Marshall pulls out of Independence Bowl vs. Army after several players have opted out, enter the transfer portal: Source

Marshall has informed Independence Bowl officials that it is pulling out of the game against Army because of a roster depleted by players opting out and entering the transfer portal, a person briefed on the details of the situation said. Athletics on Saturday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school’s decision had not been made public. Yahoo! Sports first reported that Marshall had notified bowl officials that they were resigning.

Marshall (10-3) is scheduled to play Army in the Dec. 28 Shreveport, La., bowl game. The Black Knights (11-1) are the American Athletic Conference champions and wrapped up their regular season Saturday with their traditional rivalry game against Navy in Landover, Md.

It was unclear whether a replacement opponent could be found for the fight. There were no bowl-eligible teams left out of the postseason schedule, but a 5-7 team determined by highest academic progress rating could be offered a spot in the game. Cincinnati and Wisconsin are the first teams in the series according to NCAA rules.

Marshall won its first Sun Belt championship last weekend, but made a coaching change less than 24 hours later. Charles Huff, who was coaching at the end of his contract, left Marshall to become the head coach at Southern Mississippi, and the Thundering Herd quickly replaced him with West Virginia native and North Carolina State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.

But the coaching change sparked a staff exodus that included more than 20 players hitting the transfer portal and opting out of the game.

Marshall officials took the unusual step of letting Huff play out his contract this season, and the Thundering Herd ended up finishing the season on a seven-game winning streak to claim the school’s first conference title in 10 years.

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