HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Marshall quarterback Mark Cann is anxiously awaiting his college football debut, which is only three days away.

"I'm sure there will be some butterflies," said Cann, a 6-foot-4, 238-pound redshirt freshman from Landrum, S.C. "There are butterflies before every game. I have always had them. But it's just a matter of focusing and making the right reads and getting us in the right plays ... we'll be all right."

Marshall Coach Mark Snyder named Cann the Thundering Herd's starting quarterback Tuesday, when he released the season-opening depth chart during his weekly press conference.

Cann's backup is sophomore Brian Anderson.

"Coming into camp, we felt like obviously that would be one of the positions that might be a weak link for us and we're going to have to protect and all of those kind of things, but he gets better every day," Snyder said of Cann. "He has some moxie about him. He has poise. He lets things bounce right off of him. He has the ability to focus on the next play. He has done a good job running our offense."

Marshall will play host to Illinois State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Edwards Stadium. The non-conference matchup will be televised on WOWK in Charleston-Huntington, WVNS in Beckley-Bluefield and WBOY in Clarksburg.

Click here for a PDF of Illinois State game notes

"I'm excited for Saturday to be here and get my first start under my belt," Cann said. "I'm looking forward to it."

Providing protection for Cann will be the starting offensive line of redshirt freshman left tackle Ryan Tillman, sophomore left guard Josh Evans, senior center Brian Leggett, senior right guard Matt Altobello and redshirt freshman right tackle C.J. Wood.

Tillman and Wood overcame challenges from sophomore Brandon Campbell and junior Daniel Baldridge, respectively.

"It has worked out good," Snyder said of the competition. "Those guys have gotten better every day. Luckily for us, we felt like we have four guys there.

"We're going with the two young, athletic guys and put their feet to the fire. Again, I think they'll do nothing but improve as the season goes."

The rest of the first-string offense is junior tight end Cody Slate, sophomore tailback Darius Marshall, senior X receiver Darius Passmore, senior A receiver Emmanuel Spann and sophomore Z receiver Bryant Milligan.

"With the running backs and wide receivers and tight ends, with those playmakers, I feel like all I have to do is get the ball in their hands and get us in a downhill play and get positive yards," Cann said. "I just try to get the ball in their hands."

In addition to Anderson, Baldridge and Campbell, the second-string offense includes sophomore left guard Landis Provancha, sophomore center Chad Schofield, junior right guard Jimmy Rogers, sophomore tight end Lee Smith, senior tailback Chubb Small, junior X receiver Tavaris Thompson, junior A receiver Courtney Edmonson and senior Z receiver E.J. Wynn.

"Let's go all the way back to spring practice No. 1," Snyder said. "Coming into two-a-days, the most development I have seen has been with our offense."

The first-team defense consists of senior end Ian Hoskins, junior nose guard James Burkes, sophomore tackle Delvin Johnson, junior end Albert McClellan, sophomore strongside linebacker Corey Hart, senior middle linebacker Maurice Kitchens, junior weakside linebacker Mario Harvey, redshirt freshman boundary cornerback T.J. Drakeford, junior strong safety Ashton Hall, senior free safety C.J. Spillman and sophomore field cornerback D.J. Wingate.

The second-team defense features sophomore end Vinny Curry, sophomore nose guard Brandon Bullock, sophomore tackle Johnny Jones, junior end John Jacobs, junior strongside linebacker Andre Portis, redshirt freshman middle linebacker Kellen Harris, senior weakside linebacker Phillip Gamble, freshman boundary cornerback Ahmed Shakoor, senior strong safety Aaron Johnson, freshman free safety Omar Brown and redshirt freshman field cornerback DeQuan Bembry.

The special teams starting lineup includes junior kicker Craig Ratanamorn, freshman punter Kase Whitehead and junior long snapper Sean McClellan.

Marshall and Small will return kickoffs. Spann and Bembry will return punts. Spann also will serve as the holder on extra points and field goals.

The team captains are all of the seniors.

"Those guys have done a great job of leading," Snyder said. "They have bought in. They came in under the pretense of another coach and got me.

"I know for a fact when you have a very veteran football team and you divide and pick three, four or five guys, the other guys kind of go to the back of the group a little bit. We don't want that to happen.

"We want those guys to keep pushing and coaching and being the leaders in the locker room and off the field and handling curfew and getting guys to class and helping this coaching staff. You will see all of the seniors go out for the pre-game coin toss."