Marshall has withdrawn from the Independence Bowl after a coaching change resulted in much of its roster jumping into the transfer portal.

The Thundering Herd were slated to play Army on Dec. 28 in Shreveport, Louisiana. But the Independence Bowl and Louisiana Tech announced on Saturday that the Bulldogs will take on the Black Knights instead.

Marshall said it pulled out “after falling below the roster minimum that was deemed medically safe.”

The Herd (10-3) beat Louisiana-Lafayette 31-3 last weekend to win the Sun Belt Conference championship for the first time. The program has won seven games in a row in the same season for the first time since 2020.

Coach Charles Huff left Marshall for Southern Miss last Sunday, and Tony Gibson, the defensive coordinator at North Carolina State, was announced as his replacement.

According to ESPN, as of Saturday morning Marshall has 36 players in the transfer portal, including 29 scholarship players and 17 on the team’s two-deep setup for the Sun Belt title game. All three quarterbacks who played this season are in the portal.

Gibson held a meeting shortly after arriving on campus in Huntington to introduce himself to the team. He followed that up with phone calls, text messages and more meetings.

“Any time coaches leave to take other jobs, it is emotional,” Gibson said at a news conference Thursday. “And kids that are 18-to-22 years old are going to make emotional decisions instead of just breathing for a day or two.”

It’s the first bowl for Louisiana Tech (5-7) since 2020. The Bulldogs have won two of their last three games, but they haven’t played since a 33-0 victory over Kennesaw State on Nov. 30.

BOWL ROUNDUP

JACKSON ST. 28, SOUTH CAROLINA ST. 7: Jacobian Morgan threw a pair of touchdown passes to Joanes Fortilien, Irv Mulligan added two short TD runs and the Tigers beat the Bulldogs in Atlanta in the Celebration Bowl that serves as the HBCU national championship.

The Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Tigers (12-2) outgained the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s Bulldogs (9-3) 383-211, giving up just 59 yards through three quarters to win their 10th straight game.

Jackson State won its first Celebration Bowl, coming in its third appearance in four years.

The Bulldogs’ Eric Phoenix, who sat out the third quarter, was 13 of 20 for 167 yards — enough to make him the program’s season passing leader with 2,628 yards.

SOUTH ALABAMA 30, WESTERN MICHIGAN 23: Bishop Davenport made his second start of the season and accounted for three touchdowns, Jeremiah Webb had six receptions for 182 yards and two TDs and the Jaguars (7-6) rallied to beat the Broncos (6-7) at the Salute to Veterans Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.

Davenport completed 15 of 24 for 271 yards and two touchdowns and added 85 yards rushing, including a 50-yard TD in the third.

TECH’S MORTON OUT

Texas Tech junior quarterback Behren Morton will miss the Liberty Bowl after undergoing elective shoulder surgery.

Morton had surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles for a joint sprain in his right shoulder that he has played with for most of two seasons. He initially suffered the sprain in the fourth game of the 2023 season, and didn’t miss a regular-season game this year after ending his spring practice early.

The Red Raiders (8-4) play Arkansas (6-6) from the SEC in a matchup of former Southwest Conference foes in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 27.

Morton is third in the Big 12 and 10th nationally with 3,335 yards passing and is second in the league with 27 touchdown passes. The Red Raiders are the Big 12 leader with 38.6 points and 459.8 total yards per game.

NEW LOBOS COACH

New Mexico hired Idaho coach Jason Eck to replace Bronco Mendenhall, a day after Eck’s Vandals dropped out of the FCS playoffs.

The 47-year-old Eck was 26-13 in three seasons at Idaho, leading the Vandals to playoff appearances each year. Idaho was 10-4 this season, falling 52-19 on Friday night at Big Sky rival Montana State in the FCS quarterfinals.

Mendenhall left for Mountain West rival Utah State a week ago after going 5-7 overall and 3-4 in conference in his lone season at New Mexico.

Eck spent six seasons as an assistant at South Dakota State — the last three as offensive coordinator — before taking over at Idaho. The former Wisconsin offensive lineman also has coached at Montana State, Minnesota State, Western Illinois, Hampton, Ball State and Winona State

TRANSFERS

Quarterback Jackson Arnold is transferring to Auburn after two seasons at Oklahoma. Arnold played nine games for Oklahoma this season, throwing for 1,421 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for 444 yards with three touchdowns, including a career-high 131 yards in Oklahoma’s 24-3 win over then-No. 7 Alabama in November.

Tight end Tanner Koziol posted on X that he has committed to Wisconsin. Koziol had a productive season at Ball State with 94 catches for 839 yards and eight TDs.