Whether or not WVU and Marshall should play in the "Friends Of Coal Bowl" can be a contentious issue in the Mountain State, but it shouldn't be.
Sep 8, 2010 - It's the second week of the college football season, and if you're a Mountaineer fan like I am, you've been blessed with a short week before the team is back on the gridiron. This Friday night the West Virginia Mountaineers travel to Huntington to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd. This marks only the second time the ‘Eers have played in Huntington, and this game is easily the season's most talked-about game throughout the Mountain State. Some people think WVU and Marshall have no business playing each other. Those people are wrong.
Both fanbases are totally deranged about this game. Marshall fans hate the Mountaineers. HATE them. WVU fans think that playing the Herd is "beneath" the Mountaineers. Both are equally wrong.
Marshall fans would like to tell you this is a rivalry, but it's not. It's a one-sided grudge match, with the Herd getting the short end of the stick year in and year out. Obviously, this has led to Marshall fans developing a little brother syndrome that has skewed their opinion of the Mountaineers.
More power to them. This reminds me of how WVU fans felt about Penn State during the 1980s. WVU fans thought they had a rivalry with Penn State, but they didn't. They just got their clocks cleaned each year and JoePa and company moved on without a second thought. Meanwhile, blood boiled in Morgantown at the mere mention of the Nittany Lions. When WVU finally got over the hump in '84 and again in '88, it was cause for celebration, but it didn't make the matchup a rivalry. It just made it more interesting.
The WVU-Marshall series will get exponentially more interesting once the Herd wins one. They will, eventually. I don't see it happening this year, but I think that outcome is a lot closer than many Mountaineer fans think.
Mountaineer fans say that WVU gains nothing by playing the Herd. They're wrong, and they underestimate the value that the Marshall game has. WVU fans always say, "If they beat us, they gain everything, if we beat them, we gain nothing!" WVU gains plenty when they schedule the Herd. They gain a decent game with a built-in storyline against FBS-level competition. This game captivates the entire state far more than matchups against UNLV or East Carolina, of which Mountaineer fans could make the same argument but choose not to.
If I thought that Bill Stewart and company would load their schedule with tough non-conference matchups like their September 25th date with the LSU Tigers, I would say they could drop the Herd. But they won't. No college football program schedules twelve tough games, and WVU is no different. A quick perusal of the last few years' schedules show dates with Wofford, Liberty, Coastal Carolina and Villanova. Not exactly murderer's row. So how can playing the Herd be "beneath" the Mountaineers?
Fine. WVU and Marshall can play, but always in Morgantown. Some view that as a compromise. Their logic isn't faulty, either. WVU Football is the biggest draw in the entire state, whether they play in Morgantown, Huntington, Charleston, Wheeling, Grafton or Jane Lew. That's a reality. It's also a reality that Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown is much bigger and far more equipped to handle the crowds than Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington.
That said, those reasons aren't the Mountaineers' actual motivation, which is that they make more money in Morgantown. Marshall balks at the idea of going 2-for-1, since it makes filling their schedule harder and they still get shorted a game. That seems like a valid reason for them to want a home-and-home, and they point to our home-and-home series with fellow Conference USA team East Carolina as proof that it's not "beneath" the Mountaineers. The biggest problem that I have with WVU's refusal to schedule an even series with the Herd is plain and simple: cowardice. If you're at the top of the heap in anything, you're going to have people gunning for you, and college football is no different. The only place WVU is considered an elite program is in Huntington. It's time to man up and play there.
Politics made this happen, and shouldn't politics be kept out of football? This is the only argument that holds any water with me, and that's only because politics make me feel dirty. That said, when I look back at state politics over the last decade, this is one of the few things those hand-shaking baby-kissers got right. I'm offended at calling it the "Friends of Coal Bowl" because I don't think political action committees should be sponsoring sporting events, but I wouldn't have a problem calling it just the "Coal Bowl." If it takes the governor to get this matchup extended, so be it. I have no problem with government intervening where I want it to. It's when it intervenes where I don't that we have problems.
This game needs to happen. In this day and age of convoluted made-for-television matchups, we have a good one sitting in our back yard, but for various reasons no one wants to make it happen. Marshall moved up to Division I (now the FBS, whatever that means) a decade ago, and they've established themselves as a football school, winning conference championships in the MAC and moving up to Conference USA. This game isn't a true rivalry yet, but it could be, and with minimal work from either side. This game represents a fertile breeding ground from which a new rivalry can emerge, something that's rarely seen in today's college football landscape. The geographic proximity, mixed with the passion West Virginia residents feel about their state, their schools and the game of football, make it a slam dunk. There are only two FBS schools in the entire state of West Virginia there's no good reason why they shouldn't be playing every year. Details are just details.
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My only thing...
Is that I think the East Carolina game is much more interesting than the Marshall game. I’d love to kick DePaul out and bring ECU in as a full member of the Big East.
I’d love for Chuck Landon to have his fingers removed one at a time ie. Tom Beringer in “Sniper.” He’s the poster child for every Marshall fan that thinks WVU is afraid to play MU and every other idiotic thought that comes out of the mind/minds of Marshall fans.
When Marshall finally does win one, this becomes the basketball rivalry. A game against a team no one on our team really cares about. But it’s the biggest game of the year for the Herd.
by JohnRadcliff on Sep 8, 2010 8:38 AM EDT reply actions
One other thing....
“When Marshall finally does win one, this becomes the basketball rivalry. A game against a team no one on our team really cares about. But it’s the biggest game of the year for the Herd.”
I think that’s a true statement, but is it a bad thing? Obviously a loss to Marshall in hoops isn’t the end of the season for the ‘Eers, and the Herd get a much bigger boost from picking up a W. That said, whatever happened to playing for pride? WVU wants to be the dominant football power in the state, and they are. That said, shouldn’t they have to defend that standing? I’d be much prouder of the ‘Eers if they hung fifty on the Herd every year than I would be if it was an intangible argument about the level of play in various conferences. Go out there, defend your turf and move on. That’s the bottom line.
by Aaron Hawley on Sep 8, 2010 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions
What a joke.
WVU travels to East Carolina, UNLV, and many other places every year because it gives the coaches a chance to recruit other areas and gives our state school exposure outside of this state. Going to Huntington to play does none of this because WVU owns in-state recruiting and has all the exposure it needs in WV. It has nothing to do with being “cowards” you joke of a fan. It has everything to do with money, recruiting, and exposure.
“Wofford, Liberty, Coastal Carolina and Villanova. Not exactly murderer’s row. So how can playing the Herd be “beneath” the Mountaineers?"
Every one of those schools come to Morgantown to play with no return trip. If the Herd did the same the game wouldn’t be “beneath the Mountaineers”.
This is the worst article I’ve read about the series. You have the nerve to call yourself a fan? I’ve never heard another fan call the Mountaineers cowards. True cowards sit in front of their computer bashing other people when they wouldn’t have nerve to do it to their faces.
by HighWay74 on Sep 8, 2010 9:11 AM EDT reply actions
This/that...
John- I agree with you ECU is an interesting fit for the conference. This off-season I was hoping that Notre Dame would jump to the Big Televen so that we could make a play for Memphis, though I think ECU would be a good choice as well.
Highway- I definitely have the nerve to call myself a fan, and I do think cowardice plays some part in WVU’s refusal to meet Marshall on even terms. It may not be a cowardice in the truest sense, but I think WVU is terrified of upsetting the status quo. As long as they keep repeating the company line that an even series with Marshall is “beneath us” people will believe them. I don’t believe them at all and I’m willing to tell that to your face, or to your anonymous screen name. It’s fine by me.
So you think that WVU needs trips to Vegas and Greenville keep the recruits rolling in? The only states WVU needs to recruit are West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, Florida, Florida. Give me a break on your ‘its good for recruiting’ argument. The only thing that makes a difference in recruiting is winning. Who you win against is secondary.
by Aaron Hawley on Sep 8, 2010 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions
My reason for not wanting WVU to play that school downsouth
in a rivalry you should be excited about it for that week, I’m bored by this week and I can’t wait for it to be over.
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by WVPiratesfan on Sep 8, 2010 10:17 AM EDT reply actions
....
Im a Marshall fan and I never wanted this game in the 1st place. Its not because I need a dog and scared of the big bad school up North, but for the simple fact they really do not excite me one lil bit.
This game was shot down year after year when Marshall was winning and the school up North was putting up 6-5, 4-7, 7-4 marks, wonder why that was. But as soon as they were winning and our program was hit with probation they were more than willing to try and schedule what they knew would be a 5-2.
I can think of one reason there is resistance up there, the NCAA is getting ready to level the school up North with sanctions. Their precious Rich Rod was cheating the whole time he was there. And then Stewbag kept the cheating going and claimed ignorance, Yeah Right. So why would they want to play Marshall who will be at full strength while they will most likely in 2-3 years only have 70-75 scholarship players.
Marshall went 74 years from 1923-1997 withouth playing them and done just fine. I wouldn’t mind going 75 the next time.
by HZ20 on Sep 8, 2010 11:38 AM EDT reply actions
Actually....
WVU played Marshall in 1997, at the apex of Marshall’s success. It should also be noted that that is the year that Marshall moved to Division 1-A. That’s the big difference. That Herd squad was led by Chad Pennington and Randy Moss, two guys who have gone on to do pretty well for themselves professionally. WVU won that game by 11, with one of WVU’s more mediocre teams. That year’s ‘Eers squad went 7-5 despite being QB’d by Marc Bulger. So, HZ20, I don’t think Marshall’s record has anything to do with it.
As I said in an earlier comment, I think it’s in WVU’s best interest not to have the status quo questioned year in and year out. WVU has earned the title of the state’s best football team, fair and square. I just think they should have to defend it each year.
by Aaron Hawley on Sep 8, 2010 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions
actually
May I remind you that 1997 was the first year Marshall resumed playing 1A football So pat yourself on the back you basically survived and beat a 1AA team. Marshall had been limited to 65 scholarships and it took a few years to reach 85. For the record 1999 was the pinnacle of success for Marshall not 1997.
by ohio herd on Sep 9, 2010 6:19 PM EDT reply actions
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