HUNTINGTON — Inside the locker room following Marshall football coach Tony Gibson’s first win as a head coach on Saturday, the Thundering Herd crowded its coach and cheered as he struggled to find words in a postgame speech.

“To look in my players’ eyes after that game and see how excited they were [was special],” Gibson said. “It’s been a long two weeks for us. The emotion they had, how excited they were – every kid on this football team shook my hand and told me they loved me. That meant a lot. This is the first of many. We’re going to get this thing right and keep it rolling.”

Marshall offensive lineman Jalen Slappy, a captain, tried to stop a Gatorade bath that found Gibson before he made his way to his postgame news conference.

“I was actually against the bath. I was just gonna giv

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