Motor City Bowl

No. 11 Marshall (12-0) vs. BYU (8-3)

When: Today, 1: 30 p.m.

Where: Pontiac, Mich.

TV: ESPN

Line: Marshall by 3

Outlook: Marshall has played in every Motor City Bowl since the game began in 1997, losing the first to Mississippi, 34-31, and winning the second over Louisville, 49-29. Chad Pennington has been the Thundering Herd's quarterback in each one. Pennington passed for 3,799 yards and 37 touchdowns while leading the Herd to the Mid-American Conference championship this season, and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Marshall outscored its Mid-American opponents, 442-134, and in the two years since moving up to Division I-A, is 34-4. "I think for our senior class [a loss] would be a big setback," said Pennington. "We want to finish this thing off the right way. We set our goals to be 13-0, and if we're not 13-0, we didn't accomplish all of our goals." However, BYU's quarterback, Kevin Feterik, was almost as prolific as Pennington. Despite injuries diminishing his team's running game, Feterik passed for 3,554 yards and 25 touchdowns. BYU outscored opponents, 332-230, during the regular season. Freshman running sensation Luke Staley, who is putting off knee surgery until January, is expected to keep Marshall's defense from focusing solely on passing. The Cougars lost an early nonconference game to Virginia and stumbled in their final two Mountain West games, sharing the conference championship after closing with losses to Wyoming and Utah. Marshall has the edge in average total offense for the season, 465-426, with the difference being the Herd's rushing per game. In many other categories, the teams are nearly even statistically, though Marshall has a +13 turnover margin and BYU is -3. This may help account for the difference in scoring defense averages -- 11.2 for Marshall, 20.9 for BYU. "I think this is one of the best bowl matchups of the season," BYU middle linebacker Rob Morris said. "If both teams play like they're capable, it'll be a great game."