Marshall has informed Independence Bowl officials that he is withdrawing from the match against Army because the roster is depleted by players opting out and entering the transfer portal, a person briefed on the details of the situation said The athletic one on Saturday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school’s decision had not been publicly announced. Yahoo! Sports initially reported that Marshall had informed bowl officials of his withdrawal.

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

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

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

But the coaching change triggered a roster exodus that resulted in more than 20 players using the transfer portal and dropping out of the game.

Marshall officials took the unusual step of letting Huff play out his contract this season, and the Thundering Herd ultimately finished the season on a seven-game winning streak and captured the school’s first conference title in a decade.

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