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• Marshall has not lost a season opener since 2012, a streak of 11 straight opening-week wins since falling to West Virginia on the road, 69-34. Nine of those 12 games, counting SaturdayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s against Stony Brook, have been at home.
• The Marshall roster has 40 new faces this season, with many players being in the mix for considerable playing time, including two transfer quarterbacks, Braylon Braxton (Tulsa) and Stone Earle (North Texas). They join Cole Pennington in vying for the top quarterback spot to lead MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s new Air Raid offense.
• Six assistant coaches are serving in new spots on MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Charles HuffÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s staff. Two of them, Bob Shoop (associate head coach/safeties) and Aaron Dobson (wide receivers), were on staff last year and promoted in the offseason, while Marshall hired Seth Doege (offensive coordinator), Cody Crill (offensive line), Josh Miller (tight ends) and Henry Baker (co-defensive coordinator/cornerbacks) from outside the program.
• Senior Ethan Payne has the most experience among MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s returning running backs (151 career attempts, 680 yards), while N.C. State transfer Jordan Houston ran for nearly 1,300 yards in his Wolfpack career. The Herd has had a running back eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in each of the last three seasons.
• The Thundering Herd had just one preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection in 2024, redshirt senior offensive lineman Logan Osburn, who was named to the All-SBC second-team offense. He has started each game the past two seasons at Marshall. Osburn, a Cabell Midland graduate, was also named to the Wuerffel Trophy watch list.
• Three transfers are expected to start on MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s offensive line as only two starters return to the group from last year. Osburn (33 career starts) is a shoo-in starter. Jalen Slappy (started the final four games of 2023), Tariq Montgomery and Eric Meeks (nine appearances each in 2023) are joined up front by transfers from Baylor, Ole Miss, Tulsa and Southern Miss battling for position on the depth chart.
• With the departure of Eli Neal and Stephen Dix Jr., MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s linebacker corps is among the youngest in the nation, with only six career starts returning. Defensive coordinator Jason Semore added coaching linebackers to his duties this year. JÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™Coryan Anderson is the veteran of the bunch, having appeared in 36 career games at Marshall.

Stony Brook notes