2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl – Marshall vs Connecticut

2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl – Marshall vs Connecticut

posted December 17

The Game

It’s time to hit the beach, yo!

The FIGHTING JIM MORAS were one of the best stories of the college football season and were WHITE HOT down the stretch winning three of their final four games. Those conquests included wins over Boston College and Liberty. Marshall acclimated well to their new surroundings in the Sun Belt and finished with a mark of 8-4 (5-3).

The Details

Marshall -10.5 Connecticut (40.5)

MEGALOCKS LINE – Marshall -10

“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Marshall 25.5 Connecticut 15

Marshall offense vs Connecticut defense

There’s no secret about what Marshall wants to do on offense. They’ve had a tough time getting things done thru the air (#105 FBS) but they’re a deadly running team (206 YPG, #21 FBS). RB Khalan Laborn had a phenomenal regular season (1,423, 16 TD) and starting QB Cam Fancher has rushed for 60+ yards in 3L4G. And we suppose to be fair, Fancher threw for 200+ in each of the Herd’s L3G so it appears they may be on the upswing in the THROW GAME department. Connecticut needs some work on defense (#90 run D, #61 pass efficiency D) and they have a tough time getting off the field on 3rd downs (#107). If you’ve watched some Husky football this year you know that they’ve been opportunistic in terms of creating turnovers (20, #33 FBS) and they’ll almost certainly need to force a least a pair of mistakes if they wanna have a shot in this one.

Connecticut offense vs Marshall defense

UConn has made the most of their talent, particularly given all the injuries they’ve had to deal with on this side of the football, and come into this one ranked #127 with the THROW GAME (!) but an impressive #32 on the ground. They may get a WR weapon or two back for this game but we’re not banking on it. They finished the season with an impressive three consecutive games with 200+ rushing yards and will have to find a way to do some work vs a very stout Marshall defense that only allows 89 YPG to opposing run games (#5 FBS). That’s the match-up that’ll decide the outcome and the cover in this BAD BOY.

Trends, Intangibles and More!

UConn is super JACKED to be here as they haven’t been to a bowl game since 2015……HC Jim Mora was 2-2 in bowl action with UCLA…..Marshall is a very impressive 12-5 in bowl games but they’ve dropped their last three in a row including the 2021 New Orleans Bowl vs Louisiana (L 36-21)…..Marshall played the #92 schedule according Sagarin……Connecticut #99……The Huskies forced a lot of turnovers during the regular season but Marshall was even better in that regard (25, #6 FBS)…..The Herd stop unit is #1 in 3rd down conversions (23.4%).

Summary

Marshall has struggled over the course of the season putting points on the board but we like how the offense has come alive down the stretch with an improving situation at QB. They should be able to get past their implied team total vs a weak Huskies defense. We’re more comfortable saying that Marshall will get over their team total vs cover the spread vs a hungry and scrappy team.

Conclusion

Lean – Marshall team total over 25.5 (implied)

note – Pinnacle is offering 24.5 -103; 26.5 or better should be available almost everywhere that team totals are offered


Note:

‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.

‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.

‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.