CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Marshall football hosts Virginia Tech this Saturday in the Joan.

There are quite a few storylines in this one.

First, the Charleston born and raised kid Grant Wells, who played quarterback for Marshall for three years, returns back to Huntington to face his former team.

Also JC Price, the current associate head coach and defensive line coach for the Hokies, spent eight years on the coaching staff for the Thundering Herd from 2012-2020. So he also comes back to Huntington to face his former team.

And lastly, the relationship between Marshall head coach Charles Huff and Tech head coach Brent Pry; a relationship that began back in 2011 at Vanderbilt.

Pry was working as the co-defensive coordinator, while Huff was in the early years of his coaching career.

Both Pry and Huff then joined the coaching staff at Penn State in 2014.

Pry was named the linebackers and assistant head coach, while Huff led the running backs.

So Huff knows Pry’s coaching style well, and says even though they’re on a two game skid, you can see they’re only a handful of plays away from coming out on top.

“They are a power five team and they have power five players,” said Huff. “So we have to play hard and we have to play disciplined. We’ll have to play our best game. I told the team we can’t go play one half of football and expect to compete with this team. So we have to put a good game plan together have a good week of preparation.

Brent has done a wonderful job there. You watch the way they play, you take the scoreboard away and watch the way they play, you can’t tell if they’re winning or losing. And that’s the trademark of a team that plays really hard. Whether its the first snap, or the last snap. I know they’ll be well coached. I know they’ll be prepared and their record will not determine how they come into the Joan on Saturday.”

Kickoff Saturday is at noon, and it is a sold out game.

If you weren’t able to get tickets, you can watch it on ESPN2.