Meet the Thundering Herd

UConn will play in the Myrtle Beach Bowl against Marshall in Conway, S.C. in two weeks.

In just his first season as head coach, Jim Mora has led the Huskies to their first bowl game since 2015 after inheriting a 1-11 team.

Who are the Huskies facing? Here’s what you need to know about Marshall.

FORMER BOWL FOE

Who did the Huskies play in the St. Petersburg Bowl in 2015?

Marshall. That’s right, the Thundering Herd beat the Huskies 16-10 on Dec. 26, 2015 at Tropicana Field.The loss dropped UConn to 6-7 and the program hasn’t been back to a bowl game since.

The Huskies were 10-50 in the five seasons between that bowl appearance and the start of the Mora era.

Marshall, which was 10-3 in 2015, is 50-36 since last playing UConn and the Thundering Herd has has been to five bowl games.

HERD HISTORY

The Marshall football program is known for a November 1970 plane crash in which 37 players along with coaches, trainers, boosters, family members and administrators were among 75 passengers killed. The team was returning from a game in North Carolina.

The story of the aftermath of the tragedy was depicted in the film “We Are Marshall.”

The rebuilding program struggled in the 1970s before eventually becoming a strong

Division I-AA team, winning national titles in 1991 and 1996 . The program moved up to Division I in 1997.

Among the notable players in program history: Randy Moss (1996, 1997), Troy Brown (1991, 1992), Byron Leftwich (1998-2002), and Chad Pennington (199599),

ROLLING INTO BOWL

The Thundering Herd finished the 2022 regular season on a high note, winning their final four in a row. The wins came over Old Dominion (12-0), Appalachian State (28-21), Georgia Southern (23-10) and Georgia State (28-23) as Marshall finished 8-4.

The highlight of the season? A 26-21 upset victory over then-No. 8 Notre Dame in Week 2.

This was Marshall’s first season in the Sun Belt after 17 seasons in Conference USA.

Marshall is led by secondyear coach Charles Huff, who spent two years as associate head coach under Nick Saban at Alabama and has served as an offensive assistant at such spots as Mississippi State, Penn State, Western Michigan, Vanderbilt, and the Buffalo Bills.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

Redshirt freshman Cam Fancher became the starter midway through the season and is looking more stable after some growing pains. He finished the season with 1,465 total yards passing and a 56.3 percent completion rate. Fancher has thrown eight touchdowns, five interceptions and has a quarterback rating of 121.1.

Marshall’s real threat comes from the running back core. Khalan Laborn has rushed for 1,423 yards on 281 attempts. He leads the team with 16 touchdowns this season. He rushed for 163 yards in the win over Notre Dame.

Laborn was the No. 1 allpurpose back in the Class of 2017 and he played at Florida State before transferring to Marshall this year.

TURNOVER BATTLE

According to teamrankings.com Marshall is 37th in the nation in turnover ratio, UConn is in a four-way tie at No. 32 for reference.

Marshall’s defense contains multiple players that have forced turnovers in the Thundering Herd’s favor this season. Leading the pack is defensive back Micah Abraham, who has recorded 20 solo tackles, 34 total tackles, five interceptions and one fumble recovered.

Defensive back Steven Gilmore — who was recruited by UConn out of high school in South Carolina — finished the season with 23 solo tackles and three interceptions and linebacker Charlie Gray recorded 30 solo tackles, 66 total tackles and three interceptions.

Overall, Marshall had 15 interceptions and nine fumbles recovered this season.