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]

East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry
First meetingNovember 18, 1967
East Carolina, 29–13
Latest meetingSeptember 9, 2023
Marshall, 31–13
Statistics
Meetings total17
All-time seriesEast Carolina leads, 11–6[1]
Largest victoryEast Carolina, 45–0 (1978)
Longest win streak3; East Carolina (2008–2010)
Current win streak1; Marshall
Locations of East Carolina and Marshall

History

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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] The 2020 game was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

East Carolina leads the all-time record over Marshall 11–6.

Game results

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East Carolina victoriesMarshall victories
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
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 Carolina37–10
13 November 26, 2011 Huntington, WV Marshall 34–27OT
14 November 23, 2012 Greenville, NC East Carolina65–592OT
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

Locations

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As of November 5, 2023

City Hosted Record
Huntington, WV 8 (1967–present) Series tied; 4–4
Greenville, NC 8 (1968–present) ECU leads; 7–1
Mobile, AL 1 (2001) Marshall leads; 1–0

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Winsipedia – East Carolina Pirates vs. Marshall Thundering Herd football series history". Winsipedia.
  2. ^ TRAYLOR, GRANT (February 16, 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.
  3. ^ "National spotlight will be on ECU, Marshall". bonesville.net. February 24, 2020. 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Marshall Game by Game against Opponents". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  6. ^ Kevin Kelley (April 3, 2014). "East Carolina, Marshall Schedule 2020–21 Home-and-Home Football Series". fbschedules.com. Retrieved June 5, 2014.