HUNTINGTON – The Marshall Thundering Herd will look to keep their undefeated record in tact as they travel to Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend to take on N.C. State at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium in a contest that will be broadcast nationally on The CW.
The contest will feature two of the better defensive teams in the nation with both Marshall and N.C. State being in the top-15 in FBS in Opponent Third-Down Percentage. The Thundering Herd is No. 4, allowing just 23.7 percent of conversions while the Wolfpack is No. 14, allowing just 29.7 percent of conversions.
Last week, the Herd rallied from a 21-3 deficit against ODU to keep it's winning streak alive, scoring 28 straight points and getting a career effort from quarterback Cam Fancher to earn a 41-35 win over the Monarchs for their first Sun Belt win of the year.
Fancher finished the game 29 of 35 passing for 278 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 102 yards to lead the Herd to the win.
He is now 10-1 as a starting quarterback.
Defensively, Elijah Alston shined against Old Dominion as he finished with six tackles, three quarterback hurries, a pass breakup and added the game's biggest defensive play – an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown that pushed Marshall's lead to double-digits in the third quarter.
N.C. State comes into Saturday's matchup with a record of 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC after a 13-10 loss to Louisville on Friday, Sept. 29.
The Wolfpack boast of one of the nation's top rushing defenses, allowing opponents just 95.6 yards per game on the ground.
The catalyst for that defense is linebacker Payton Wilson, who won ACC Linebacker of the Week earlier this year and is a Butkus Award candidate, an honor given to the nation's top linebacker. Wilson has 56 tackles in five games this season and wreaks havoc in the backfield as a disruptive force in the blitz-heavy package of Tony Gibson.
Sophomore quarterback M.J. Morris will take over as the starter – the third of his career – in place of transfer Brennan Armstrong. Morris returns to the starting role after suffering a knee injury last season. Morris shined in games against Virginia Tech and Wake Forest in 2022 prior to his injury against Boston College.
One side note heading into Saturday, is that one of N.C. State's coaches has a lot of familiarity with this football series from both sidelines.
Running backs coach Todd Goebbel, who served as an assistant coach in two different stints with the Herd (from 2005 to 2009 and 2015 to 2018), will be on the sidelines for the Wolfpack on Saturday. The last two meetings between the Thundering Herd and Wolfpack came in 2017 and 2018 – when Goebbel was the co-offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator for Marshall.
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