HUNTINGTON - Sometimes college football teams have wake-up calls.
On Saturday, however, Marshall's Thundering Herd went through a shock akin to an ice bucket challenge.
And today, following the 65-38 loss at the hands of Mid-American Conference Akron, the team must face some cold, hard facts.
Certainly, the most dismal offshoot of the lopsided loss is the situation in which the Herd now finds itself. In short, Marshall is staring straight at a 1-3 start to the season.
First, it hosts Louisville at 8 p.m. this coming Saturday. Then it visits resurgent Pittsburgh in the Steel City Oct. 1. Does anyone see a way around 1-3?
What's sad for the program is MU athletic director Mike Hamrick made a heck of a coup in landing a home game with the Cardinals. Yet he didn't bargain for what's coming into Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Consider that UL whipped No. 2 Florida State 63-20 on Saturday. And then consider Marshall allowed 65 points to a team that was picked to finish third in the MAC East.
Just a brutal outlook for the Herd. And here's a little perspective: Akron quarterback Thomas Woodson's quarterback rating last season was 123.05. But throwing against Marshall's secondary, his rating was a stunning 206.4 on Saturday. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 379 yards and four touchdowns.
Yes, Woodson has a couple nice receivers in JoJo Natson, who finished with 134 yards on Saturday, and Jerome Lane, who had 115. But against Wisconsin, the Zips lost 54-10. And the Badgers barely escaped a game Saturday against Georgia State.
Is the picture starting to come into focus?
Also, the timing of the MU fall couldn't have come at a worse time for the school. MU officials said about 32,000 tickets have been sold for the upcoming historic game with Louisville. Had the Thundering Herd even nudged past Akron, a sellout would be a distinct possibility. But now? Unless Cardinal fans stream into Huntington - a possibility - I don't see it happening.
But let's get back to the Marshall team. On Saturday, it was exposed like Keanu Reeves in a serious movie role. The secondary was torched for 379 yards - with no interceptions. The MU defense as a whole had but two sacks. Akron had 524 total yards. (Akron!)
Offensively, yes, Marshall had 560 yards. But that was on 97 plays, which was 35 more than Akron. Also, quarterback Chase Litton threw three interceptions and allowed a scoop and score when he was leveled by the Zips' Deon-Tae Moore.
Overall, just dog ugly. At halftime, MU had three turnovers and a blocked punt. Oh, and was there ever laundry on the field. You know how there's Six Flags over Georgia and Texas? Well, there were literally 30 flags thrown by officials over Huntington for a whopping 356 penalty yards.
Some in the pressbox were calling MU's Saturday performance the worst in the history of The Joan. With good reason. No opponent in the history of the stadium has scored more in regulation than Akron did Saturday.
Not that many saw the game. Just 24,258 showed on a warm September day perfect for college football.
Yet, again, back to those cold, hard facts. Doc Holliday now has his toughest head coaching challenge ever.
"We've got to put it behind us," Holliday said. "Louisville will probably be the No. 1 or 2 team in the country. We don't have time to lick our wounds. We have to get back to work."
MU linebacker Chase Hancock spoke of the locker room after the loss.
"We were just trying to keep the young players' heads up," Hancock said. "Don't look back. Go to the next play."
Whether they look back or ahead, of course, the view is ominous.
But at least Holliday can be certain of one thing: His players are now wide awake.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.