MADISON, Wis. -- Not long after his team had suffered a 51-14 loss to No. 10 Wisconsin, Marshall Coach Mark Snyder told media members he still has high hopes for the Thundering Herd this season.

"We got to play like we played in the first half," Snyder said Saturday. "I told the team just now, 'If we play like we played in the first half, we'll be (Conference USA) champions this year.' I believe that. I felt that on the sidelines. I have been around good football teams. I felt like in the first half, this team was where it needs to be."

Marshall led 14-0 after the first quarter and trailed 17-14 at halftime.

"It was a game of two halves," Snyder said. "I thought we played pretty well in the first half. We looked like a pretty good football team. As good as the first half was, the second half was just as bad."

Marshall sophomore left guard Josh Evans summarized the Thundering Herd's bipolar performance.

"If we come out and play a whole game like we played the first half, we'll win a lot more games," the former Fayetteville High School star said. "If we come out and play like we did in the second half, we're going to lose a lot more games."

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SNYDER SAID the physical game against the Big Ten Conference powerhouse took its toll on his players.

"We got beat up a little bit," Snyder said. "We got beat up a lot. We got some healing to do this week."

Marshall (1-1, 0-0) will begin conference play at 7 p.m. Saturday, when Memphis (0-2, 0-1) is scheduled to visit Edwards Stadium.

Junior tight end Cody Slate and junior strong safety Ashton Hall didn't play against Wisconsin but likely will play against Memphis.

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THE BADGERS weren't worried when they fell behind early.

"I think the main thing was to stay calm and stay focused and not to let it get away," Wisconsin senior defensive lineman Mike Newkirk said. "The offense was struggling there in the beginning, but they were the ones that provided the spark I really believe. As soon as they scored, the momentum and energy on the sidelines really picked up.

"It's a big thing for us that when the offense is struggling we want to be able to help them out and get them the ball back, but also keep the other team from scoring. We have a great offense and they were going to get things going. It just sometimes takes a little bit of time. We don't want the game to get away from us and vice versa. When we're having trouble they need to put points on the board for us."

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HOW GOOD did the Thundering Herd's passing defense make the Badgers' passing offense look?

Three Wisconsin players -- sophomore tight end Lance Kendricks (three catches for 94 yards), sophomore wide receiver David Gilreath (three catches for 47 yards) and sophomore wide receiver Maurice Moore (three catches for 37 yards) -- all registered career-high totals in receiving yards against Marshall, while another -- junior tight end Garrett Graham (four catches for 73 yards) -- fell only four yards short.

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THERE WERE positives and negatives in Marshall redshirt freshman quarterback Mark Cann's performance against Wisconsin.

Cann completed 20-of-39 passes for 211 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, both of which came in a momentum-turning stretch of three consecutive turnovers to start the second half.

"We got to take the good and the bad and get better from it and move on," Cann said.

Snyder pulled Cann and replaced him with sophomore backup Brian Anderson after the second interception because "we weren't sure if he was dinged or not."

"On the particular play, in his head the formation was flipped and he threw it to a route that was on the other side of the field," Snyder said. "I think he might have got dinged.

"We let him get cooled off a little bit. Plus, we wanted to get Brian into the game at some point and time if we could anyway. That's the reason why we pulled him out."

Marshall senior wide receiver Darius Passmore offered a vote of confidence for Cann.

"He made a lot of good throws," said Passmore, who had seven catches for a game-high 95 yards. "He was very composed. He never gets no negative attitude. That's what you need out of a leader. Just go on to the next play and stay positive."