Battle for the Bell

Marshall-Ohio rivalry
Battle for the Bell
Teams Marshall Thundering Herd
Ohio Bobcats
Series Originated 1905
Trophy Originated 1997
Overall Series Ohio leads 30-19-6
Trophy Series Marshall leads 9-2
Largest Margins 59 - Ohio 59-0 - (1908)
31 - Marshall 34-3 - (1999)
Most Points 76 - Ohio 49-27 - (1977)
Longest Streaks 6 - Ohio - 1973-1980
6 - Marshall - 2001-2010
Most Recent Game Ohio 44-7 - (2011)
Last ten games Marshall 8–2

The Battle for the Bell is an American college football rivalry game played by the Marshall Thundering Herd football team of Marshall University and the Ohio Bobcats football team of Ohio University. It is a regional rivalry, with the universities' campuses located about 80 miles (130 km) from each other, with a bell awarded as the trophy for the winner of the game. With Marshall's move from the Mid-American Conference to Conference USA in 2005, this rivalry game has been on hiatus. The series unexpectedly resumed in 2009 when the Herd and Bobcats faced off in the 2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which Marshall won 21–17. A six-year contract between the schools began in 2010, with Ohio taking the 2011 contest 44–7. This most recent win by Ohio snapped a six-game winning streak by Marshall. Ohio leads the all-time series over Marshall; however, the Thundering Herd have dominated the rivalry's recent history, winning ten of the last twelve meetings.

Contents

Statistics

Marshall Ohio
Games played 55
Wins 19 30
Home wins 12 20
Road wins 6 10
Neutral wins 1 0
Consecutive wins 6 6
Most total points in a game 76 (1977)
Most points in a win 42 59
Most points in a loss 35 28
Fewest total points in a game 0 (1933)
Largest margin of victory 31 59
Smallest margin of victory 1 3
Total points scored in series 808 1172
Shut-outs of opposing team 3 11
Sources: [1]

Game results

Ohio victories colored ██ green. Marshall victories are colored ██ kelly green. Ties are white.

# Date Site Winning team Losing team Series
1 1905-11-11  Huntington, West Virginia  Marshall     6 Ohio           5 MU 1-0
2 1908-10-03 Athens, Ohio Ohio 59 Marshall 0 Tied 1-1
3 1911-10-21 Athens Ohio 5 Marshall 5 Tied 1-1-1
4 1915-10-20 Huntington Ohio 21 Marshall 7 OU 2-1-1
5 1920-10-16 Athens Ohio 55 Marshall 0 OU 3-1-1
6 1933-11-11 Huntington Marshall 0 Ohio 0 OU 3-1-2
7 1934-10-27 Athens Ohio 8 Marshall 0 OU 4-1-2
8 1935-10-19 Athens Ohio 20 Marshall 13 OU 5-1-2
9 1936-10-10 Athens Ohio 13 Marshall 13 OU 5-1-3
10 1937-10-30 Huntington Marshall 13 Ohio 13 OU 5-1-4
11 1938-11-19 Athens Ohio 14 Marshall 7 OU 6-1-4
12 1949-10-29 Huntington Marshall 14 Ohio 6 OU 6-2-4
13 1950-11-23 Athens Ohio 14 Marshall 6 OU 7-2-4
14 1951-11-22 Huntington Marshall 13 Ohio 13 OU 7-2-5
15 1952-11-22 Athens Ohio 21 Marshall 21 OU 7-2-6
16 1953-11-21 Huntington Marshall 9 Ohio 6 OU 7-3-6
17 1954-11-20 Athens Ohio 26 Marshall 25 OU 8-3-6
18 1955-09-24 Athens Ohio 13 Marshall 6 OU 9-3-6
19 1956-11-17 Athens Ohio 16 Marshall 0 OU 10-3-6
20 1957-10-26 Huntington Marshall 34 Ohio 28 OU 10-4-6
21 1958-10-25 Athens Ohio 22 Marshall 0 OU 11-4-6
22 1959-11-07 Huntington Ohio 21 Marshall 14 OU 12-4-6
23 1960-11-05 Athens Ohio 19 Marshall 0 OU 13-4-6
24 1961-11-04 Huntington Ohio 14 Marshall 7 OU 14-4-6
25 1962-11-03 Athens Ohio 35 Marshall 0 OU 15-4-6
26 1963-11-23 Huntington Ohio 17 Marshall 0 OU 16-4-6
27 1964-11-21 Athens Marshall 10 Ohio 0 OU 16-5-6
28 1965-11-20 Huntington Marshall 29 Ohio 14 OU 16-6-6
29 1966-11-19 Athens Ohio 28 Marshall 6 OU 17-6-6
30 1967-09-23 Huntington Ohio 48 Marshall 14 OU 18-6-6
31 1968-09-21 Athens Ohio 48 Marshall 8 OU 19-6-6
32 1969-11-22 Huntington Ohio 38 Marshall 35 OU 20-6-6
33 1971-11-20 Huntington Ohio 30 Marshall 0 OU 21-6-6
34 1972-11-18 Athens Marshall 31 Ohio 14 OU 21-7-6
35 1973-11-18 Huntington Ohio 35 Marshall 21 OU 22-7-6
36 1974-11-23 Athens Ohio 35 Marshall 0 OU 23-7-6
37 1975-11-22 Huntington Ohio 38 Marshall 21 OU 24-7-6
38 1977-09-10 Huntington Ohio 49 Marshall 27 OU 25-7-6
39 1979-09-22 Athens Ohio 35 Marshall 0 OU 26-7-6
40 1980-11-08 Athens Ohio 28 Marshall 20 OU 27-7-6
41 1985-09-14 Huntington Marshall 31 Ohio 7 OU 27-8-6
42 1986-09-13 Athens Marshall 21 Ohio 7 OU 27-9-6
43 1987-09-12 Athens Ohio 23 Marshall 15 OU 28-9-6
44 1988-09-10 Huntington Marshall 31 Ohio 14 OU 28-10-6
45 1997-11-15 Huntington Marshall 27 Ohio 0 OU 28-11-6
46 1998-10-10 Athens Marshall 30 Ohio 23 OU 28-12-6
47 1999-10-30 Huntington Marshall 34 Ohio 3 OU 28-13-6
48 2000-11-18 Athens Ohio 38 Marshall 28 OU 29-13-6
49 2001-11-17 Huntington Marshall 42 Ohio 18 OU 29-14-6
50 2002-11-23 Athens Marshall 24 Ohio 21 OU 29-15-6
51 2003-11-28 Huntington Marshall 28 Ohio 0 OU 29-16-6
52 2004-10-09 Athens Marshall 16 Ohio 13 OU 29-17-6
53 2009-12-26 Ford Field, Detroit Marshall 21 Ohio 17 OU 29-18-6
54 2010-09-25 Huntington Marshall 24 Ohio 23 OU 29-19-6
55 2011-09-17 Athens Ohio 44 Marshall 7 OU 30-19-6

The 1970 meeting was canceled due to the crash of Southern Airways Flight 932 which killed almost all of Marshall's players.

References

External links