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FACTS & STATS: Site: Joan C. Edwards Stadium (38,000) -- Huntington, West Virginia. Television: CSS, CSN-CHI. Home Record: UAB 1-2, Marshall 2-1. Away Record: UAB 0-4, Marshall 1-4. Neutral Record: UAB 0-0, Marshall 0-0. Conference Record: UAB 1-3, Marshall 2-2. Series Record: Marshall leads series, 5-1.

GAME NOTES: Marshall will try to rebound from a blowout loss to Chase Keenum and the Houston Cougars, as it returns to Huntington, West Virginia to play host to the Blazers of UAB in Conference USA action.

UAB notched its first win last week with a 26-24 win over UCF at home in Birmingham when kicker Ty Long booted a 40-yard field goal with less than thirty seconds remaining to put his team ahead. The Blazers had lost seven straight dating back to last year before the win over the Knights. UAB's losses came against the likes of Florida, Tulane, East Carolina, Troy, Mississippi State and Tulsa.

Marshall has been unable to string together consecutive wins this season, and has suffered defeats to teams like West Virginia, Ohio University, Virginia Tech, UCF and Houston. The Thundering Herd's victories have come over Southern Mississippi, Louisville and Rice.

This will be the seventh game in the series between these two teams, with Marshall holding a 5-1 advantage. The Thundering Herd won the 2010 matchup in Birmingham, 31-17, behind the arm of senior quarterback Brian Anderson as he threw for 304 yards. UAB's lone victory in the series came in 2008.

UAB's offense has not been threatening to opposing defenses so far this season, as the unit ranks 118th in scoring offense. The Blazers took a hit early in the year when they lost starting quarterback Bryan Ellis to a season- ending injury. With Ellis out of action, Jonathan Perry took over the offense and struggled early. Perry has instilled hope in UAB fans after last week.

Against UCF, UAB compiled a season-best 501 yards of total offense. The sophomore delivered the best performance of his career in the win over the Knights, throwing for 327 yards and his first two touchdowns while completing 31-of-42 attempts.

Leading rusher Pat Shed missed last week's game due to injury and is listed as doubtful this week. Freshman Darrin Reeves was the primary tailback for UAB in Shed's absence, logging a career-high 15 carries for 83 yards. Jackie Williams is Perry's primary target, as he leads the team with 403 receiving yards.

UAB's defense had not provided any leeway for the struggling offense in the first six games. The defense is ranked 117th in the nation in average yards allowed. However, just like the offense, the Blazers' defense is coming off its best performance of the season.

UAB held UCF to 331 yards of total offense and 24 points. It was the first time the Blazers held an opponent under 400 yards this year. UAB will need to repeat that performance if it hopes to gain ground in the Sun Belt. The defense is led by Jamie Bender who has 66 tackles on the year.

Head coach Doc Holliday decided to switch quarterbacks mid-season and give dual-threat A.J. Graham a shot at running the show after freshman Rakeem Cato struggled mightily to get the offense going. Graham has not given Holliday any reason to doubt the switch as he rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns while completing 12-of-23 passes for 110 yards in his first start against Rice. In last week's loss at Houston, Graham threw for a career-high 257 yards and ran for 74 more as Marshall put forth its best scoring output of the season. The Herd also had its season high in yards gained with 506.

Tron Martinez is the primary option at tailback for the Thundering Herd, as he leads the team with 412 rushing yards this year. Aaron Dobson is a player to watch as he leads the team in receiving and has six touchdown grabs to his credit.

The Marshall defense was torched by Houston's high-powered attack, but has shown the ability to control games as well. The erratic play of the defensive unit makes it hard to predict how the Herd will fare in some games. After surrendering 681 yards of total offense last week, Marshall's defense will try to get back on track as it played much better in the three preceding games. The defense leads the nation in tackles for loss, as defensive end Vinny Curry has been a force. Curry leads C-USA in sacks with nine.

Marshall should benefit from a return to its home field against a much-lesser opponent. Graham is playing well as a starter and should only get better as he gets more reps. However, UAB is playing with a lot of confidence after its big win against USF. If Perry can duplicate his performance, the Thundering Herd might find themselves in trouble. But Perry will have to avoid Curry and the aggressive Marshall defense in order to do that, which is no easy feat.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Marshall 35, UAB 24