49ers Dual-Threat QB could give Herd problems
It's no secret that the Marshall defense has had a hard time stopping opposing offenses. The Herd has given up an average of 480 yards per game and has been almost equally as bad against the run and the pass.
Marshall has given up more than 300 yards passing in two games (Akron, Louisville) while allowing more than 250 rushing yards in four games (Louisville, Pittsburgh, North Texas and FAU) characteristic of a defense that is struggling in every phase. Things aren't going to get easier anytime soon for the Herd with high powered offenses like Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and Southern Miss left on the Marshall schedule.
But, before Chuck Heater and his unit can attempt to stop the offensive onslaught that each of the aforementioned teams can bring they'll have to face off against a Charlotte team led by sophomore quarterback Hasaan Klugh. The Concord, North Carolina native took over as the team's starter two weeks ago against Florida Atlantic and since that time has accounted for 543 yards to go along with six total touchdowns. Klugh at 6-3 185 pounds possesses receiver speed, the shifty hips of a running back to go along with his quarterback arm, for all intents and purposes he's a poor man's Lamar Jackson.
Now the Herd defense got a chance to see Jackson up close and personal earlier this season when Jackson's Louisville team ran roughshod over Marshall inside Joan C. Edwards Stadium. In that game, Jackson accounted for 479 combined yards and seven touchdowns, however, despite that stat line early on the Thundering Herd managed to frustrate Jackson and force errant throws while keeping the Heisman Trophy candidate contained to the pocket.
Marshall did this by getting pressure on Jackson and putting hits on him whenever the opportunities presented themselves. The result was a below 50 percent completion percentage and an interception for Jackson at the end of the first quarter. The game plan for Klugh should very much be the same, but the challenge for the Herd defense will be stifling Klugh for a full 60 minutes, something it couldn't do with Jackson. Although, some of that blame goes on the Marshall offense who failed to mount any kind of momentum that would have let its defense rest.
Charlotte is far from Lousiville and Klugh doesn't have close to the weapons at his disposal that Jackson had, but, he does have the kind of skill that can be used to take advantage of defensive breakdowns if the Herd get lax. As a matter of fact perhaps a better comparison for Klugh is Noth Texas' Mason Fine.
The true freshman signal caller orchestrated six Mean Green scoring drives in route to putting up 38 points against the Herd. Fine did so, with both his arm and his legs although the final box score may not reflect just how effective Fine's running was as he's only credited with nine yards on 14 carries. That's due to the fact that he was sacked six times, but he still managed a nifty 8-yard TD scamper in the second quarter as well as extending several other plays with his feet before hitting open receivers downfield with accurate passes.
If Marshall wants to win consecutive games for the first time since Halloween of 2015 it will have to figure out how to contain Klugh and solve the team's longstanding issue with dual-threat quarterbacks.
