– By Bill Cornwell

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall football faces a challenging November season, but the Thundering Herd will be fully rested to begin the final month of the regular season.

The stretch begins Saturday afternoon when the Herd (4-3, 2-1) host Louisiana-Monroe (5-2, 3-1) at Joan C. Edwards Stadium at 3:30 p.m., a game that can be seen on ESPN+ .

Marshall last played on Oct. 17 when it defeated Georgia State and Saturday’s game will be the team’s first in 16 days.

The Warhawks lost 46-17 at South Alabama last week.

Marshall relied heavily on a steady dose of its run game in the win over the Panthers, with AJ Turner rushing for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Turner also had a receiving score, accounting for 207 all-purpose yards. He now leads the Sun Belt Conference with 717 rushing yards.

The Warhawks struggled defensively in the loss at South Alabama, mostly holding off the Jaguars on the ground. UL Monroe allowed six rushing touchdowns and gave up 355 yards on the ground.

Those numbers could be a signal about what Marshall plans to do offensively on Saturday, but MU head coach Charles Huff says the Warhawks’ defensive struggles could be temporary.

“They’ve done really well against the run this year,” Huff said. “I think last week’s performance was an outlier. AJ is having a great year, but we need to make sure the quarterback is efficient with the ball, make sure the offensive line eliminates negative plays and whoever is in the backfield needs to make positive runs and be efficient in their play.

UL Monroe’s offense hasn’t put up eye-popping numbers this season, but features a talented back in freshman Ahmad Hardy, who has rushed for 604 yards and six touchdowns. The Warhawks’ quarterback is another freshman, Aidan Armenta, who has thrown for 630 yards with five touchdowns.

“They do a good job of putting pressure on your entire defense,” Huff said. “You can plan your defense, but it comes down to tackling the man. I am very impressed with Ahmad Hardy because he is very good at breaking tackles and rarely does the first defender get him down. It will be a collective effort to stop him and our fundamentals and technique have to be good from a tackling standpoint.”

The Warhawks are led by first-year head coach Bryant Vincent, who took the job after serving as New Mexico’s offensive coordinator last year. Vincent also had coaching stops at UAB and South Alabama.

Marshall and Louisiana-Monroe have met only once before, and that game was a big one when UL Monroe, then known as Northeast Louisiana, defeated the Herd 43-42 in the 1987 NCAA I-AA National Championship Game in Pocatello, Idaho .

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While Saturday won’t be Marshall’s last home game of the season, it will be Senior Day as the Nov. 16 game with Coastal Carolina will serve as a day of remembrance for the 75 victims of the 1970 Marshall football plane crash.

Eighteen MU seniors will be recognized before this week’s game and another three players who previously experienced the Senior Day festivities will also be recognized.