GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 MetroNews Pieces Together Details Of WVU/MU Deal MetroNews Sports Morgantown MetroNews has learned, in piecing together the details from a variety of sources, that the contract for the renewal of the football series between West Virginia University and Marshall University will apparently be a six-game deal, stretching from 2006 through 2011. There is a unique twist to this contract, though, which leaves the exact number of games in Morgantown and Huntington still up in the air. According to sources contacted by MetroNews, the series will start in 2006 with the first game being played at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown. In 2007, the state’s only two Division I-A football teams will meet at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, and then the series will shift back to Mountaineer Field in 2008. There also is slated to be a game played in Huntington in 2010 and another in Morgantown in 2011. The uniqueness of the contract will come in 2009, as that game could be played at either Mountaineer Field or Edwards Stadium. The team which wins at least two of the first three games will also get the opportunity to host the fourth game of the series in 2009. So the total deal guarantees three games in Morgantown and two in Huntington, and one more which could be played in either location. There are apparently other aspects to the multi-year deal, such as the financial guarantees, which have not yet been revealed, but that part of the package will apparently be disclosed when Governor Joe Manchin makes the official announcement in regards to the WVU/MU series at a press conference, which is slated for the state capitol at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. MetroNews plans to broadcast that press conference live. Manchin helped spearhead the effort to get the state’s two Division I-A football schools together again. WVU and Marshall have meet just once on the football field in the past 80 years, when West Virginia took a 42-31 victory from the Herd at Mountaineer Field in the 1997 season opener. It was the first Division I-A game ever for Marshall, which was making the transition from Division I-AA. WVU is 5-0 all-time against the Herd, but other than the 1997 meeting, all the previous games were played in the early portion of the 20th century. West Virginia took three victories over MU in Morgantown (17-15 in 1911, 20-0 in 1914 and 81-0 in 1923). The only time the Mountaineers have ever played in Huntington was in 1915 when WVU scored a lopsided, 92-6 win. The series went dormant for 74 years before the renewal at Mountaineer Field in 1997 in a game which was filled with over 20 future NFL players, such as Marshall’s Chad Pennington and Randy Moss and West Virginia’s Marc Bulger and Amos Zereoue. In the eight years since the teams last faced off, further games between Marshall and West Virginia have often been discussed, but no agreement has ever been reached. Originally the two teams were supposed to meet four times with all four games being played at Mountaineer Field. After agreeing verbally to that deal, Marshall officials had a change of heart and instead just one game in 1997 was played. Officials from the two schools have been negotiating ever since, but the financial terms and other details never could be worked out. When the NCAA voted last month to allow Division I-A football teams the opportunity to play 12 regular season games every year, it opened up slots in the schedules for both schools. And when Manchin was campaigning for the governor’s seat last year, one of his promises was to try to make this game a reality. In recent weeks WVU athletic director Ed Pastilong had said that the only way West Virginia would agree to the deal was if it entailed three games at Mountaineer Field and just one in Huntington. Marshall counterpart Bob Marcum had insisted that the Herd would agree to no more than a two-for-one deal. This past Friday, the Governor reportedly hosted a meeting between officials from the two universities – believed to include Pastilong, Marcum and the presidents of the two schools, David C. Hardesty of WVU and Michael J. Farrell of Marshall – to hammer out the sticking points of the contract. It was at that time that this 3-2-1- deal was apparently struck. WV Metro News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 First, Graham and Bluefield playing twice in one season, now this...a sure sign that the world is coming to an end!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigD4VT 11 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 Maybe not the world but it does look like the VT - WVU series is coming to an end. For a while at least. Nah nah nah...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Maybe not the world but it does look like the VT - WVU series is coming to an end. For a while at least. Nah nah nah...... [/ QUOTE ] And I couldn't be happier!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrforshey 27 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 It's actually going to be more than a 6 game deal. I can't believe that WVU would bet 1.75 MILLION DOLLARS that they could beat Marshall 2 out of 3 games, just so they could host the 4th game. How STUPID!!! Either sign a 3 for 1 or a 2 for 1 contract, not something as STUPID as a 2 for 1 for 1 if I win 2 of the 1st 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.01bb665814ffc257795fe158cb2045c7.png.8a531ac878a82772b21014d7a6167582.png){kind=logo}
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.