And In That Corner: Marshall brings a hampered yet successful ground game to Notre Dame

Even the most thorough college football fans can lose track of the ups and downs of programs jumping conferences. With Marshall heading to the Sun Belt in Charles Huff’s second season as head coach, Notre Dame fans should look beyond that Conference USA departure and instead further into the Thundering Herd’s roster.

For that look, let’s turn to Luke Creasy of The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, W. Va.

DF: We should start with the basics, and with the Thundering Herd, I suppose the most basic storyline is the absence of star junior running back Rasheen Ali. In late August, Marshall announced Ali will take “some time” away from the team until he is “mentally, physically and emotionally ready to return.” It is not our place to pry any further than that, so I will simply ask if it is correct to assume Ali will not make the trip to South Bend?

LC: Marshall redshirt sophomore running back Rasheen Ali will not play against Notre Dame this week. Khalan Laborn and Ethan Payne will undoubtedly each see significant playing time as the Herd travels to face the Irish. 

Without him — 1,401 yards and 23 touchdowns on 250 rushing attempts last season — the Herd turned to Ethan Payne and Khalan Laborn against FCS-level Norfolk State in Saturday’s 55-3 win, and that duo averaged 9.77 yards per rush on their way to 215 total yards and four combined touchdowns. Do you expect Marshall to again use both? What type of running styles do they employ?

Payne (113 yards, 10 carries) and Laborn (102 yards, 12 carries) each ran for two touchdowns against Norfolk State and present similar characteristics to Ali’s game, but just accomplish it in different ways. 

Where Ali is explosive and can flash speed in open space, Laborn and Payne each are