Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Football Opens Season at Home Saturday
8/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Marshall Football Opens Season at Home Saturday
8/30/2004
For the first time since 1988, Marshall University will open the season at home with a game against a Division 1-A opponent, when Troy pays a visit to Joan C. Edwards Stadium Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the game will be televised locally by Fox Sports Pittsburgh (check your local listings).
The game will be televised via the Troy Sports Network in Alabama, Fox Sports Pittsburgh in Huntington and on tape delay in other areas, CSS in parts of the Southeast, and be available on ESPN Game Plan. Dave Weekly will handle the play by play, with John Gregory providing analysis, and Mark Martin handling the sideline duties.
Satellite Coordinates for the game are SBS 6, Transponder 16.
Troy handed the Herd a 33-24 loss in front of a Troy record crowd of 26,000 at Movie Gallery Stadium last season, just seven days after Marshall had downed then #6 Kansas State, 27-20, in Manhattan, Kansas. That loss marked the first time the Trojans have beaten the Herd in four tries.
Troy was led in that contest by junior DeWhitt Betterson who rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown. The Trojan defense also capitalized on several Marshall turnovers, recording three interceptions (one that was returned for a touchdown) and a fumble.
The Trojans return eight starters on offense and nine starters on defense from last year?s squad, including Betterson who finished the year with 1,161 yards rushing. College Football News, and several other preseason publications, has picked the Trojans to win the Sunbelt Conference, in this, their first year of competition in the league.
This season marks the first time that Marshall will play a full 1-A schedule since moving to Division 1-A in 1997.
Marshall enters the 2004 season with a veteran defensive unit and several proven weapons on offense. The Herd boasts 10 players with starting experience on the defensive side of the ball and returns eight of its top 10 leading tacklers from last year?s unit that led the Mid-American Conference in total defense.
Offensively, senior quarterback Stan Hill is fully recovered from a knee-injury that sidelined him for more than half of last season and 1,000-yard rusher Earl Charles, and standout receiver Josh Davis are ready to start their senior seasons.
Marshall will play its final season in the Mid-American Conference this year, before moving into Conference USA in 2005. Marshall has won five MAC Championships and produced a conference high 50 first-team All-MAC selections since joining the MAC in 1997.
