Jason Corriher
Marshall Sports Information

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall University will face USF in the 2018 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m., the bowl announced Sunday afternoon. The game, which will be televised on ESPN, will be played in Raymond James Stadium, the Bulls’ home stadium.
The Thundering Herd (8-4), which has never faced the Bulls (7-5), enters the game featuring an .846 winning percentage (11-2) in all NCAA-sanctioned bowl games, the highest mark nationally among programs that have made at least five appearances.
“This will be our third time playing in the Tampa area and these bowls have been so popular with our fan base,” said Marshall Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick.
“We look forward to our fans traveling to Florida and we have a lot of alums in that part of the country. It is such an easy trip for them to see the Thundering Herd play a very good opponent in USF.”
Marshall head coach Doc Holliday is 5-0 in bowl games with the Thundering Herd and will appear in his 27th bowl since entering the coaching ranks.
Since the beginning of the 2013 season, Holliday is 11-3 in games contested in the state of Florida and/or against Florida schools.
“Any opportunity to play in a bowl game is great,” said Holliday.
“The state of Florida has been good to our program for several years now and we’re excited to get back down to the Tampa area. We will face a good USF team and a head coach that I know well in Charlie Strong.”
Marshall defeated FIU 20-10 in the 2011 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl and UConn 16-10 in the 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl. Both of those games were played in Tropicana Field.
For all ticket information, visit HerdZone.com.