Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Herd takes consistent approach to historical game
9/10/2022 8:14:00 AM | Football, Word on the Herd
Marshall plays at Notre Dame on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No matter what happens before the sellout crowd at Notre Dame Stadium, it will be one of the most historical for Marshall University's football program.
This is the first time the Thundering Herd and Fighting Irish have met in football. It will be the first matchup of black head coaches in the history of the stadium. This will be one of the 10 largest crowds to ever watch Marshall football. This will be the Herd's 11th matchup against a Top 10 opponent.
And millions – Notre Dame averages roughly five million viewers on NBC – will be watching at 2:30 p.m.
Second-year MU head coach Charles Huff understands the magnitude of all of that, but he wants his players to treat No. 8 Notre Dame (0-1) like any other team on the schedule.
"From a size of the game or importance of the game standpoint, this game is just as important to us as Norfolk State," he said. "That's no disrespect to Notre Dame. That's not coach talk. That's just the way you have to prepare to be consistent. I don't think you can do anything with consistency when something is more important than the other. I don't think you can plan that way."
So, Marshall (1-0) will play in front of 77,622 fans — and in front of Touchdown Jesus — like every other game on the schedule.
"Obviously, from the outside perspective, this is a huge game," Huff said. "Everyone is excited. From the historical piece of it of the place we're going, all that's great. The reality is this game has no bearing on what our ultimate goal is and our ultimate goal is to play really well in the Sun Belt."
Notre Dame opened its 2022 schedule at Ohio State, a 21-10 loss. The Irish will host Marshall for a non-conference game that was signed in March of 2019. Notre Dame holds the record for Heisman Trophy winners, All-Americans and College Football Hall of Famers.
While all of that will be special for Marshall's staff and student-athletes, it will be a significant moment for Huff's counterpart, too. Marcus Freeman, a 36-year-old first-year head coach from Dayton, Ohio, will be coaching his first career game as a head coach at Notre Dame Stadium. He was Notre Dame's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2021 before replacing Brian Kelly as the head man.
"It's something you dream about," Freeman said. "Since I was named the head coach I've been looking forward to this moment to be able to lead our team into this stadium and play a really good opponent."
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Notes:
Notre Dame is hosting a first-time opponent for the 26th time since 1990. The Irish are 19-6 in those games.
Irish head coaches making their home debut have only lost three times.
Marshall represents the first Sun Belt school to ever visit Notre Dame Stadium.
Notre Dame tight ends coach Gerad Parker served as the receivers coach at Marshall in 2011 and 2012. Parker's sister, Alicia Parker-Webb, is the Associate Director of Development for Endowments and Major Gifts for the Big Green Scholarship Foundation.
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The largest crowds to ever witness a Marshall football game:
1. 106,520 at Tennessee, 2003
2. 105,040 at Ohio State, 2010
3. 104,818 at Tennessee, 2006
4. 104,622 at Ohio State, 2004
5. 92,746 at Georgia, 2004
6. 84,445 at Florida, 2001
7. 80,386 at Wisconsin, 2008
8. 80,250 at Clemson, 1999
9. 78,717 at South Carolina, 1998
10. 72,983 at Michigan State, 2000
Chuck McGill is the Associate Athletic Director for External Engagement and Fan Experience at Marshall University and a nine-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill).