West Virginia and Marshall have been playing football against one another for more than a century - albeit the two instate programs have met on the field only 12 times - and rarely did the contest live up to its preseason hype.
Saturday's Friends of Coal Bowl, however, is expected to be the final meeting between the two schools - at least for the foreseeable future - and that is OK with at least one former Mountaineer player.
"It's the right time (for the series to end)," former Kennedy Award winning running back Quincy Wilson said. "It's a new era in WVU football and it may be time to move on."
Wilson, who starred for the old gold and blue from 1999-2003, never got the opportunity to face the Mountain State's other NCAA D-I program, but was on the sideline for the noon kickoff as one of the team's assistant coaches.
Also thinking the time is right for the two schools to go their separate ways were the Las Vegas odds makers who posted the Mountaineers as a 24-point favorite to make it 12-in-a-row against MU.
Even last-minute efforts by former governor, and now U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, as well as present Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin have failed to convince either WVU Director of Athletics Oliver Luck or his counterpart in Huntington, Mike Hamrick, to continue the present contract into the future.
Adding to the problem is WVU's entry into a Big 12 conference that is requiring its 10 members to play a round robin format of contests leaving Luck with only three non-conference games.
Marshall's slate of non-Conference USA games leaves little room to continue the series and while single meetings between the two schools may still dot future schedules, it is unlikely that another long-term deal will be struck.
With that fact in mind, the two programs collided at Milan Puskar Stadium and the outcome was nearly as predictable as the possibility of the two schools never facing one another again.
The first 30 minutes of action wasn't perfect for the No. 11 Mountaineers, as evidenced by a missed extra point and a failed fourth and goal run by Geno Smith, but it would be hard to criticize WVU's effort in the opening half.
Smith's failed fourth-and-goal plunge came up short, but the senior quarterback completed 19-of-22 attempts for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first 30 minutes.
Shawne Alston was a battering ram for the Mountaineers' rushing game with 66 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries. And, the defense, which was the biggest question mark throughout the summer, held Marshall to 48 total yards and two first downs on 14 offensive plays in the first quarter.
Following WVU's first half domination, the outcome was about as predictable as the Republican National Convention.
Individuals will continue to debate the positives and negatives surrounding the series, but the one thing they will never be able to point to will be a Marshall win.
Without that, there is no rivalry.
Contact Jim Butta at jbutta@newsandsentinel.com
