The
Marshall University football team’s strength of schedule during the 2014 season
was severely criticized despite a historic 13-1 season that featured the
program’s first Conference USA Championship.
The Herd’s strength of schedule in the 2014 season ranked
among the lowest in the FBS and despite winning convincingly throughout the
season, the team got criticized by college football pundits across the
country.
Marshall Athletics Director Mike Hamrick has been
remedying that situation recently with the scheduling of several key
non-conference opponents for the Herd in the future.
“We feel very good that we probably have the best
non-conference schedule over the next five or six years that Marshall has ever
had in the history of football here at this great university,” Hamrick said on
The Stampede with Dave Wilson on Oct. 28.
“I think he’s (Hamrick) done a great job,” Marshall head
coach Doc Holliday said during his weekly press conference on Oct. 27. “Not only can our fans go see the games that
are being played, but we’ve got really good people coming here.”
Among the criticism of Marshall’s schedule in 2014 was
that it did not feature a game against a Power Five team. The Herd took care of that matter earlier
this season.
Marshall defeated Purdue of the Big Ten conference on
Sept. 6 for the program’s first win against a Big Ten opponent. The home-and-home series with the
Boilermakers started in 2012 at Purdue and the return game at Marshall was the
first time in program history a Big Ten team made a trip to Huntington.
In 2016, Marshall will play two Power Five teams in its
non-conference schedule. The Louisville
Cardinals of the ACC make a trip to Huntington on Sept. 24 to complete the
home-and-home series that began in 2011.
The Cardinals’ scheduled visit in 2014 was postponed due to their move
to the ACC.
The
Herd also travels to Heinz Field on Oct. 1, 2016 for a showdown with the
Pittsburgh Panthers of the ACC in the first game of a home-and-home series that
will conclude on Sept. 26, 2020 when Pitt makes a trip to Huntington.
The
2017 season features two key non-conference road games. Marshall will travel to North Carolina State
of the ACC on Sept. 9 to do battle with the Wolfpack in the first game of a
home-and-home series that concludes on Sept. 22, 2018 when NC State visits
Huntington.
A
home-and-home series with Cincinnati of the American conference was announced
on Oct. 22. The Herd travels to
Cincinnati on Sept. 23, 2017 and Cincinnati travels to Huntington on Sept. 28,
2019.
“Cincinnati
is a very good football program,” Hamrick said.
“They’ve been to several bowl games and they’re very competitive. We want to play the best Group of Five
schools.”
Marshall
announced on Oct. 27 a home-and-home series with arguably the best Group of
Five football program in the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West
conference.
Since
2002, Boise State has won 10 conference championships, finished in the Top 25
rankings 10 times, finished undefeated twice and won three Fiesta Bowls. The Herd travels to Boise State on Sept. 21,
2019 and Boise State travels to Huntington on Oct. 3, 2020.
Hamrick
said the program’s goal is to get the Group of Five bid into an access
bowl. The highest ranked Group of Five
team gets a slot to play in an access bowl against a highly ranked Power Five
team.
“Our
goal is to play in the access bowl, so we’ve got to beat the best of the Group
of Five,” Hamrick said. “And who better
to play than a team that’s come pretty close to dominating the Group of
Five? That’s Boise State.”
“Those
are the leagues we’re going to be competing against to actually get that access
bowl,” Holliday said. “If we’ve got the
ability to go beat Boise and they’re the top team in that league (Mountain
West), then there’s a pretty good chance we’re going to get where we want to
go. And Cincinnati’s one of the top
teams in that league (American).”
Other
future non-conference games against Group of Five competition includes games
against Miami (OH), Kent State, Akron and Ohio of the MAC, East Carolina and
Navy of the American and Appalachian State of the Sun Belt.
With
future slots still open in the Herd’s non-conference schedule, Hamrick said the
scheduling process never stops and more future announcements should be
expected.
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