Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at Marshall Thundering Herd
Sat Sep 26 · 2:30 PM CT
By Pablo SanchezUpdated 8d ago·2 min read
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Marshall comes home off a trip to Penn State to face an FCS team retooling from the ground up — exactly the kind of Saturday the Herd needs to feel normal again.
Bush’s Picks
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Best BetMarshall
Marshall's roster continuity and a preseason All-Sun Belt caliber quarterback in Carlos Del Rio-Wilson make this a fairly straightforward outright pick. Gardner-Webb is rebuilding its coaching staff, its offensive line, and its offensive identity all at once, which is a tough combination to bring on the road against a full FBS roster. Back the Herd here.
Gardner-Webb
+Veteran QB and proven running back return
+New staff has track record producing points, yards
−Lost every all-conference lineman off last year's team
−First-year coach, brand new O-line vs. FBS talent
Marshall
+Del Rio-Wilson is Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of Year
+Second year in Gibson's system, more continuity
−Offensive line largely rebuilt through the portal
−Was 0-5 last year when rushing attack actually worked
This is Marshall's first true home Saturday of the season, and it comes with Carlos Del Rio-Wilson under center as the guy the whole Sun Belt is watching. He was voted the league's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year after leading all returning SBC quarterbacks in total yards and rushing yards per game a year ago, and Tony Gibson's second season in Huntington is built around letting him operate behind an offensive line that's still figuring itself out.
Gardner-Webb walks in as a completely different program than the one that went 7-5 a year ago. Kris McCullough is a first-year head coach, the offensive coordinator staff is brand new, and the Runnin' Bulldogs lost every one of their all-conference linemen off last season's group, leaning hard on the transfer portal to patch the front five back together. That's a lot of moving parts for a roster stepping up to face an FBS opponent on the road.
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GWEB Gardner-Webb
MRSH Marshall
The stakes here matter more for Marshall than the scoreboard alone suggests. Sun Belt play doesn't start until October, so this is prep time — a chance to get the ground game working again after a strange 2025 where the Herd actually lost games in which they ran it well. Get that fixed against a rebuilding FCS front, and Marshall rolls into conference play with real answers instead of open questions.
Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs
Sep 12?@ Liberty—
Marshall Thundering Herd
Sep 19?@ Missouri State—
Sep 12?vs Middle Tennessee—
Sep 5?@ Penn State—
Recent form.
For Gardner-Webb, this is about survival and identity. McCullough and his staff came in promising an offense built for points and explosive plays, and games like this against bigger, faster competition are where that vision either starts to show up on tape or gets exposed fast. A veteran quarterback and a proven running back give them a floor, but an offensive line that's mostly new faces is the swing factor against a Marshall front that should have a clear talent edge.
Marshall's own margin for error isn't infinite either. The Herd are dealing with an offensive line that's close to starting over, and if that group struggles to open lanes the way it did at times last year, a spread that looks comfortable on paper gets tighter than it should. Still, class-level talent gaps in FBS-FCS matchups tend to show up by the second half, and Marshall has the more proven quarterback, the better roster continuity, and the building-block motive to take this one seriously.
