Topic: H-D: MU-ECU is a natural rivalry

[ZackUSAF82]

The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON - Marshall-East Carolina wasted no time melding into a natural, friendly rivalry.

Conference USA's 2005 makeover left both universities on islands, flying south and southwest to face new opponents. Fans were forced to pick and choose trips; ECU was the easiest road trek for Thundering Herd fans and vice versa.

A healthy amount of visitors helped fill stadiums in 2005 and '06, and opposing fans mingled before, during and following football. Beyond geography, these programs of course are linked by Nov. 14, 1970, when Marshall football's chartered plane, returning from Greenville, N.C., crashed near Tri-State Airport, killing all aboard.

A full generation later, a muted, understanding respect remains between the fan bases. Appropriately enough, the respective head coaches are both buddies and rivals. Marshall's Mark Snyder and East Carolina's Skip Holtz are 40-somethings working to overhaul programs since their arrival in 2005.

"We're close to the same age and I know his family," Snyder said of this week's counterpart.

Link: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x1420955245