All eyes in the state of West Virginia will be focused on Friday’s ESPN matchup in Huntington between the Mountaineers and Marshall (7 p.m. Eastern) in the annual Friends of Coal Bowl. West Virginia has won all nine previous meetings against Marshall, but will find a familiar face on the opposing sideline Friday. Thundering Herd head coach Doc Holliday is a 1979 graduate of WVU who was the Mountaineers’ associate head coach from 2008-09.

 

USF, which scored a 31-0 win against Stony Brook in its season-opener, also has some in-state business this week as the Bulls head to Gainesville to take on No. 8/6 Florida (12:20 p.m., SEC Network). USF has faced every Division I school in the Sunshine State except Florida in its relatively brief football history. The Gators, meanwhile, face a BIG EAST opponent for the second time in their last three games, dating to last year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati.

 

Syracuse and Rutgers face tough road tests this week outside their geographic areas. The Orange make the cross-country trek to Seattle to face Washington Saturday (7 p.m., FSN Northwest) looking for their first 2-0 start since 1999. The Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, head to Miami to face Florida International (8 p.m., BIG EAST Network), which is coached by former Rutgers assistant Mario Cristobal. The game is being billed as the biggest home date in FIU’s brief history.

 

Louisville showcased an expanded and enhanced Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium last Saturday, when the Cardinals hosted Kentucky in the annual Governor’s Cup game. The game, which also marked the debut of Louisville head coach Charlie Strong, was played in front of a stadium-record crowd of 55,327. The previous capacity of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium was 42,000. Connecticut, meanwhile, played in front of the largest crowd in college football history as the Huskies fell to Michigan. The attendance at Michigan Stadium was 113,090.