I don’t think this game will be a matter of “if” but will be a question of how well the Cardinals get the job done. How well will the Cardinals play after one of the biggest wins in program history? How well will this team handle all of the expectation from fans and media? And how will they respond to being such a heavy favorite on the road. This time last year I wrote an article titled “Will the Real Louisville Football Team Stand-Up” after a 0-3 start. This Louisville team is standing tall at 3-0 and will have to prove every week that they are Real.

Louisville’s defense is ranked 25th in the country and are holding their opponents to an average of 20.7 points per game on 302 yards a game. They will face a very effective Marshall offense. It is an offense that is ranked #12 in the country. Marshall is averaging 50 points on 545.0 total yards per game. Their passing attack is ranked #4 in the country and they are averaging 379 yards through the air. Leading that pass attack is the Thundering Herds biggest weapon QB Chase Litton. He has completed 61.6% of his passes for 10 touchdowns this season while averaging 361 yards per game. The Herd goes as Litton goes. He threw for 413 yards and 4 TD’s last week.

Litton spreads the ball around and will keep a lot of pressure on the Louisville secondary. They have 4 receivers who are averaging over 50 yards per game. They are led by Josh Knight (71 yards a game, and 2 touchdowns), Ryan Yurachek (61.5 yards a game, and 1 touchdown), and Michael Clark (52.0 yards a game, and 3 touchdowns). They average 165.5 yards in their rushing attack behind Keion Davis and Hyleck Foster. Their offensive line is led by two all-conference performers in Michael Selby and Clint Van Horn. These guys have been around Huntington for a long time. Selby leads all active Marshall off offensive linemen with 27 starts and Van Horn, a two time all-league tackle, was granted a sixth season after missing most of last season due to injury. They will be a good test for the Louisville defensive front.

Task with stopping the #1 Lamar Jackson led offensive attack is a Marshall defense that is allowing their opponents 32.5 points per game, on 373.0 total yards per game (277.0 passing, 96.0 rushing).

They are led on this side of the ball by their defensive front. Defensive end Gary Thompson was an honorable mention all-conference selection last season after racking up a team-high nine sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. He has 9 tackles and a sack this season. His bash brother is defensive lineman Ryan Bee who has 9 tackles, with 1.5 sacks this season. Blake Keller (3 tackles), Nyquan Harris (4 tackles), Joe Massaquio ( 1 tackle), and Jason Smith (5 tackles, .5 sacks) round out this group.

Marshall is nationally known for being one of the toughest places to play in college football. The program has won 84.7 percent (149-27) of its home games in Joan C. Edwards Stadium. That’s the second highest mark in the country for programs playing in their current stadium. Marshall has won 21 of its last 23 home games. The last time they played a top ranked opponent at home it was againts WVU. In that game they were able to use the emotion of and the atmosphere of their stadium to stay close early before getting blown out in the end. I think they could potentially ride that wave of emotion again this time and with a capable group of players could keep it close early Saturday.

There would be a lot of great tag lines if “Doc” Holliday was able to get into a shootout with Coach Petrino 2.0. But I don’t think they have what it takes to deliver the fast draw. There will be too much talent, athleticism and speed wearing Red.

When a team has a program defining moment during the college football season everyone is waiting to see what they do for an Encore. With another College Gameday appearance looming next weekend at Clemson all eyes will be on how well the new darlings of College Football execute. Go Cards!