Quote:I would say it is much different with instate teams. I can assure you NCSU fans did not like losing to us most of the last 15 years. Their fans would say it was not big deal and we were no different than middle tennesse state or someone else they played, but the fact is we had a couple of their all time largest crowds for our games in the 80's.

Every sport can enhance the "rival" aspect between the teams. The basketball games got their attention or fans attention I would think. I bet IF they had to lose between ECU and Marshall I bet I know which one they would rather lose too. A program like Marhshall that can threaten WV and the previous 8-10 years was probably as strong or even stronger of a program in football honestly. Last time they played in Marshalls first year in D1a I think was even very close.

-- Jonesing....you are applying your experience in NC to WV....for example did you know that Morgantown is closer to college park, MD then it is to Huntington? The two WV cities are in different parts of the state and 100s of miles away from one another...so its not like a tobacco road situation or even a Ohio St/UC situation where OSU is just "right up the road"

-- As pointed out above.....WVU and Marshall rarely recruit against each other because WV produces so few prospects....WVU goes into western PA and Maryland/DC.....Marshall goes into southern ohio and kentucky

-- As for MU ever surpassing WVU...let me just say this....if you think MUs program was stronger then WVUs over the last 5 or so yrs you must have a LOT of respect for MAC football....#2...Marshall does not even reciece state wide coverage for football, hoops....the eastern and northern panhandles as well as north/central WV do not carry Herd games on the radio and the newspapers don't cover them.....In contrast it is hard to find a place in WV where you are out of the range of the Mountaineer broadcasts....don't get me wrong but, Marshall has a solid football program and a solid following in between Charleston and Huntington...but for the most part WVU is the "state school' in every since of the word


Jackson

I agree with you entirely Jackson. But there is no reason to wish anything but good for Marshall - it is a school in the same state. A state that can benefit from the positive each has to offer.

I totally agree. Marshall is covered well within a 50-75 mi. radius of Huntington, but beyond that they are fairly anonymous to the majority of the population. I'm a little more cosmopolitain than most West Virginians, since I'm a fan of both programs. I admit that I'm somewhat of an anomoly, but even at that I bleed old gold and blue. While both universities are in the State of West Virginia, there's just one UNIVERSITY in West Virginia ... and that's WVU.

bitcruncher Wrote:

nflsucks Wrote:

Quote:Last time they played in Marshalls first year in D1a I think was even very close.

WVU won by 11.

And that Marshall team had Chad Pennington, Randy Moss, and Troy Brown. The previous year they won the 1-AA national championship. Marshall had their best shot with that team because WVU wasn't very good that year.

Sorry, in 1997 Troy Brown was starting his 5th year with the Patriots.
http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/1253

Who was the other receiver on that team then? I know he went into the NFL, and Brown was who came to mind. I must look that up. hmmmm

bitcruncher Wrote:Who was the other receiver on that team then? I know he went into the NFL, and Brown was who came to mind. I must look that up. hmmmm

Are you basing all this on guys who went on to the NFL? Off the top of my head I remember Amos Zereoue, Anthony Becht and Marc Bulger for WVU.

The other receiver you are talking about is probably Nate Poole.

It could have been Poole. I haven't been able to find the official rosters of that game, so I'll have to take your word for it.

Yes, the Mountaineers had Bulger, Becht, and Zereoue. But only Bulger can compare to the star presence of Pennington or Moss. Becht is a role player at best in the NFL, and Zereoue is mighty far down the list when people speak of NFL rushing leaders. I still say that was Marshall's best chance. They will never get another one like it.

WV is upset over people following the rules and buying out of contracts .... while they are busy cheating....

bitcruncher Wrote:I still say that was Marshall's best chance. They will never get another one like it.

I respectfully disagree, but I suppose we'll see (not) soon enough.

Here are the rosters from 97 for both teams, although starters are not listed.

Marshall:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/footbal...oster.html

WVU:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/footbal...oster.html

nm

Herd Fan 4-Life Wrote:

goodknightfl Wrote:marshall is upset over people following the rules and buying out of contracts .... while they are busy cheating....

Hey, I never said a word about George O'LIARy you FUC'er...er, UCF'er.

corrected sth post... should have been wv... though we heard a bunch from marshall people too

WVU also had John Thornton, Gary Stills, Barrett Greene, and Solomon Page. Marshall was up 31-28 (Could have heard a pin drop in the stadium) with 11:00 left in the game. The game turned on a Pennington interception.

When Chad Pennington is healthy, he's one of the best QBs around. He led the Herd to some big wins, and almost led them to a few really huge wins. Marshall was lucky to get another top flight QB in Byron Leftwich right after he left. I wonder if they will ever see their like again.

As for this spy situation, I don't think the WVU Athletic Dept. had anything to do with this. I don't know if anyone besides this kid is involved, but I'm sure Coach Rod and the rest of the Mountaineer staff had nothing to do with it.

People need to stop overreacting, exaggerating, and being stupid about this. Use your heads. It is so plain to see that this is just some kid trying to be a big shot. He is a college underclassman for goodness sakes. They do dumb things. Didn't any of you do dumb things when you were in college?

I really don't think there is any way Rich Rodriguez, any of his assistants, or anyone else from the WVU athletic department authorized this Mercedes driving spoiled brat, who probably worked as a measly weight room monitor or something, to go spy on Marshall's spring game. That is just dumb.

Just wanted to chime in and say its great to see some friendly Marshall-WVU banter. You guys up north are doing great on the field.

I do want to add a few things to this conversation.

First off, in 2002, I drove from Ridgely (in Mineral County) through Maryland to Morgantown, south to Charleston and west to Huntington. I heard the Marshall-Ohio football game from East of Morgantown until its conclusion, which occured in-between Sutton and Charleston. So I could get radio coverage of the game over a vast area. I was admittedly surprised. I do not know if this holds true today, with various affiliate changes over the years, but it was true then.

Secondly, IMO, 1999 would have been Marshall's best chance to beat WVU. Marshall was #10 in the country that year, undefeated, and had one of the top defenses in the land regardless of status. 8 TD's allowed is nothing to sneeze about. Marshall was young in 1997. Lost a great deal from that title team. Pennington was making his first start in two years. The Herd defense was talented and eventually was very good, but was chalked full of sophomores. John Grace, Andre O'Neal, Rogers Beckett...they were but young pups. Marshall was overwhelmed early (fell behind 28-3 in second quarter...blocked punt for a TD on 4th play of game), settled in and took the lead late in the third, then threw two identical INT's (great plays by Nate Terry) that set WVU up deep in Marshall territory to score. The 1999 Herd, simply put, was a more complete football team. Still had Pennington, the WR corps had no Moss, but was more talented further down the roster than in 97 (it was Moss, then Colclough, then Long....that was it...99 was Poole, Washington, Cooper, Foye, and Williams, who was a game-breaker). I think Marshall's defense in 1999 would have been the difference. That and WVU stumbled to a 4-7 season.

But that's just my opinion. As for the press...Marshall has wisely taken the high road in this situation. There have been no conspiracy theories from upper-level administration. Both universities have been civil.

That said, the fact that the Mercedes was a loaner for the WVU athletic department tells me WVU needs to take better care of its cars.

Thunder Wrote:WVU also had John Thornton, Gary Stills, Barrett Greene, and Solomon Page. Marshall was up 31-28 (Could have heard a pin drop in the stadium) with 11:00 left in the game. The game turned on a Pennington interception.

WVU was up 28-0 and Nehlen pulled the starters and played 2nd string players. moou had the lead for 90 seconds and that is height of their moral victory...lol

WVU82, you could at least tell the truth...

Nehlan gave Zereoue a break in the second quarter because Keaton was getting good yardage. That was the only substitution he made. Marshall scored a TD just before halftime to make it 28-10, when Colclough burned Terry down the middle of the field.

Marshall scored 3 third quarter TD's, a 52-yard run by Llow Turner in which he ran right past Steve Lippe (one of your starting LB's), a fade route to Moss over-top of Terry which was a Sports Illustrated photo for awhile, then a TD pass to Moss who due to WVU's scheme was covered by Barrett Green on the play. That gave Marshall a 31-28 lead with roughly 2 minutes to play in the third quarter.

Marshall held WVU 3-and-out and got the ball back deep in its own territory. With roughly 11 minutes to play, Pennington threw an INT, a diving play by Nate Terry, somewhere between the Marshall 20 and 30 yard lines. WVU scored one or two plays later to take the lead for good. WVU tacked on another TD on an identical INT by Terry on the next possession. Ballgame.

WVU won, Marshall lost. Simple as that. There was no moral victory that day. We went up there to win and we failed, plain and simple. But the fact that you try to make it sound worse than it was shows, to me, some of your fans have serious complex issues when it comes to Marshall.

ThunderingHerdFan Wrote:WVU won, Marshall lost. Simple as that.

That pretty much sums it up.