No. 22 Army has a new opponent in the Dec. 28 Independence Bowl, as Marshall “notified officials” that it has opted out of the bowl game due to the high volume of players it has lost to the transfer portal. The news was first reported by Yahoo Sports.
The Independence Bowl later announced on its X account Saturday that Louisiana Tech, which went 5-7 in the regular season, will replace Marshall, which fell “below the roster minimum that was deemed medically safe” to play the game.
“We appreciate our partnership with the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, which has enabled us to expand postseason opportunities for Sun Belt football student-athletes since 2022,” Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill said in a statement.
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“We apologize for the nature and timing of this announcement and for the turmoil it has brought to Bowl Season preparations for Army, the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, the American Athletic Conference and ESPN.”
The Thundering Herd is 10-3 this season and won the Sun Belt championship. Mere hours after winning the conference, head coach Charles Huff left Marshall to become the new head coach of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. The Thundering Herd then hired former North Carolina State Wolfpack assistant Tony Gibson as their new head coach.
Below are some of the 2024 Marshall players who have entered the portal:
- QB Braylon Braxton (1,624 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, two interceptions, 154.9 passer rating, 60.2% completion percentage, 610 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns)
- QB Stone Earle (673 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, two interceptions, 117.2 passer rating, 54.2% completion percentage, 207 rushing yards)
- QB Cole Pennington (5 of 7 completions)
- RB A.J. Turner (864 yards and six touchdowns on 8.3 yards per carry)
- LB Jayden Yates (120 combined tackles, two fumble recoveries)
- LB Landyn Watson (65 combined tackles, one interception)
- CB Jacobie Henderson (50 combined tackles, two interceptions)
Marshall went a combined 32-20 under Huff from 2021-24 and was bowl-eligible every season.
Army entered its annual rivalry game against Navy on Saturday with an 11-1 record and came in fresh off winning the AAC championship in what is its first season in the conference.
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