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A West Virginia team that seemed out of the game early in the fourth quarter has tied Marshall with seconds left and sent the game to overtime.
Once again, quarterback Geno Smith led his Mountaineers on a long drive -- this time, a 98-yard march that ended with a touchdown pass to Will Johnson. WVU then added a two-point conversion with a pass to Jock Sanders in the back of the end zone. The game, tied 21-21, is headed to overtime.
If No. 23 West Virginia ends up with the win on Friday night, it would be an especially cruel way for underdog Marshall to lose. Minutes into the fourth quarter, Marshall had the ball at the Mountaineers' five-yard line up 21-6. The decision was made to hand the ball to true freshman Tron Martinez, who fumbled. West Virginia responded with two touchdown drives of 96 and 98 yards.
The game is now in overtime.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates. And to follow along with Mountaineers fans, check out SB Nation's WVU blog, The Smoking Musket.
It is the fourth quarter of the Coal Bowl, and suddenly, No. 23 West Virginia is back in the game.
Marshall had managed to drive within a few yards of the Mountaineers' end zone in the fourth quarter, only for true freshman Tron Martinez to fumble away the ball. With a 21-6 lead, Marshall would have needed only a field goal to put the game realistically out of reach.
West Virginia immediately set to work, as quarterback Geno Smith led a 96-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown with 5:12 remaining in the game. It was an especially remarkable drive considering WVU has been stymied time and again in the red zone all night.
If Marshall is going to pull off its first-ever win against West Virginia, it won't be a walk.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates. And to follow along with Mountaineers fans, check out SB Nation's WVU blog, The Smoking Musket.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Marshall added to their improbable lead over No. 23 West Virginia with a 12-yard pass from Brian Anderson to Antavious Wilson. The Thundering Herd now leads by a 21-6 score.
This is the second Anderson-to-Wilson touchdown connection of the game, and the third overall for Anderson, who has played with authority throughout the game. As of this moment, he's 17-for-24, having thrown for over 200 yards.
West Virginia doesn't have much time left to figure out its offense.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates. And to follow along with Mountaineers fans, check out SB Nation's WVU blog, The Smoking Musket.
The most exciting moment of Friday night's Marshall-West Virginia game so far has been Marshall receiver Aaron Dobson's 96-yard touchdown catch. ESPN is showing replays, though, that clearly show Dobson dumping the ball in celebration prior to his feet crossing the end zone. Take a look:
That was ruled a touchdown, as nobody seemed to notice as it happened, but if Marshall ends up holding its lead (14-6 in the third quarter at the moment) and pulling a Coal Bowl upset, rest assured that Mountaineer fans won't soon forget this.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates. And to follow along with Mountaineers fans, check out SB Nation's WVU blog, The Smoking Musket.
In the third quarter, Marshall still leads West Virginia, but the Mountaineers managed to kick a field goal to cut the Herd's lead to 14-6.
Tyler Bitancurt booted a 33-yarder, his second field goal of the game. Once again, West Virginia made it to Marshall's half of the field, but once again, Marshall stopped them short of a touchdown. Despite 137 passing yards from quarterback Geno Smith and 56 rushing yards from Noel Devine, WVU still hasn't been able to find a way into the end zone.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates. And to follow along with Mountaineers fans, check out SB Nation's WVU blog, The Smoking Musket.
Marshall has never beaten West Virginia. In fact, in nine meetings with the Mountaineers, the Thundering Herd have rarely come close. On Friday night, though, Marshall has taken a 14-3 lead over No. 23 WVU in the Friends Of Coal Bowl, and has given itself a chance to deliver the biggest upset of the young 2010 season.
Marshall struck first by scoring a touchdown on its opening drive, a eight-yard throw from Brian Anderson to Antavious Wilson. The ensuing West Virginia drive sputtered, and the Mountaineers settled for a field goal to trail by a 7-3 score.
In the second quarter, West Virginia was stopped short on a 4th-and-1 bid at Marshall's eight-yard line. The Herd took over, and after a false-start penalty, Anderson found Aaron Dobson for a 96-yard touchdown pass.
At halftime, Marshall holds a 14-3 lead over West Virginia, and is set to receive the ball in the second half. Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates. And to follow along with Mountaineers fans, check out SB Nation's WVU blog, The Smoking Musket.
(Sports Network) State rivals will square off in Huntington on Friday night, as the Marshall Thundering Herd welcome the 23rd-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers to town.
On opening weekend, West Virginia cruised past Coastal Carolina as expected by a 31-0 final. Members of the Big East Conference, the Mountaineers are led by Bill Stewart, now in his third season at the helm. There are 16 starters back between the offense and defense, so expectations are fairly high in Morgantown.
As for Marshall, which is a member of Conference USA, it had the unenviable task of taking on second-ranked Ohio State in Columbus to open the season last week. Put simply, the Thundering Herd were outclassed, as they fell to the Buckeyes in a 45-7 final. That lopsided defeat spoiled the debut of Doc Holliday, the new coach at Marshall.
"I told our team that I was proud of the effort that they gave," said Holliday. "I was not proud of the fact that we did not follow the plan to win."
West Virginia has won all nine previous meetings with Marshall, including double-digit victories over the Herd in each of the last four seasons.
While many starters do return for West Virginia, Geno Smith is a fresh face under center. In the opener against Coastal Carolina, Smith completed 20-of-27 passes for 216 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
"I want Geno to know I have all the confidence in the world in him and the other 10 players out there with him," said coach Stewart. "I wanted that young man to know he's our guy, we're going with him and I wanted to showcase him right from the get go."
Noel Devine ran for 111 yards and a score for WVU, and the speedy back now has nearly 3,500 rushing yards in his brilliant collegiate career.
"People expect him to go out and run for 300 yards against these guys," said Stewart of Devine. "They spent the whole day trying to take Noel out of the game plan. That's why we threw the ball."
Jock Sanders paced the WVU receivers with eight grabs for 71 yards and a score, and the Mountaineers finished the contest with 400 total yards. They were 9-of-17 on third-down conversion attempts and held the ball for over 32 minutes.
Defensively, West Virginia stifled Coast Carolina, limiting the overmatched Chanticleers to 186 total yards on 60 offensive plays. Of the 14 third-down conversion attempts that Coastal faced in the tilt, only two of those were successful. WVU was particularly strong against the run, permitting a mere 63 yards on 33 attempts. The Mountaineers didn't record any sacks, but they did post a pair of takeaways. Terence Garvin paced WVU with seven total tackles.
"I really liked the way our defense played," said Stewart. "I am really pleased with the way our defense adjusted and reacted during the football game."
Looking forward to this weekend's game, Marshall's new head coach showed great respect for West Virginia.
"We come from playing the best team in the Big Ten Conference to now playing the best team in the Big East Conference," said Holliday. "They are the most talented Big East team out there."
Holliday's offense posted just 199 total yards and recorded 11 first downs against Ohio State, which possesses one of the best defenses in all of college football. The Thundering Herd were 4-of-14 on third-down conversion attempts and turned the ball over three times.
A major problem for Marshall was that its receivers dropped far too many passes. Both Brian Anderson and Eddie Sullivan saw time under center, and both were victimized by the drops. Anderson completed 17-of-28 passes for 135 yards and figures to be under center for much of this weekend's tilt.
Moving over to the defensive side of the ball, Marshall was simply not match for the high-powered and well-balanced Ohio State offense. The Thundering Herd were gashed for 529 total yards and 23 first downs, and OSU was able to hold the ball for nearly 35 minutes of the contest. With zero takeaways, Marshall failed to make the type of impact plays necessary to keep a game close against an elite opponent. Mario Harvey recorded 10 total tackles in the tilt, while Vinny Curry had a pair of sacks.
The edge goes to West Virginia on the road in this one. Expect the Mountaineers to pull away in the second half for a rather easy victory.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: West Virginia 34, Marshall 13
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Odds Shark 
West Virginia 24, Marshall 21: WVU Mounts Incredible Comeback To Break The Herd's Hearts
What No. 23 West Virginia did to Marshall on Friday night has to go down as one of the most unlikely comebacks in recent memory.
The Mountaineers won, 24-21 in overtime, but consider this: with under nine minutes left in the game, Marshall, a sizeable underdog that has never beaten West Virginia in the 99-year history of the rivalry, had the ball at West Virginia's six yard line.
Marshall coach Doc Holliday opted to give the ball to true freshman Tron Martinez, who coughed up the ball. West Virginia then set to work on a 96-yard drive that ended with a touchdown.
With the score 21-13 and 3:09 left on the clock, Marshall punted and managed to stick the ball at the Mountaineers' two yard line. And once again, WVU mounted a staggeringly long drive that ended with a touchdown. A two-point conversion sent the teams to overtime.
West Virginia opened overtime with a field goal to lead, 24-21. Marshall then received possession, and a botched backfield play sent the Thundering Herd back eight yards. On fourth down, Marshall sent its kicker, Tyler Warner, in to attempt a 39-yard field goal. Warner had only three successful field goals to his name in his college career, and his kick sailed just wide to the right.
Plenty of discussion is sure to follow. Check out the rest of this StoryStream to read about the game as it happened. And to join the celebration with Mountaineers fans, check out our West Virginia blog, The Smoking Musket.
Sep 10 10:56p by Jon Bois - 1 comment