Marshall football: Herd lands 4th in East in Sun Belt preseason poll

Jul 24, 2023
NEW ORLEANS — Following a historic season for the Marshall University football defense in 2022, the three-headed monster that led the unit last year is primed to do it again.
Defensive lineman Owen Porter, linebacker Eli Neal and defensive back Micah Abraham were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference first-team defense voted on by members of the media and announced by the league Monday afternoon.
Porter led Marshall in sacks (9.5), tackles for loss (15), quarterback hurries and forced fumbles in 2022. Neal was the top tackler and Abraham intercepted a team-high six passes, giving the Thundering Herd consistency at every level of a defense that has experienced a fair amount of turnover since last year, including a new defensive coordinator.
“I’m excited any time our guys get recognized for the hard work they’ve put in, and their on-field consistency,” Marshall coach Charles Huff said. “With team success comes individual accolades.”
Porter will represent the Herd at Sun Belt Conference football media days in New Orleans on Wednesday along with Huff and quarterback Cam Fancher. The event will be live-streamed on ESPN+.
The fourth member of the preseason All-SBC first-team unit comes on the offensive side — lineman Logan Osburn, a former Cabell Midland star.
Running back Rasheen Ali, who missed 10 games due to injury last season, was one of two Marshall offensive players named to the second team, joining offensive lineman Ethan Driskell.
South Alabama paced all conference programs with nine preseason All-Sun Belt picks. The Jaguars were closely followed by in-state rival and reigning Sun Belt champion Troy (eight), Coastal Carolina (six), Georgia State (six) and Marshall (six). All 14 Sun Belt programs were represented by at least one player across the two preseason all-conference teams.
Coastal Carolina and Marshall led all teams with four first-team picks apiece, while James Madison, Southern Miss and Troy each produced three such honorees. South Alabama produced a conference-high seven second-team selections, followed by five from Troy and four from Georgia State.
Three-time reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year Grayson McCall was again named that in the preseason poll as he enters his final season at Coastal Carolina, returning after exploring his options in the transfer portal. He threw for 2,700 yards and 24 touchdowns with just two interceptions last year.
Old Dominion linebacker Jason Henderson is the league’s preseason defensive player of the year after starring for the Monarchs in that position last season, finishing as the nation’s leader in total tackles with 186. That was 39 more than the second-leading tackler.
In the preseason coaches poll, James Madison was picked to win the East Division, garnering four first-place votes from SBC coaches. Appalachian State was picked second and received the same number of first-place votes, followed by Coastal (third, three votes) and MU (fourth, two votes.)
Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Old Dominion were picked fifth through seventh, respectively, in the East.
JMU won the division in 2022 with a tiebreaker over Coastal Carolina but was ineligible to compete for the SBC championship in its first season of transition from FCS to FBS. The same eligibility restrictions apply for the Dukes in 2023.
In the West, defending conference champion Troy was picked first following an historic 11-win season. The Trojans picked up 10 first-place votes from coaches.
South Alabama received four votes and was picked second, followed in order by Louisiana, Southern Miss, Texas State, Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe.