Marshall will add North Carolina State for a non-conference game for the 2023 season.

The game will replace the Navy game after the Midshipmen canceled their agreement to play Marshall. Navy did not want to play Marshall after playing Notre Dame in Ireland the week before playing Marshall because of the limited time to prepare after international travel.

Marshall will end up getting $1.25 million through this agreement. Cincinnati will pay $850k, Navy will pay $250k and NC State will pay $150k.

Marshall, Cincinnati and NC State worked together to make this possible. NC State was supposed to host Cincinnati, but the Bearcats are entering the Big 12 early, so both schools came to terms to cancel their game.

Marshall Athletic Director Christian Spears said the agreement helped Marshall find a quality opponent.

“Part of that agreement allowed Marshall to find a replacement game for Navy as well as secure a game guarantee versus a well-respected opponent in a great location that we anticipate Thundering Herd fans will want to visit with us,” He said.

Spears added that the excellent relationship between Marshall and Navy allowed this to get done.

“We understand the decision made by Navy, and we are grateful for the relationships we have in college athletics,” He said. “These things can get complex, but when you have strong relationships, they tend to get managed at a high level with trust and transparency, and that is what happened here.”

The last match-up between Marshall and NC State happened in 2018; the Wolfpack defeated Marshall 37-20.

The rest of the non-conference games are East Carolina on Sept. 9, Virginia Tech on Sept. 23 and Central Connecticut State, which is to be announced.