Marshall University football coach Mark Snyder knows emotions will be running high all over the state of West Virginia as his team competes with the Mountaineers for bragging rights in the Friends of Coal Bowl on Saturday in Morgantown.

Snyder believes, however, that once the pads start cracking, all that emotion will be set aside.

"It's been my philosophy that after the first hit, you're playing a football game," he said about intense rivalry games. "It doesn't matter if you're playing in front of 80,000 people or in the parking lot."

The two teams tangle at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the fourth game of the Friends of Coal Bowl series, and it will be televised on the Big East Network.

WVU has captured the first three games handily, and it has never lost to Marshall in the eight meetings between the two state universities dating back to 1911.

All but one game was played in Morgantown.

WVU coach Bill Stewart said starting strong will be the key for his 4-1 squad.

"We started last January with 6 a.m. workouts, and that continued in the spring," he said. "That was our motto: 'Never hit our snooze button.' I think it helped us start like we're starting. Our players are coming out ready to go."

But that out-of-the-gate burst means little, he said, if you can sustain the intensity throughout the entire 60 minutes.

"On the flip side, we have to close the deal," he said. "That's maturity, and that's mental toughness. Those are things this program prides itself on."

Stewart said not closing the deal allows the opponent to believe it is still in the football game.

"You fumble here, you fumble there and you don't take the big play to the house," he said. "The next thing you know, you're in a battle."

Big East Conference's leading rusher Noel Devine was named the conference's Player of the Week for his efforts in a win at Syracuse last weekend.

But Stewart said he would like to see another of his stable of runners get a few more carries.

"Shawn Alston needs to play more," Stewart said, adding Alston will see time when Ryan Clarke is the fullback. "I wish I could get him in there. I want to see what he could do. His toughness has impressed me."