Marshall University Athletics
The Friends of Coal Bowl Comes to Huntington
9/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 6, 2007
HUNTINGTON -
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Marshall University will play host to in-state rival West Virginia University for the first time in 92 years when the Thundering Herd faces the nationally-ranked Mountaineers at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in the Friends of Coal Bowl on Saturday.
Marshall and WVU are the Mountain State's only NCAA Division I Universities and they have met on the football field only twice in the modern era (Post WWII) with both of those contests being played in Morgantown (1997 and last season). All-time the two schools have faced each other only six times and the Mountaineers only visit to Huntington came in 1915.
A sell-out crowd of more than 38,019, the largest home crowd in Marshall football history, will be in attendance and ESPN2 will bring the game to a national television audience with kickoff scheduled for 11:02 a.m.
In addition to state bragging rights and the Governor's Trophy (a Fenton Glass piece shaped like a football and filled with pulverized West Virginia coal), home field advantage for the 2009 game will also be on the line. In the contract for this special series both schools are playing for an additional home game with the winner of two of the first three contests earning another home date (the 2009 game). Due to last year's WVU win, a win by West Virginia on Saturday would secure the 2009 game for Morgantown. However, a Marshall upset would move the deciding game to next season in Morgantown.
The game is sponsored by the Friends of Coal a volunteer organization that supports the West Virginia coal industry. The state of West Virginia leads the nation in underground coal production.
West Virginia, which boasts two of the most expolsive players in the nation in Heisman hopeful quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton, one the first game of the seven-year series with the Thundering Herd last year in Morgantown, 42-10.
The Mountaineers, which opened the season ranked third in the AP poll, downed Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan last Saturday in Morgantown, 62-24.
Saturday's Friends of Coal Bowl will mark the first time that WVU has played in Marshall's Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Since it opened in 1991, the Thundering Herd has posted an impressive record of 109-11 (.908) in the facility. On Saturday, WVU will become the first FBS team ranked in the Top 10 to face Marshall on its home field.
The game will also be of special importance to the state natives on both rosters. Marshall has 20 state natives on its roster and seven of those home-grown players are listed on the Thundering Herd two deep.
Marshall opened the 2007 season last Saturday with a 31-3 loss to Miami (Fla.) in the Orange Bow. The Thundering Herd hung tough with the Hurricanes for much of the contest, however untimely penalties and turnovers proved costly. The Thundering Herd did limit Miami to only one scoring drive of more than 50 yards. In fact, all but 10 of Miami's points came from short field opportunities created by turnovers.
Fans will want to arrive at their seats early. Stadium gates open at 9 a.m. and the U.S. Army's Golden Knights are scheduled to deliver the game ball via a parachute jump 20 to 15 minutes prior to kickoff. In addition to this, U.S. Marine Corps. F-18 Hornets will conduct a fly-by of the stadium at the conclusion of the pre-game national anthem.
