BOCA RATON, Fl. — “The only thing you remember is when you win ’em,” said Doc Holliday, Marshall University’s head football coach, of bowl games as his 12-1 team prepared to face Northern Illinois University (11-2) in the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday night.
Including the Boca Raton Bowl, Holliday has now been a part of 24 total bowl games.
“The ones I remember are the ones you have great feelings about that you walk out of here with a win, so you’ve got to separate the fun from the preparation and now it’s all business,” Holliday said on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Kickoff for Marshall University, the Conference USA champion, and NIU, the Mid-American Conference champion, is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton — located within sight of the Atlantic Ocean. The game will be televised on ESPN.
The two teams last met on Oct. 6, 2001. Marshall won that game 37-15 and leads the series against the Huskies 2-0.
“It’s a great matchup. There’s a lot of excitement. The stadium’s sold out down here, believe it or not, it’s hard to get tickets and it’s a beautiful venue,” Holliday said.
Steve Cotton, the play-by-play announcer for the Thundering Herd, talked with MetroNews from Boca Raton on Monday’s “Morning News.” “I’ve been to a few bowl games over the years and this has been the best bowl week experience I’ve been a part of,” Cotton said.
“The players seem to be having a great time and, of course, there are 28 Floridians on Marshall’s roster.”
The Herd’s bowl headquarters since Friday has been the historic Boca Raton Resort and Club, a Waldorf Astoria property that dates back to 1926. Since then, every U.S. president has stayed at the resort at least once.
The game comes less than a week after the death of Marshall University President Stephen Kopp who died from a heart attack at the age of 63. As a tribute to Kopp, the players will wear decals with Kopp’s initials, “SJK,” on their helmets during the game.
When asked about rumors that he was among those being considered for the head coaching position at Pitt, Holliday said he was only focused on preparing the Herd for Tuesday’s game.
“We’ve had a great week of preparation and our kids have done a great job while they’re down here, we’ve got a great challenge and we’re only concerned about making sure this team is prepared the best to go play,” Holliday said.
“It’s time to go play and just see what happens.”