Huntington Quarterly Autumn 2022

Head coach Charles Huff had his team ready to face the most storied program in college football.

would disembark. Only a win like that brings out fans for an impromptu welcome-back party. The media exposure intensified during the week. Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde was in Huntington

season, we knew that eventually we were going to have this test. The win was a testament to the offense and defense playing off one another. We have each other’s backs. We’ve got a bunch of camaraderie in our locker room, and it was special to see today.” The digital reviews came quickly on Twitter. At 5:35 p.m. ESPN’s Hannah Storm weighed in with this: “ As hard as it is to watch as an Irish alum, a ton of respect for #Marshall and how they came into the Bend for the first time ever, and played this game. ” At 5:57 p.m. iconic sportscaster DickVitale tweeted: “ What a fantastic WIN by MARSHALL ! They were w/o a doubt the better TEAM today. ” At 7:10 p.m. Notre Dame football legend and sports caster Mike Golic wrote: “ Tons of credit to Marshall for their win at ND … they made the plays ... ND did not. ” The tweets kept pouring in. At one point “College Football Marshall” was the fifth-highest-trending topic on Twitter, with 23,200 posts. Back in Huntington, Marshall fans knew what kind of a win it was. That’s why some gathered at the Tri-State Airport to welcome the team plane back home. Still more fans lined the parking lot where the team buses

and sat in on Coach Huff ’s Tuesday news conference. He was putting this win in perspective for a program which has seen both the abyss, and the summit. “The bond is tight between town and team, and has Running back Khalan Laborn spoke with a reporter after being named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

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