Week 5 Previews: Marshall versus Purdue

Saturday, September 29 

3:15 PM Marshall at Purdue: 

This is a matchup between the Marshall Thundering Herd of Conference USA and the Purdue Boilermakers of the Big Ten. Marshall enters this game at 2-2 despite having one of the most impressive offenses in the nation with the leading passing attack as well as a top 55 rushing attack. The Thundering Herd are led by quarterback Rakeem Cato who has passed for 1481 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season giving him the national lead in passing yards by over 120 yards. While the Thundering Herd offense is electric, the defense is horrible giving up a ridiculous 42.8 points per game including 69 to West Virginia and 51 to Rice. Purdue enters this game at 2-1 with a last second loss to Notre Dame being their only blemish. The Boilermakers have not faced anyone very good outside of Notre Dame and Marshall will be a huge challenge for the defense. This is the first meeting between the two schools. Expect this game to be similar in scoreline to the Marshall-Ohio game earlier this season with both teams having 4th quarter shots to win the game. I am calling for the big Conference USA win. Marshall 31-28.