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Can the Herd stun the college football world?

COMMENTARY

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Despite all the analysts who have determined that Marshall has no shot to hang close with No. 3 Louisville, the game will be played Saturday night at Joan C. Edwards Stadium and all the pressure is on the Cardinals and their Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback.

The final whistle had not even sounded during Marshall’s dismal performance against Akron before questions of how many points Louisville would score started to matriculate. Louisville comes in averaging 60 points per game and 679 yards.

So, Marshall should just wave the proverbial white flag?

The Herd has a history a rising to the occasion when facing an overwhelming favorite.

Marshall’s 2003 win over No. 6 Kansas State remains the highest ranked opponent Marshall has ever defeated. Quarterback Graham Gochneaur, playing for injured starter Stan Hill, threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jason Rader and added a two-point conversion with just three minutes left to give Marshall a 27-20 win.

What most Herd fans try to forget, is that the historic win was sandwiched around losses to Toledo and Troy.

In 2004, ninth-ranked Ohio State needed a Mike Nugent field goal as time expired to defeat a Thundering Herd team that just a week earlier lost to Troy in Huntington.

The Herd lost to Ohio 44-7 in 2011 and two weeks later went on the road and upset Teddy Bridgewater-led Louisville 17-14.

Virginia Tech needed three overtimes to escape with a 34-31 win at Lane Stadium against a Herd team that lost to Ohio two weeks earlier and would inexplicably give up 51 points to Middle Tennessee later that season.

Am I ready to put Louisville on upset alert?

Not quite.

But keep in mind, Louisville is coming off a win that was described by some as the culmination of 20 years of building. ESPN was in town last week for the matchup with Florida State and another showdown with Clemson awaits next week for the Cardinals.

There is no pressure on Marshall this Saturday. The Herd is supposed to get trounced.

The pressure is on Louisville to maintain its 65 points per game and pad Lamar Jackson’s Heisman resume.

Marshall, backed into a corner with something to prove at home, will be pumped up for the game. Doc Holliday points out on a weekly basis that there are teams all over the country that lose games they shouldn’t, usually in an effort to remind his players to take each opponent seriously.

This week, his team has a chance to be the team that should not win and shock the country.





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