It was announced today the signing of a three-game football contract between the two schools. The contract calls for the Thundering Herd to visit the Orange Bowl
to play the Hurricanes on Sept. 1, 2007 and Sept. 22, 2012 with the 'Canes
making an appearance in Huntington on Sept. 10, 2011.
"We are very excited to finalize this deal to play the Hurricanes,"
West said. "Miami is obviously one of the top programs in all of college
football, having won five national championships and posting three runner-up
finishes. Having an opportunity to bring an opponent like this to
Huntington is something we are always looking to do."
Marshall currently holds an all-time record of 3-10 against current
members of the Big East Conference, but is 1-1 against schools from that
league since the league's formation in 1991.
"One of the priorities of our fans has been for us to schedule name
teams to come to Huntington," Marshall coach Bob Pruett said. "Now that we
have Miami, we have two of the most recent national champions, along with
Tennessee, on the schedule to play in Huntington.
"I think the fact that we have been able to schedule home games
against teams like this shows the level of respect out program has gained
outside the state of West Virginia. Hopefully, we will be able to announce
more of these types of games in the very near future."
The Herd is scheduled to play Big East member Virginia Tech on Sept.
12 of this year and again during the 2005 season. The Herd's last Big East
opponent was Temple in 1999 a game Marshall won 34-0 in Huntington.
The Hurricanes are 5-0 all-time against members of the Mid-American
Conference. The 'Canes last played a MAC opponent in 1987, defeating Toledo
24-14 and Miami (Ohio) 54-3 that year.
The games with Miami join a solid list of future Herd opponents.
Among those are Troy State (2003-04), Tennessee (2003, '06, '09, '10), LSU
(2003), Georgia (2004), Ohio State (2004), Virginia Tech (2005) and
Wisconsin (2007).
Marshall will face Appalachian State, Virginia Tech and Troy State
in non-conference games this fall.