Brenden

Knox

Knox (6'0/220) will fall short of hitting the 1,000-yard mark for a second straight season, as he has also decided to sit out Marshall’s Camellia Bowl matchup with Buffalo. The redshirt junior appeared in nine games for the Thundering Herd this season, rushing for 887 yards and nine touchdowns on 185 carries while also catching seven passes for 86 yards and another score. The 2019 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, Knox fell 13 yards short of 1,400 on the ground while scoring 11 touchdowns last season. Knox projects to be a Day 3 selection in this spring’s draft, with the lack of production as a pass-catcher limiting his ceiling.

After such a strong start to his season, Knox (6'0/220) has been held in check over the last few weeks. This makes three-straight games that the talented redshirt junior hasn’t reached the hundred-yard mark, and outside of a 15-yard scamper in the contest, he wasn’t able to make the big plays that were so prevalent in the first part of the year. Knox will need to go go over 120 yards in the bowl game if he’s going to make it back-to-back years of 1,000 yards rushing.

Knox (6'0/220) also added four yards on his only reception of the day, and he was easily the most productive player on offense in the surprisingly and stunning upset loss at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. He failed to score for the second straight week after running for nine touchdowns in the first six outings with one receiving score. Knox has failed to hit triple digits in the previous two after hitting the century mark in his first five against FBS teams. He’ll look to rebound next Friday on the road against FIU.

Knox (6'0/220) was also able to add a four-yard reception, but he was mostly held at bay by a Blue Raiders defense which has been pretty giving this season. It was the first time under 100 rushing yards since the Sept. 5 opener against Eastern Kentucky, and it was the first time he was held without a rushing or receiving score this season. He’ll look to bounce back next week in a scheduled home against Charlotte. He rushed for 92 yards, and totaled 132 scrimmage yards, against the 49ers on Nov. 23, 2019 last season.

Make it five 100-yard games in a row for Knox. Though it was probably expected of him to hit that mark in this one, it is still a massive accomplishment for the redshirt junior to keep the streak alive. Knox (6'0/220) has now also scored at least once in every game this season. While QB Grant Wells is the clear star for the offense, it is hard to look past the consistency and floor that Knox provides for the Marshall offense week in, week out. Expect Knox to keep the streak alive against Middle Tennessee next weekend.

Knox (6'0/220) is one of the true bellcow running backs in college football, as he averages 23.6 carries per game. His 4.0 YPC on the day isn’t eye popping, but when you consider how heavily he is used, his yards per carry is understandable. He’s not particularly explosive either, as his longest rush over the past two games went for 17 yards. Regardless, Marshall’s defense held FAU to just 234 yards as Knox was used to batter the interior of the FAU line and control the clock. He will continue to be the Thundering Herd’s battering ram on Friday when Marshall takes on FIU.

Knox (6'0/220) was not ripping off chunk gains to keep the Marshall offense moving. Instead, Knox was more of a battering ram, plowing ahead carry after carry to 3.9 yards per attempt. He finished with the game with his longest run being just 12 yards. Knox’s high floor, low ceiling running helped keep the passing offense in some favorable spots, though, ultimately leading to QB Grant Wells’ best game of the season. Knox has also now scored a touchdown in every game this season, including at least two in each of his last two performances.

Knox (6'0"/220) has long been a key instrument to Marshall’s offensive symphony, but he really shined on Saturday. The redshirt junior’s three touchdowns are a single-game high for him. Knox’s 45-yard run was also the longest run of the night by any player, and the second-longest play of the game period. With as good as Marshall’s offense looks right now, expect Knox and the squad to put up some points against Louisiana Tech next week.

Knox (6'0/220) almost single-handedly willed the Thundering Herd to a victory on Saturday. At about five yards a pop, Knox was churning out the consistent gains that Marshall needed to stay on the field and ahead of App State. Knox’s best gain was just 21 yards, so it’s not like he ripped off any home runs to really put the game away, but the offense could not have asked more of him in terms of keeping the team ahead of the sticks. Knox ran for nearly 1,400 yards and 11 touchdowns as Marshall’s lead back in 2019. Marshall’s next scheduled game is against Western Kentucky on Oct. 10.

Solid work, here, solid work. Knox (6'0/220) found the end zone from eight yards out midway through what ended up as a 21-point first quarter for the Thundering Herd. The redshirt junior back averaged 4.7 YPC for the contest as a whole while putting in a long run of 10 yards. He will look to keep the good times rolling against Appalachian State next time out, on Sept. 19. Knox is trying to back up a breakout 2019 campaign in which he rushed for 1,387 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.