Thursday night.
I'm not letting extreme recency bias cloud what is a fairly simple handicap.
Pick: Marshall -5.5 (Play to -6.5)
Marshall vs Coastal Carolina Betting Trends
