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  • Marshall head coach Doc Holliday directs his team against Ohio State during the fourth quarter Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. The Thundering Herd will host West Virginia at 7 p.m. Friday. AP photo

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September 5, 2010

Holliday’s stamp in Morgantown

QB Smith among several Mountaineers recruited by current Herd coach

By Gary Fauber Register-Herald Assistant Sports Editor

HUNTINGTON — Over the years, Doc Holliday established a reputation as one of the greatest recruiters in college football.

Now he hopes it doesn’t end up biting him in the posterior.

It was Holliday who recruited quarterback Geno Smith to West Virginia. That worked in his favor last year, when he was an assistant for the Mountaineers. Smith came in when starter Jarrett Brown suffered a concussion on WVU’s first drive and, after a rough first half, led the team to a 24-7 win.

On Friday, Holliday will be watching Smith from the opposite sideline as Marshall’s head coach. The teams will play at 7 p.m. in Huntington in the annual Friends of Coal Bowl.

ESPN will televise the game nationally.

Smith threw for just 30 yards in the first half, but appeared more calm after the break. He bounced back to complete 10 of 12 passes for 117 yards.

He had two touchdowns in the Mountaineers’ 31-0 season opening win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday.

“I wish I didn’t recruit him now, to be honest,” Holliday said jokingly at his press conference on Saturday. “I thought that out there today and said I wish I had not have gotten him. He is a good player. He is mature and he makes good decisions. He will be a handful, and he is a great kid.”

The Mountaineers, obviously, are loaded with Holliday recruits, from receiver Stedman Bailey, defensive tackle Jorge Wright and safety Robert Sands.

“There are about four of five of them that I wish I hadn’t (recruited), because I would like to have them here right now,” Holliday said. “But, they are all good kids.”

That familiarity, Holliday said, could prove somewhat beneficial for the Herd on Friday night.

“It will help a little bit,” he said. “But, you know what, we will get guys lined up in the right place and they may help us to an extent, but our guys are going to have to go out there and make plays.”

It will be Holliday’s home debut after last Thursday’s 45-7 loss at No. 2 Ohio State. The current Coal Bowl contract is set to expire after next season’s meeting in Morgantown, and Holliday is now on record as saying that he likes the annual matchup.

But, he says, Marshall has to do its part to make it an attractive game.

“I think it is a great game for both schools,” Holliday said. “Now that the schedules have gone to 12 games it is harder and harder to schedule games. I think this is a game that needs to be played every year. It is great for the state and it is great for the economy.

“We have to win this game at some point. For it to be a rivalry we have got to go win that game.”

— E-mail: gfauber@

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