Marshall to host North Carolina Central in 2021, Norfolk State in 2022

By Kevin Kelley -

The Marshall Thundering Herd will host the North Carolina Central Eagles in 2021 and the Norfolk State Spartans in 2022, FBSchedules.com has learned.

Copies of contracts for both games were obtained from Marshall University via a state of West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request.

North Carolina Central and Norfolk State are both members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

Marshall will host North Carolina Central at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, W. Va., on September 11, 2021. Marshall will pay North Carolina Central a $375,000 guarantee for the game, according to the copy of the contract.

The 2021 contest between Marshall and North Carolina Central will mark their first-ever meeting on the gridiron.

The Norfolk State Spartans will travel to Huntington to take on Marshall on September 3, 2022. The Spartans will receive a $350,000 guarantee for playing the game, per the contract copy.

In their first and only meeting on the gridiron in 2015, Marshall defeated Norfolk State 45-7.

With the addition of games against North Carolina Central and Norfolk State, the Marshall Thundering Herd have tentatively completed their non-conference schedule for both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Marshall’s 2021 football schedule is slated to kick off with a game at Navy on Sept. 4. The Thundering Herd then play back-to-back games at home against North Carolina Central on Sept. 11 and East Carolina on Sept. 18 before concluding non-conference play at Appalachian State on Sept. 25.

The Thundering Herd’s non-conference schedule in 2022 begins in Huntington on Sept. 3 with a visit from Norfolk State. Marshall then travels to South Bend to take on Notre Dame on Sept. 10 before returning home to host Appalachian State on Sept. 17. Marshall’s final non-conference contest in 2022 is at Bowling Green on Oct. 1.

Football Schedules