UTSA vs. Marshall Prediction: Can We Trust Frank Harris, Roadrunners in Frisco Bowl?
Like many teams during ball season, Marshall will be without their starting quarterback as Cam Fancher announced he would be entering the transfer portal. It will be up to backup Cole Pennington to get the job done for Marshall. Can he do it? Let’s break it down.
Joey Ruiz - December 19, 2023, 4:03 PM EST
5 minUTSA vs. Marshall Prediction: Can We Trust Frank Harris, Roadrunners in Frisco Bowl?
UTSA had high hopes this season with seventh year senior Frank Harris at quarterback. Harris was one of the best quarterbacks in the conference this season and put up some insane counting stats during his college career. UTSA had aspirations for a New Year’s six bowl as the highest ranked group of five team, but those dreams could not come to fruition as the road runners dropped games to Houston, Army, Tennessee, and Tulane.
UTSA vs. Marshall Date, Start Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: December 19, 2023
- Game Time: 9:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: ESPN
UTSA vs. Marshall Prediction
The Roadrunners really struggled with the top teams on their schedule this season as their best wins came against Florida Atlantic and Texas State. UTSA beat up on a lot of bad teams including Temple, UAB, South Florida, East Carolina, Rice, and North Texas who have a combined record of 26-46 (36%). The Road Runners defense was exposed in their last match up with Tulane as they simply could not stop the Green Wave’s high-powered rushing attack.
In that game, UTSA allowed 228 rushing yards on 40 attempts for an average of 5.7 yards per carry. This was another problem in UTSA’s loss to Army earlier in the season as the Black Knights ran wild for 254 yards and three rushing touchdowns. If there is one thing that Marshall does really well, it is run the ball with their star running back Rasheen Ali. Ali averages just under 95 yards per game on 5.1 yards per carry and has totaled 15 touchdowns on the season.
Ali is the focal point of this Thundering Herd offense and they will need to lean on him hard tonight as Marshall will be playing with their backup quarterback, Cole Pennington, who is the son of former Marshall legend Chad Pennington. Pennington has not looked that great this season but I think he will have a better game tonight as he should have more time to throw as UTSA’s star defensive player and AAC defensive player of the year, Trey Moore, has entered the transfer portal.
Moore totaled 14 sacks this season and UTSA will certainly miss his pass rushing prowess in this game. There are also reports circulating now that Frank Harris will not be playing or might only be playing in the first quarter of this game.
If Harris does not suit up, this would be a huge loss for the Roadrunners as they lost their only game of the season that Harris didn’t play in to Army by eight points as 7.5 point favorites. This line has come down from 11.5 after the Harris news but I still like the Thundering Herd to keep this game somewhat close even if Harris does end up playing. With that being said, I am rolling with Marshall +8.5 at -110 for 1.5U as my most confident CFB play of the day for tonight’s action.
UTSA vs. Marshall Pick
1.5U Marshall +8.5 -110 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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