Missouri State (0-1) vs Marshall (0-1)
September 6, 2025 at 06:00 PM EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Marshall -10 — Over/Under: +57.5
The Missouri State Bears and the Marshall Thundering Herd meet Saturday in college football action from Joan C Edwards Stadium. Here’s a Missouri State vs Marshall prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Missouri State vs Marshall pick. We will examine:
The Missouri State Bears recent form and player performance
The Marshall Thundering Herd recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Missouri State Bears
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Marshall Thundering Herd
Recent betting trends in games played between Missouri State and Marshall
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Missouri State vs Marshall game
It’s too bad the Bears were ineligible for the MVFC title or Division I playoffs due to transferring conferences last year; they had a pretty good season overall. Missouri State would go 8-4 with a 6-2 run in a crowded Missouri Valley Football Conference. That would put the Bears behind only North Dakota State, South Dakota State, South Dakota and Illinois State in the standings. Missouri State had an eight-game win streak in the middle of the season, bookended by losses to Montana, Ball State, North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
The Bears had the unenviable task of going up against USC in their 2025 season opener last weekend. The results were just about how you could imagine: Missouri State gave up double-digit points in all four quarters during a 73-13 blowout loss. QB Jacob Clark went 16-of-24 for 147 yards, one TD and two interceptions. Shomari Lawrence led the rushing attack on 12 carries for 50 yards, while Tristian Gardner caught two balls for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Over on the Marshall side, they had a pretty darn good season in 2024 themselves. The Thundering Herd managed to go 10-4 overall with a 7-1 run in the Sun Belt. With that effort Marshall won the East Division and managed to topple Louisiana in the conference championship game as well. The Herd had initially agreed to take on Army in the Independence Bowl, but eventually opted out after the departure of head coach Charles Huff and a host of starters heading into the portal.
Marshall started things off this year with an unenviable matchup of their own, taking on Georgia this past weekend. The Herd were down 38-0 by the end of the third quarter and limped to a 45-7 loss by the end of the game. Zion Turner completed six of seven passes for a tepid 100 yards, and Justin Williams-Thomas rushed four times for 24 yards to lead the team. Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw had three receptions for 58 yards as well.
I’ll lean toward Missouri State, but you could probably make a case either way. Both teams are coming off blowout losses to really good top-shelf national programs, which doesn’t serve as a very good gauge. The Bears ended up with just 224 yards of offense (159 passing), 3.9 yards per play, 11 first downs, 3-of-14 on third-down tries and three turnovers in their big loss to USC. On the other side the Bears gave up 597 yards (364 passing), 10.5 yards per play, 27 first downs and 6-of-7 on third-down tries.
As for Marshall, their offense managed just 207 yards (129 passing) against Georgia alongside seven first downs, 4.0 yards per play and 3-of-15 on third downs. The Herd defense gave up 488 yards (239 rushing) and 27 first downs. This weekend’s matchup will be something of a reset for both teams, and we’ll get a much better sense of their talent levels by the end. I like the Bears to be competitive enough to cover at least.
The Missouri State Bears recent form and player performance
The Marshall Thundering Herd recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Missouri State Bears
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Marshall Thundering Herd
Recent betting trends in games played between Missouri State and Marshall
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Missouri State vs Marshall game
Missouri State Bears Betting Preview
It’s too bad the Bears were ineligible for the MVFC title or Division I playoffs due to transferring conferences last year; they had a pretty good season overall. Missouri State would go 8-4 with a 6-2 run in a crowded Missouri Valley Football Conference. That would put the Bears behind only North Dakota State, South Dakota State, South Dakota and Illinois State in the standings. Missouri State had an eight-game win streak in the middle of the season, bookended by losses to Montana, Ball State, North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
The Bears had the unenviable task of going up against USC in their 2025 season opener last weekend. The results were just about how you could imagine: Missouri State gave up double-digit points in all four quarters during a 73-13 blowout loss. QB Jacob Clark went 16-of-24 for 147 yards, one TD and two interceptions. Shomari Lawrence led the rushing attack on 12 carries for 50 yards, while Tristian Gardner caught two balls for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Marshall Thundering Herd Betting Preview
Over on the Marshall side, they had a pretty darn good season in 2024 themselves. The Thundering Herd managed to go 10-4 overall with a 7-1 run in the Sun Belt. With that effort Marshall won the East Division and managed to topple Louisiana in the conference championship game as well. The Herd had initially agreed to take on Army in the Independence Bowl, but eventually opted out after the departure of head coach Charles Huff and a host of starters heading into the portal.
Marshall started things off this year with an unenviable matchup of their own, taking on Georgia this past weekend. The Herd were down 38-0 by the end of the third quarter and limped to a 45-7 loss by the end of the game. Zion Turner completed six of seven passes for a tepid 100 yards, and Justin Williams-Thomas rushed four times for 24 yards to lead the team. Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw had three receptions for 58 yards as well.
Missouri State vs Marshall Prediction
I’ll lean toward Missouri State, but you could probably make a case either way. Both teams are coming off blowout losses to really good top-shelf national programs, which doesn’t serve as a very good gauge. The Bears ended up with just 224 yards of offense (159 passing), 3.9 yards per play, 11 first downs, 3-of-14 on third-down tries and three turnovers in their big loss to USC. On the other side the Bears gave up 597 yards (364 passing), 10.5 yards per play, 27 first downs and 6-of-7 on third-down tries.
As for Marshall, their offense managed just 207 yards (129 passing) against Georgia alongside seven first downs, 4.0 yards per play and 3-of-15 on third downs. The Herd defense gave up 488 yards (239 rushing) and 27 first downs. This weekend’s matchup will be something of a reset for both teams, and we’ll get a much better sense of their talent levels by the end. I like the Bears to be competitive enough to cover at least.