College Football
Asti: WVU Needs to Ignore Tony Gibson’s Campaign for Marshall
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Tony Gibson thinks WVU should play Marshall. And not only that, he’s made it his mission to force the issue.
Gibson recently doubled down on his campaign during a one-on-one interview with the Charleston-Gazette Mail.
“I want to play them. I think it be great for our state, our two universities and keep the money in state,” said Gibson.
But no matter how many times Gibson brings up this up, West Virginia should just ignore him.
It's been 13 years since WVU and Marshall played each other. @HerdFB coach @CoachTonyGibson discussed reigniting the series with @Taylor_Kennedy7 on the latest edition of Coaches Corner. #WVU
Full interview: https://t.co/uUzND5kB1s pic.twitter.com/hJXkzvnI5B
— Gazette-Mail Sports (@GazMailSports) April 16, 2025
While the WVU vs. Marshall rivalry does exits in some sports – the soccer matchup is one of the best in the country, they consistently meet on the baseball diamond and there was even intensity when alumni teams played in the TBT.
However, none of that makes West Virginia vs. Marshall a rivalry in football. And honestly, there’s just no incentive for WVU to try to force one either.
Unfair dynamics of WVU vs. Marshall
The reason why Gibson wants to play West Virginia so bad simple. He knows he’s coaching the only school who would truly benefit from the game. A win and he’s a hero. A loss and no one can blame him.
It’s not even just about the fact that WVU holds a 12-0 record all-tome over Marshall and won the last matchup 69-34, it’s a 13th or 14th or 15th win would do nothing for the program at all.
If WVU beats Marshall, and this would be true no matter the status of the programs are at the time, the reaction would undoubtedly be something like this: “Of course, WVU won. They’re the Power Four program and should beat a school like Marshall.”
Now IF Marshall does the unthinkable and earns the Thundering Herd’s first ever win over West Virginia, Gibson, or whoever the coach is at the time, would be remembered as a hero in Huntington forever. They would probably throw a damn parade and celebrate the one win until the end of time.
How the hell is that a fair dynamic for a “rivalry” game?
Attendance debate is still one-sided….
And while Gibson does bring up a semi-good point in terms of keeping the money in the state, it is not WVU’s job to do a charity service for Marshall or the state. The WVU football program needs to be focused on making the Mountaineers a national contender again.
WVU will garner a certain number of fans no matter who the opponent is. Yes, some of the attendance numbers in recent years aren’t what they once were, but the Neal Brown tenure was also the first six-year stretch West Virginia failed to appear in a single week of the Associated Press’ Top 25 since before Don Nehlen took over in 1980.
If the Mountaineers become a contender again, Milan Puskar Stadium will be packed every week, even for the FCS game. On the flip side, Marshall has their own attendance issues. Obviously, WVU playing in Huntington will provide Marshall with a sellout crowd, but what does that do for the interests of the Mountaineers? Marshall’s attendance should not be something Wren Baker or Rich Rodriguez care about, and they don’t.
Rich Rod doesn’t think about Marshall
Rodriguez knows his second tenure at WVU will be judged by his overall record, and even beyond that, if West Virginia can contend in the Big 12 and then on the national scene. If he can make that happen, it will be successful. If he can’t, his return will be a failure. That’s the harsh reality of being the head coach of the 15th winningest program in the history of the sport.
Asti: Winning Only Option for Rich Rodriguez in Second WVU Tenure
“Gibby is a great friend of mine. Was a great staff member, and we’re still very dear friends. But if you think I’ve spent one second thinking about Marshall you’re wrong. I could care less what’s going on in Huntington,” responded Rodriguez when asked about Gibson’s campaign.
No WVU fan will celebrate or care about bearing Marshall if that victory occurs during a losing season. Conversely, a win over West Virginia could make a losing season for Marshall one their fans will brag about for years. Again, that dynamic should make playing the game a non starter for WVU.
A win over Pitt matters no matter what. Lifting the Black Diamond Trophy after taking down Virginia Tech in back-to-back years from 2021-22 brought some solace to otherwise disappointing seasons. What would a win over Marshall mean from a WVU perspective? Nothing.
Acknowledging WVU playing Ohio instead of Marshall
Yes, WVU will travel to Ohio in 2025. Yes, that is now part of the Marshall debate. Gibson brought that up. What Gibson fails to ever acknowledge is the difference in circumstances.
West Virginia and Ohio will play a 2-1. It will start in Ohio, which admittedly stands out since Power Fours shouldn’t make it a habit to open a series with a Group of 5 on the road.
With that said, it has happened elsewhere in the country and is WVU’s only non conference road game of the season. Besides that oddity, their non conference schedule is now finally in line with what most Power Four programs have been doing during the College Football Playoff era.
West Virginia will kickoff the season with FCS Robert Morris, take a short trip to Athens, Ohio and then host Pitt in the Backyard Brawl.
Sure, switch out Ohio for Marshall and WVU would still have the standard one FCS, one Group of 5 and one Power Four rival type of non conference schedule they desire. It’s also well documented that Marshall wants a series with WVU to be a true home and home.
West Virginia granting that to a G5 program that wasn’t even at the FBS level until 1997 would just be ridiculous.
In a perfect world, two programs who share a state would be rivals and play annually. But the current state of college football is far from a perfect world. And worrying about helping any Group of 5 school shouldn’t be something West Virginia prioritizes.
For related content, Mike Asti welcomed Randy Gyorko on his “Mike Drop” show back in 2020 to debate if WVU should play Marshall.
