— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall expects a major test this week in Blacksburg, Virginia when the Herd faces a Virginia Tech squad that entered this season with strong expectations, but comes off a disappointing season-opening loss at Vanderbilt in overtime.
Not long after the Hokies’ 34-27 setback to the Commodores, Marshall kicked off its season and cruised to a 45-3 victory against Stony Brook.
Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. meeting at Lane Stadium will be carried by the CW Network and marks the 14th all-time meeting between the Hokies and Herd. V-Tech has won 10 of the previous 13 matchups, though a year ago, Marshall claimed its first win in the series since 1940.
As for last week’s weather-delayed win over Stony Brook, Marshall head coach Charles Huff says he and his staff learned a lot about a team with 40 fresh faces, including 25 transfers.
“It was good for us to get some of these new guys under the lights and see what they can do and how they react to situations,” Huff said. “Now, we can go back and say that this is what a guy is able to do.”
Several newcomers performed well in the win over the Seawolves. North Texas transfer quarterback Stone Earle started and threw for 97 yards and two touchdowns, while also gaining 55 yards on the ground. Tulsa transfer quarterback Braylon Braxton had 143 passing yards and threw for two touchdowns.
Middle Tennessee transfer Elijah Metcalf had 50 receiving yards and two touchdowns and 41 yards on four punt returns. Michigan State transfer receiver Christian Fitzpatrick had 97 receiving yards and a TD. Carl Chester (Tulsa) and Bralon Brown (Ole Miss) also caught touchdowns after transferring to Marshall during the offseason.
Marshall racked up 549 total yards and was quite balanced with 259 yards on the ground and 290 yards through the air. Marshall allowed only 252 yards against a FCS-level opponent that has not win since 2022.
Huff says to get a second straight win over Tech, Marshall needs to concentrate on the basics.
“We’ve got to take care of the football like we did last week as we didn’t have any turnovers,” Huff said. “We have to tackle well because you can’t have the leaky yards. Their quarterback [Kyron Drones] has a strong arm and he and the running backs are strong runners so we’ve got to get them on the ground. If we get opportunities to get our hands on balls, we’ve got to catch them.”
Marshall secured a 24-17 victory over the Hokies in last year’s matchup in Huntington. That should eliminate some uncertainties for both coaching staffs, though Huff knows this is a different Hokies’ team, regardless of last week’s loss.
“They have several guys back and those guys are a year older now and a big part of successful programs is overall development,” Huff said. “They’ve been able to retain a lot of their players and those guys have gotten better than they were last year. We’re a year older and they’re a year older and things have changed for both of us physically, mentally and schematically.”
In the loss to Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech’s slow start, defensive struggles and inability to produce a consistent run game proved problematic.
The Hokies trailed 17-0 in the second quarter and by 14 points at halftime. VT allowed 11.9 yards per pass while not forcing a turnover and managed only 75 rushing yards on 30 attempts.
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Virginia Tech’s head coach is Brent Pry, now in his third season in Blacksburg with a 10-15 overall mark.
Pry’s father, Jim Pry, played quarterback at Marshall and was a member of the 1971 Young Thundering Herd squad that played following the 1970 Marshall plane crash that killed 75 people. Two Tech alumni were among the crash’s victims — then-Marshall head coach Rick Tolley and assistant coach Frank Loria.
There are nine Virginia natives on the Marshall roster and one West Virginian on Tech’s roster — offensive lineman Layth Ghannam of George Washington High School.
Tech defensive lineman C.J. McCray was with Marshall in 2020 before moving on to Blacksburg.