HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Saturday's game between Marshall and Wisconsin was supposed to showcase two of college football's top tight ends.

Whether that happens depends on a day-to-day injury and could come down to a game-time decision.

Wisconsin's Travis Beckum missed the Badgers' 38-17 win over Akron last weekend with a hamstring injury, but he is expected to play against Marshall this weekend.

Click here for Wisconsin game notes

It is unclear whether his Thundering Herd counterpart will do the same. Marshall's Cody Slate sprained his right knee in the Thundering Herd's 35-10 victory over Illinois State.

Beckum and Slate are two of the nation's most talented and most productive pass-catching tight ends.

Beckum, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound senior from Milwaukee, has 136 receptions for 1,885 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons.

Slate, a 6-4, 220-pound junior, has 111 receptions for 1,524 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons.

Both tight ends led their teams in those three categories the past two years.

"He is a very good player," Marshall Coach Mark Snyder said of Beckum, whom he recruited. "We have got to have a plan for him."

* * *

SNYDER SAID he noticed similarities between Marshall's and Wisconsin's opening games.

"It's interesting watching the film," he said. "We dominated a little more than the score indicated, and, unfortunately, as I watched the Wisconsin film against Akron, they dominated a little more than the score indicated, too."

* * *

FOR THE first time in 40 years, Marshall has a pair of West Virginians starting at the guard spots on the offensive line - senior right guard Matt Altobello (Keyser) and sophomore left guard Josh Evans (Fayetteville).

The last Mountain State pair to do it was Dave Ferguson (Kenova) and Ron Safford (Point Pleasant) in 1968.

* * *

MARSHALL'S SENIORS are doing their best to prepare their younger teammates for the atmosphere the Thundering Herd will encounter at 80,321-seat Camp Randall Stadium.

The Badgers are expecting their 34th consecutive sellout Saturday, when the Thundering Herd will visit Madison for a noon kickoff.

"I try to tell them, 'Even if you don't believe it, just pretend that you're supposed to be there,' because some guys might doubt that they're supposed to be in that situation, playing in a big stadium and in front of a big crowd and all of that," senior tailback Chubb Small said.

"That's where your mental game comes in. You have to try to focus and prepare yourself to think that you belong there, which we do. But some of the young guys probably aren't ready for it. That's where we have to come in. We have to mentor them and let them know that we do belong there."

Small said the players' most important task is concentrating on their assignments and the team's game plan. However, he said they also should enjoy the atmosphere and embrace the opportunity as long as it doesn't take away from their focus.

"Let it be an experience you have for a lifetime," Small said.

* * *

MARSHALL SOLD about 900 tickets for the Wisconsin game, according to Assistant Athletic Director for Ticketing Aaron Goebbel.

Season ticket sales are expected to reach about 13,900 when the final count is complete, Goebbel said.

The school record for season ticket sales is 19,622 in 2007, an abnormally high total that was bolstered by West Virginia's first visit to Huntington for the second annual Coal Bowl.

The previous school record - and one that is a more realistic goal on a year-to-year basis - is 14,029 which was achieved in 2006.