That’s the message Marshall University sent to the University of Pittsburgh regarding a football game Thundering Herd officials claim the Panthers owe MU.
The Marshall Board of Governors filed a $1 million lawsuit against the University of Pittsburgh Commonwealth System of Higher Education on Dec. 23 in Cabell County Circuit Court. The point of contention is a football game to have been played at Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Sept. 26, 2020.
The Herd played Pitt in 2016 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, losing 43-27, as part of a home-and-home contract. In 2017, the schools amended the contract to play in Huntington on Sept. 12, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, prompted officials from the Atlantic Coast Conference, of which Pitt is a member, to limit teams to 11 games, 10 in conference and one out of the league but to be played at home.
Conference USA, of which Marshall was a member at the time before moving to the Sun Belt in 2022, mandated its members play eight games in the league and as many as four out of conference, with no restrictions on where those contests took place.
In a letter dated Aug. 7, 2020, then-Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson informed then-Marshall AD Mike Hamrick the Panthers couldn’t fulfill their end of the contract because of the ACC’s stance on games impacted by the pandemic.
Marshall, represented by the law firm Steptoe & Johnson, claims in the suit because it was the home team in 2020, the agreement mandates the rules of Conference USA govern the playing of the game. The complaint notes that Pitt played in four other states in 2020, as well as a home game with Austin Peay, which is from Clarksville, Tennessee.
On Nov. 26, 2024, Pitt filed a declaration in common pleas court in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, that it isn’t obligated to play a return game or pay damages. Marshall sought to dismiss the action, claiming immunity from rulings on private suits outside West Virginia.
The complaint indicated the Herd and Panthers attempted to reschedule the game in 2026 and 2028 without success in finding a date to play.
Athletic department officials from both universities declined comment Saturday pending the litigation. Marshall athletic director Christian Spears was deputy A.D. at Pitt before being hired at MU on Feb. 21, 2022.
