No. 1

How will Marshall University's offense adjust to the loss of leading receiver and All America candidate Cody Slate at tight end?

Lee Smith, a 6-foot-6, 267-pound junior, hauled in six passes for 77 yards in Slate's absence last week. He will team with athletic redshirt freshman Jamie Hatten in place of Slate, who's out for the season with an injured knee.

"Lee can fill both roles and we've both practiced it, so we'll come in completely prepared for it," Hatten said. "The main thing we've rehearsed in who's going to fill which role."

No. 2

Keeping with the norm when facing a Conference USA West Division opponent, Marshall faces a top-tier wide receiver. What is the approach against Emmanuel Sanders, SMU's all-time leader in all meaningful career receiving records.

"Sanders is a good player," Thundering Herd head coach Mark Snyder said. "You throw the ball to your best players, and the coaches have done a good job of moving him around in the formation. He presents mismatches. He's a good player."

No. 3

Marshall's defense is ideally built to take on run-first, physical offenses. What are the adjustments against an SMU offense led by pass-happy head coach June Jones"

"UCF, East Carolina, Southern Miss and us, we like to run the ball and it's more like hard-core defense," Marshall defensive lineman Michael Janac said. "When you go to the other side (Conference USA's West Division), it's more like they like the thrown the ball and run trick plays.

"We know this week we have to focus on the pass rush more than on the run and hopefully get after the quarterback. They have a young quarterback (true freshman Kyle Padron) and we need to get pressure on him."

No. 4

Special teams largely cost Marshall in last week's loss to Southern Miss. A young SMU team, meanwhile, is winning largely because of the game's third phase.

"Coach Snyder sees special teams as one of the key components of the game, as we all do," said Thundering Herd placekicker Craig Ratanamorn, perfect on 13 field goal attempts and 24 extra point kicks this season. "He helps us out. He's in there with the special units."

No. 5

How much will the significance of Senior Day factor into Saturday's game?

"They have given everything they need to give," Snyder, the Herd's fifth-year head coach, said of his 15 seniors. "They have done a great job. They have endured a lot through this rebuilding cycle. They have committed themselves to getting us somewhere we haven't been in a while and that was their goal, to get us back on track."

-- Anthony Hanshew

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