Old grudges die hard, and you don't need to remind former WVU football defensive endBruce Irvinof that fact.
It's been 14 years Irvin suited up in the old-gold-and-blue, and the two-time All-Big East selection went on to have a successful NFL career after his time with the Mountaineers. But he hasn't forgotten his time spent playing some of West Virginia's biggest rivals, including in-state foe Marshall.
The WVU-Marshall rivalry often gets dismissed by Mountaineers fans due to it's lopsided history -- the Thundering Herd have never managed a win against West Virginia, and WVU leads the series 12-0. And when long-time WVU assistant and current Marshall head coachTony Gibsonrecently made a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) sharing an emoji meant to represent the Marshall mascot, Irvinquickly fired backwith a screenshot and emojis of his own to remind Gibson of the series record.
😂😂🥴🥴https://t.co/Z7ipKRlaBEpic.twitter.com/6X8X8FDnjr
— Bruce Irvin (@BIrvin_WVU11)June 26, 2025
The most prominent period in the history of the rivalry came when the teams played every year from 2006-2012, which coincided with Irvin's stint in the program from 2010-2011. Irvin played in the closest game in series history since the first meeting in 1911 during his junior season, when the Mountaineers defeated the Herd 24-21 in overtime in Huntington. The next year, Marshall travelled to Morgantown for a 34-13 loss during Irvin's senior season.
While Gibson and Irvin both spent time at WVU, their stints did not overlap -- Gibson was an assistant for Rich Rodriguez from 2001-2007 and for Dana Holgorsen from 2013-2018.
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