A rare home opening homecoming game for Miami had fans buzzing with anticipation around the red bricked campus in Oxford. Marshall being the opponent added even more hype. The enthusiasm was hitting its peak during the pregame Hawk Walk when…
…the skies opened up and released a sudden blast of rain. Fans, cheerleaders, band, and mascot scattered to seek cover as the team was forced to bus into the stadium as opposed to walk amongst their fans.
The rain stopped rather quickly, but the skies remained ominous. An hour before kickoff, the PA system announced a kickoff delay from 3:30 to 6pm. This took the air out of Yager Stadium before it could even fill up. Some RedHawk fans cleared campus because attendance did not reach the numbers that the school anticipated.
That didn’t keep enthusiasm from spilling out of those who dried off a spot on the bleachers. The band was in full force readying the crowd with the fight song and alma mater. The Marshall faithful showed up in strong support with band in tow. Both teams were thrilled to start this season and finally be hitting a different color jersey.
Yet, the Thundering Herd did most of the hitting early and stampeded to a 14-0 lead. Miami fought back all game long, but just couldn’t overcome that early deficit.
In the post game press conference, Miami coach, Chuck Martin, made reference to Marshall’s early lead saying, “We were chasing the 14-0 deficit all game long.” However, he wasn’t short of confidence for the remainder of the season adding, “We are going to beat the crap out of a lot of teams.”
