Notre Dame’s Opponents: Marshall set for fun in the Sun Belt with advantageous debut schedule

Marshall’s 2022 will not be defined by its trip to No. 5 Notre Dame on Sept. 10, no matter what happens that Saturday (2:30 ET; NBC). The Thundering Herd has made too big a leap this offseason for any non-conference game to be the lasting memory. The Sun Belt is not yet the best Group of Five conference, but it was already trending that way before the Big 12 raided the AAC.

Pulling in Marshall, Southern Miss and Old Dominion from Conference USA may not strike some college football fans as that big of a move for the Sun Belt, but all three programs have some football history, and they all immediately saw the value in jumping to the stronger league, along with the reclassification of James Madison.

Already, Marshall may be one of the better teams in the Sun Belt. Chasing a Fun Belt title will be the narrative that determines if the Herd’s season is a success or not. A competitive game in South Bend, or even an upset, would simply be a surprising chance to build momentum while cashing a paycheck.

2021 REVIEWWhile Grant Wells was named the starting quarterback at Virginia Tech on Wednesday, that may be a poor reflection on the Hokies considering his last two years. The former Marshall passer played aggressively and produced gross stats. Most notably, he averaged 7.88 yards per attempt the last two seasons while throwing for a combined 5,626 yards.

He also threw 22 interceptions compared to 34 touchdowns, lowlighted by five interceptions and no touchdowns against Rice in December of 2020, when Marshall was ranked No. 21 and 7-0 on the season. If his stat line did not make it obvious, the Herd lost 20-0.

Wells never thoroughly recovered from that debacle, throwing two total touchdowns in the last two games of that season and