East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry

East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry
East Carolina Pirates Marshall Thundering Herd

Sport(s) Football
Total meetings 15
Series record East Carolina leads, 10–5
First meeting November 18, 1967
East Carolina 29, Marshall 13
Last meeting November 29, 2013
Marshall 59, East Carolina 28
Next meeting September 5, 2020
Largest win 45; East Carolina (1978)
Longest win streak 3; East Carolina (2008–2010)
Current win streak 1; Marshall

The East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry is an college football rivalry game between two public universities, East Carolina University Pirates and the Marshall University Thundering Herd. The current winner is Marshall, who won, 59–28, on November 29, 2013. East Carolina leads the all-time series, 10–5.[1]

History

East Carolina and Marshall have a "friendly" rivalry with one another. They are emotionally bonded by the tragic plane crash on November 14, 1970. The Thundering Herd were coming back from Greenville, North Carolina after a 17–14 loss to the Pirates when their plane crashed near Ceredo, West Virginia. The teams have been bonded ever since.

East Carolina joined Conference USA (C-USA) in 1997 as an affiliate member for football only until the 2001 season as the school moved up to full membership. When three teams from the Big East Conference moved to the ACC, the Big East looked for new members for their conference and invited five schools from C-USA to join their conference. Then C-USA added six other teams, including Marshall from the Mid-American Conference. The six new teams brought C-USA to twelve teams in which the conference can split into divisions and host a Conference USA Football Championship Game. East Carolina and Marshall were placed in the "East" division and played annually since then.

East Carolina and Marshall's most memorable games was the 2001 GMAC Bowl as they combined for a bowl record, 125 points, as Marshall overcame a 30-point deficit to beat East Carolina 64–61 in double overtime.

Another memorable game was the 2013 match-up as whoever won the game would move on to the Conference USA Football Championship Game as both teams had a "East" division record of 6–1. Marshall defeated East Carolina, 59–28 and moved on to play Rice in the Championship Game. The game also marked East Carolina's last conference match-up as a member of C-USA, as East Carolina moves from C-USA to American Athletic Conference in 2014.

With East Carolina's move to the American Athletic Conference in 2014 will discontinue the annual meeting with Marshall since 2005. On April 3, 2014, both schools announced that the two teams will meet again for a home and home series in 2020 and 2021. East Carolina will host Marshall at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, NC on September 5, 2020. Marshall will host the second and final game of the series at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia on September 11, 2021.[2]

East Carolina leads the all-time record over Marshall 10–5. ECU is 6–3 against the Herd from 2005 to 2013 when both schools were in Conference USA.

Game results

East Carolina victoriesMarshall victoriesTie games
#DateLocationWinning teamLosing teamSeries
1November 18, 1967 Huntington, WV East Carolina29Marshall13East Carolina 1–0
2November 16, 1968 Greenville, NC East Carolina49Marshall20East Carolina 2–0
3November 15, 1969 Huntington, WV Marshall 38East Carolina7East Carolina 2–1
4November 14, 1970 Greenville, NC East Carolina17Marshall14East Carolina 3–1
5November 18, 1978 Greenville, NC East Carolina45Marshall0East Carolina 4–1
6December 19, 2001 Mobile, AL* Marshall 64East Carolina61East Carolina 4–2
7November 19, 2005 Huntington. WV East Carolina34Marshall29East Carolina 5–2
8November 11, 2006 Greenville, NC East Carolina33Marshall20East Carolina 6–2
9November 10, 2007 Huntington. WV Marshall 26East Carolina7East Carolina 6–3
10 November 8, 2008 Greenville, NC East Carolina19Marshall16East Carolina 7–3
11 October 3, 2009 Huntington, WV East Carolina21Marshall17East Carolina 8–3
12 October 23, 2010 Greenville, NC East Carolina37Marshall10East Carolina 9–3
13November 26, 2011 Huntington, WV Marshall 34East Carolina27East Carolina 9–4
14November 23, 2012 Greenville, NC East Carolina65Marshall59East Carolina 10–4
15November 29, 2013 Huntington, WV Marshall 59East Carolina28East Carolina 10–5
* 2001 GMAC Bowl

References

  1. "Marshall Game by Game against Opponents". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  2. Kevin Kelley (April 3, 2014). "East Carolina, Marshall Schedule 2020-21 Home-and-Home Football Series". fbschedules.com. Retrieved June 5, 2014.