— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — There is plenty of mutual respect among the head coaches involved in Saturday’s Marshall-North Carolina State football game, which kicks off at 7 p.m. at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Both teams come into the game with 2-0 records and each had a game cancelled last weekend due to Hurricane Florence.
Marshall coach Doc Holliday is quite familiar with the Wolfpack program, having served as an assistant in Raleigh under Chuck Amato from 2000-2004. He still has fond memories of those years.
“I have great respect for that program,” Holliday said. “They have such a tremendous fanbase just like we do and I’m sure they’ll bring a lot of fans here.”
“I still have a lot of great friends that are in that area and great memories, but the important things are that we are prepared to play really well Saturday night.”
Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren’s awareness of Marshall no doubt came through word-of-mouth during his two seasons (2011-2012) at Mid-American Conference member Northern Illinois. Marshall dominated MAC football during its time of membership from 1997-2004, winning five titles in six seasons.
Doeren understands the challenge his team faces in Huntington.
“Very storied program with the best winning percentage at home at 83 percent,” Doeren said. “It’s our first road game and a chance to play in a very good environment because I know their fans will be great.”
There’s a further link to the two programs as Wolfpack cornerbacks coach George Barlow is a Marshall alum, playing for the Herd in the late 1980s, including in 1987 when Marshall lost to Northeast Louisiana in the NCAA I-AA championship game in Pocatello, Idaho.
Holliday and Doeren are both satisfied that their players handled last week’s unexpected open dates well.
Holliday said the free time allowed injuries to heal and rest.
“We made last week a bye week, which I think helped get some guys healthy that probably wouldn’t have played against South Carolina,” Holliday said. “We now have Ryan Bee and Levi Brown back and we’re probably as healthy as we’ve been all year, even including the Miami (Ohio) game.”
Doeren notes that most of his team took time off to spend time at home with family, but about a quarter of the team and the coaching had “bonding time” in a Raleigh-area hotel.
“It ended up being a good way to handle a very tough situation,” Doeren said. “We had time to get healthy while still preparing as a coaching staff for Marshall and getting a chance to watch some games over the weekend.”
Marshall and N.C. State played a competitive game last season in Raleigh, with the Wolfpack coming out on top 37-20 after Marshall had led the game, 20-10, in the second quarter.
The Wolfpack leads the all-time series 4-0 and this will mark their first visit to Huntington.
Veteran Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley was effective against Marshall last year and he’s off to a hot start in 2018, averaging over 350 yards per game through the air in wins over James Madison and Georgia State.
Holliday says that Finley has the Herd’s full attention.
“It’s so hard to pressure him because he gets rid of the ball so quickly,” Holliday said. “It’s kind of like a double-edged sword as you work on trying to pressure him but you just have to mix things up.
“He’s going to make his throws and they will make their catches, but we just can’t give up the big play and I know our guys are looking forward to the challenge.”
One area where the Wolfpack has struggled has been in the running game, plus there are plenty of new faces on defense. Holliday isn’t assuming that those struggles will continue and he’s just hoping his club doesn’t experience any performance lulls.
“In order to win, we have to be the best team on the field,” Holliday said. “You have to put all three phases together and there will be adversity in this game, just like there is in all of them, but we just have to keep fighting and playing extremely hard.
“This team is going to go out and play really hard.”
The game against N.C. State marks the first visit to Huntington by a team from a Power 5 Conference since the 2015 season opener when Marshall knocked off the Big 10’s Purdue Boilermakers, 41-31.
Future non-conference opponents coming to Huntington include Pittsburgh, East Carolina, Navy, Boise State and Appalachian State.
Holliday is grateful to have another chance for Herd fans to show the nation that Marshall can host and compete with the elite in college football.
“I think it is a great opportunity for our program, our community, our state and our fanbase to showcase Marshall University on a national stage,” Holliday said. “I know we are excited and I know our fanbase is excited, so we’re looking forward to Saturday night.