MORGANTOWN -One might think that West Virginia University football

coach Bill Stewart would have had a good night's sleep Saturday.

After all, his Mountaineer squad defeated Syracuse in the Big East Conference opener, his team wasn't as turnover-plagued as it had been in past games, and there were no significant injuries that would force him

to rethink strategies and substitutions.

But Stewart stayed up a bit too late, watching the highlights from Marshall

University's contest that same day, and it had the same effect on him as would a horror movie to a small child.

"I watched (running back) Darius Marshall on the highlights -- wow!,"

Stewart said. "He runs behind his pads, and he is tough. I saw the defense play well, too, with (end) Albert McClellan.

I couldn't sleep. Those highlights were very much an attention-getter."

The two teams square off in the Friends of Coal Bowl at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday in Morgantown. Marshall is coming off a 31-10 dumping of Tulane, but the Thundering Herd has never beaten WVU in eight contests that date back to 1911.

WVU, 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big East, has won all three Friends of Coal Bowl games since the series restarted in 2006.

WVU defeated a Chad Pennington-led squad 42-31 in 1997 after the eries had lied dormant since 1923.

"This game isn't Big East, but it's the team down south; that's enough said," Stewart said. "We better be ready to play and take our state first

before we start worrying about anything else."

Stewart was the offensive line coach for Marshall in 1980, but now bleeds old gold and blue.

"I coached there very proudly, but I no longer work there," he said. "It's a

big game for me, and it's a big game for our players.

"I can't imagine our team not being ready for Marshall," Stewart continued.

"But with these young minds today, our staff has met and needs to keep meeting to prepare the team to get ready."