Marshall University Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick has announced that the Thundering Herd football team has signed a deal to play Navy in a home-and-home football series starting in 2016.
“We are very excited in the future to host a program with the history and tradition of the U.S. Naval Academy,” Hamrick said. “It is a special honor anytime you can play a military academy.”
The series is set to begin in Annapolis, Md. on September 3, 2016 with Navy making the return trip to Huntington on October 13, 2018.
This will mark the first meeting between the Thundering Herd and the Midshipmen, but will mark the third game against one of the military academies. Marshall faced Army in 1920 and 1997, falling 38-0 at West Point in 1920 before topping the Black Knights by a 35-25 mark in 1997.
Since taking the helm of the Marshall University Department of Athletics in 2009, Hamrick has also inked home-and-home football series against high profile opponents including Louisville and Purdue along with renewing the rivalry against former Mid-American Conference foe Miami.