The Battle for the Bell will take place Saturday as Ohio will play Marshall in a rivalry that has existed since 1905. Ahead of the 60th meeting between the two programs, The Post wanted to learn more about the university first. Here are five fun facts about Marshall University:
Patriotic foundations
Originally founded as Marshall Academy in 1837 in Cabel County, Virginia, local attorney John Laidley named the higher education institution after John Marshall – the fourth chief justice of the United States.
Rocky start
Even though it was founded 24 years before the start of the American Civil War, the university had its fair share of troubles to become established because of different political headaches. The Virginia General Assembly did not recognize its status as a college because of its name, even though it was at one point named Marshall College. The university wasn’t officially recognized until after 50 Virginia counties seceded from the state in the Civil War to form West Virginia.
One of two distinct football stadiums in the NCAA
Joan C. Edwards is the namesake of the Thundering Herds’ home football stadium, and it’s special for a couple reasons. The stadium is one of two in the country where it’s named after a woman – South Carolina’s Williams-Brice stadium is named after Martha Williams-Brice. Edwards has donated the most money to the university with over $65 million. She also has four other buildings named after her, including the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.
They weren’t always the Thundering Herd
Boogercats, Big Green, Green Gobblers, Rams and Judges. Those were all names that had a shot at being the official nickname of the university, but in 1965 the student body voted on its current nickname in a landslide. The name comes from a 1925 novel by author Zane Grey and was brought to attention after The Herald-Dispatch sports editor Carl Ridgley started calling the university the Thundering Herd.
The home of famous NFL wide receiver
In the last two and a half decades, Marshall has produced several NFL talents, but none more important than wide receiver Randy Moss. In his two seasons at Marshall, he had nearly 4,000 receiving yards and over 50 touchdowns. Moss played for five different NFL teams in a 14-year span, highlighted by his two stints with the Minnesota Vikings.
