East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry
The East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between two public universities, East Carolina University Pirates and the Marshall University Thundering Herd.[2][3][4] The current winner is Marshall, who won, 31–13, on September 9, 2023. East Carolina leads the all-time series, 11–6.[5]
| First meeting | November 18, 1967 East Carolina, 29–13 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | September 9, 2023 Marshall, 31–13 |
| Next meeting | September 13, 2025 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 17 |
| All-time series | East Carolina leads, 11–6[1] |
| Largest victory | East Carolina, 45–0 (1978) |
| Longest win streak | 3; East Carolina (2008–2010) |
| Current win streak | 1; Marshall |
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.
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.
With East Carolina's move to the American Athletic Conference in 2014, the annual meeting with Marshall that had taken place since 2005 was discontinued. 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 on September 5, 2020. Marshall will host the second game of the series at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on September 11, 2021.[6]
East Carolina leads the all-time record over Marshall 11–6.
Game results
| East Carolina victories | Marshall victories |
| No. | Date | Location | Winner | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 18, 1967 | Huntington, WV | East Carolina | 29–13 | ||||
| 2 | November 16, 1968 | Greenville, NC | East Carolina | 49–20 | ||||
| 3 | November 15, 1969 | Huntington, WV | Marshall | 38–7 | ||||
| 4 | November 14, 1970 | Greenville, NC | East Carolina | 17–14 | ||||
| 5 | November 18, 1978 | Greenville, NC | East Carolina | 45–0 | ||||
| 6 | December 19, 2001† | Mobile, AL | Marshall | 64–612OT | ||||
| 7 | November 19, 2005 | Huntington. WV | East Carolina | 34–29 | ||||
| 8 | November 11, 2006 | Greenville, NC | East Carolina | 33–20 | ||||
| 9 | November 10, 2007 | Huntington. WV | Marshall | 26–7 | ||||
| 10 | November 8, 2008 | Greenville, NC | East Carolina | 19–16OT | ||||
| 11 | October 3, 2009 | Huntington, WV | East Carolina | 21–17 | ||||
| 12 | October 23, 2010 | Greenville, NC | East Carolina | 37–10 | ||||
| 13 | November 26, 2011 | Huntington, WV | Marshall | 34–27OT | ||||
| 14 | November 23, 2012 | Greenville, NC | East Carolina | 65–592OT | ||||
| 15 | November 29, 2013 | Huntington, WV | Marshall | 59–28 | ||||
| 16 | September 18, 2021 | Huntington, WV | East Carolina | 42–38 | ||||
| 17 | September 9, 2023 | Greenville, NC | Marshall | 31–13 | ||||
| Series: East Carolina leads 11–6[1] | ||||||||
| † 2001 GMAC Bowl | ||||||||
References
- "Winsipedia - East Carolina Pirates vs. Marshall Thundering Herd football series history". Winsipedia.
- TRAYLOR, GRANT (16 February 2018). "Marshall, ECU add pair of games to football series". The Herald-Dispatch.
One of Marshall's most historic football rivalries has a new home-and-home series in place.
- "National spotlight will be on ECU, Marshall". bonesville.net.
An even more fitting tribute is planned for this fall, when the Pirates and Thundering Herd renew their football rivalry during the 50th anniversary season of American's worst sports disaster.
- Basden, Sydney (February 21, 2020). "East Carolina-Marshall game moved to pay tribute to 1970 tragedy". WCTI.
Both teams also share a competitive rivalry on the playing field, including an overtime win by the Herd in the 2001 GMAC Bowl. This year's contest represents the first of four meetings for the teams thanks to their latest scheduling agreement.
- "Marshall Game by Game against Opponents". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
- Kevin Kelley (April 3, 2014). "East Carolina, Marshall Schedule 2020-21 Home-and-Home Football Series". fbschedules.com. Retrieved June 5, 2014.