HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Marshall Coach Mark Snyder knows how difficult it is to defeat Wisconsin, especially on the Badgers' home field.

Snyder was 1-7 against Wisconsin during his days as an assistant coach at Big Ten Conference schools Minnesota (0-4 from 1997-2000) and Ohio State (1-3 from 2001-04).

"My memories of Wisconsin aren't good," Snyder said. "It's a hard place to play. Camp Randall has so much tradition and so much history."

The Badgers have won 26 of their past 27 games, including 15 in a row, at 80,321-seat Camp Randall Stadium, which is home to 33 consecutive sellouts.

Wisconsin's home-field winning streak is the nation's second longest behind Oklahoma (18). Its last loss at Camp Randall Stadium occurred on Nov. 12, 2005 (20-10 to Iowa).

"The two hardest places I have ever coached in," Snyder said, "are Penn State at night and Wisconsin at night."

No. 11 Wisconsin (1-0) will welcome Marshall (1-0) into Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday at noon for the teams' first meeting.

The Big Ten Network, which is available to DirecTV and Dish Network subscribers, will televise the non-conference game.

Snyder doesn't expect his team to be intimidated, however.

"That is why you play college football," he said. "For that very reason. I think our guys are up to the challenge. The young kids that we're playing right now have a lot of poise. I think we'll be fine."

Snyder has told his team about the atmosphere.

"The student section will be live," he said. "One corner of the end zone is going to be very, very loud. In the fourth quarter, they play 'Jump Around' (by House of Pain), and that is one of the neatest scenes in all of college football. It sends them into the fourth quarter with a little extra swagger."

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SNYDER SAID he and Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema are friends.

"In 2000, I was becoming the defensive coordinator at Minnesota and I believe Bret was at Iowa and I was trying to get him to come and be my linebacker coach at Minnesota before I left and went to Ohio State," Snyder said. "We have been on the road together a lot and have stayed with each other on recruiting trips to south Florida. He has done a great job there."

Bielema is 22-5 since he replaced Barry Alvarez in 2006.

Alvarez, who now is the Badgers' athletic director, "did a great job picking his successor," Snyder said.

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MARSHALL IS 0-2 against Big Ten teams -- a 34-24 road loss to No. 24 Michigan State on Sept. 9, 2000, and a 24-21 road loss to No. 9 Ohio State on Sept. 11, 2004.

The Thundering Herd is 3-11 against nationally ranked teams. Marshall's last victory against a nationally ranked opponent was a 27-20 road win over No. 6 Kansas State on Sept. 20, 2003.

Bielema was a co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State that season.

"First off, I really believe that, from a team standpoint, we were really suffering from fat-cat syndrome," Bielema said. "We were good the year before (11-2, including a Holiday Bowl win over Arizona State).

"Marshall had a very good football team. They had a lot of guys returning. That was when Coach (Bob) Pruett was still there. They really took it to us."

Bielema specifically remembered one play: Former Marshall All-America defensive end Johnathan Goddard's 84-yard fumble return for a touchdown, which tied the score at 7 after the extra point.

"I don't know in my coaching profession if I have ever seen a pendulum swing that fast and that sudden," he said.

A student of the game, Bielema said each Sunday he looks at college football upsets and tries to figure out how they happened. That way, he can try to keep his team from making the same mistakes.

The outcomes normally are "dramatically affected by turnovers and special teams," Bielema said. "I think you can go back in all of those games and find that at root."

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THE THUNDERING Herd committed only one penalty Saturday in its 35-10 opening win over Illinois State.

"I told the players I was very proud," said Snyder, whose team committed 12 penalties for 67 yards in its 31-3 season-opening loss to Miami (Fla.) last season. "It's a far cry from where we have been."

The last time Marshall committed only one penalty was Sept. 1, 2005, in its 36-24 opening win over Division I-AA William & Mary.

That game was Snyder's debut as the head coach at his alma mater.

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HOOF BEATS: Wisconsin is one of three teams to have played in at least four consecutive January bowl games. The others are Southern California and West Virginia. ... Senior tight end Travis Beckum, senior weakside linebacker Jonathan Casillas and senior fullback Chris Pressley missed Wisconsin's 38-17 season-opening win over Akron, but they are expected to play against Marshall. Sophomore cornerback Aaron Henry, however, is expected to miss the non-conference game.

Contact sportswriter Jacob Messer at jacobmes...@dailymail.com or (304) 348-1712. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/marshall.