1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. It was Marshall's final season competing at the NCAA Division I-AA level. Marshall won their second NCAA Division I-AA National Championship in school history.

1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football
NCAA Division I-AA national champion
SoCon champion
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Ranking
Sports NetworkNo. 1[1]
FCS CoachesNo. 1
1996 record15–0 (8–0 SoCon)
Head coachBob Pruett (1st season)
Offensive coordinatorLarry Kueck
Defensive coordinatorKevin Kelly
Home stadiumMarshall University Stadium
(Capacity: 30,000)
1996 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 1 Marshall $^  8 –0     15 –0  
No. 8t East Tennessee State ^  7 –1     10 –3  
No. 13 Furman ^  6 –2     9 –4  
No. 25 Appalachian State  5 –3     7 –4  
The Citadel  3 –5     4 –7  
Georgia Southern  2 –6     4 –7  
VMI  2 –6     3 –8  
Chattanooga  2 –6     3 –8  
Western Carolina  1 –7     4 –7  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 77:00 PMHoward*No. 1
W 55–2726,054
September 147:00 PMWest Virginia State*No. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 42–721,851
September 213:30 PMat No. 13 Georgia SouthernNo. 1
WSAZW 29–1313,977
September 287:00 PMNo. 12 Western Kentucky*No. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 37–320,755
October 57:00 PMChattanoogaNo. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
WSAZW 45–022,078
October 121:00 PMat VMINo. 1
W 45–209,165
October 197:00 PMWestern CarolinaNo. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
WSAZW 56–2119,330
October 261:00 PMat No. 20 Appalachian StateNo. 1
SSW 24–1023,458
November 21:00 PMThe CitadelNo. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
WSAZW 56–2521,038
November 92:00 PMat No. 7 East Tennessee StateNo. 1
WSAZW 34–1013,131
November 161:00 PMFurmanNo. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 42–1722,615
November 301:00 PMNo. 10 Delaware*No. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV (Division I-AA 1st Round Playoff Game)
WSAZW 59–1415,429
December 71:00 PMNo. 9 FurmanNo. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV (Division I-AA Quarterfinal Playoff Game)
WSAZW 54–014,096
December 141:00 PMNo. 3 Northern Iowa*No. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV (Division I-AA Semifinal Playoff Game)
WSAZW 31–1414,414
December 212:00 PMNo. 2 Montana*No. 1
ESPNW 49–2930,052

Roster
1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 39 Jason Balwanz Fr
RB 22 Doug Chapman Fr
WR 18 LaVorn Colclough So
OT 63 Mike Guilliams Fr
QB 15 Eric Kresser Sr
WR 1 Tim Martin Sr
WR 88 Randy Moss Fr
QB 10 Chad Pennington So
OG 52 Brian Reed  Sr
OG 65 Burt Scarbrough So
C 62 Jason Starkey Fr
RB 3 Erik Thomas Sr
RB 32 Llow Turner Fr
C 66 John Wade Jr
TE 87 John White So
WR 2 Mark Wicks Jr
QB 7 Mark Zban Jr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 42 Rogers Beckett Fr
DE 5 B. J. Cohen Jr
DB 12 Andy Cowan Fr
DB 25 Melvin Cunningham Sr
LB 4 John Grace Fr
DL 6 Ricky Hall So
DT 86 Billy Lyon Sr
CB 9 Thomas Maxwell Jr
LB 28 Larry McCloud Jr
DE 93 Giradie Mercer Fr
DB 11 Larry Moore Jr
LB 55 Andre O'Neal Fr
CB 8 B. J. Summers Jr
DE 58 Paul Totten So
DT 97 Joe Zeglowitsch So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 41 Chris Hanson So
K 40 Tim Openlander Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Larry Kueck – Offensive coordinator
  • Brian Dowler – Wide receivers
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Game summaries

Howard
Overall record Last meeting Result
1–0 1993 MARSH, 28–14

[2]

West Virginia State
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–0 1994 MARSH, 48–0

Georgia Southern
See also: 1996 Georgia Southern Eagles football team
#1 Marshall at #13 Georgia Southern
1 234Total
• Thundering Herd 10 766 29
Eagles 0 760 13
   
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–2 1995 MARSH, 37–7

[3]

Western Kentucky
#12 Western Kentucky at #1 Marshall
1 234Total
Hilltoppers 0 300 3
• Thundering Herd 10 7614 37
    
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–1 1951 MARSH, 35–21

[4]

Chattanooga
Overall record Last meeting Result
6–13 1995 MARSH, 35–32

VMI
Overall record Last meeting Result
13–5 1995 MARSH, 56–21

Western Carolina
Overall record Last meeting Result
8–9–2 1995 MARSH, 42–3

Appalachian State
Overall record Last meeting Result
6–14 1995 MARSH, 10–3

The Citadel
Overall record Last meeting Result
8–6 1995 MARSH, 21–19

East Tennessee State
Overall record Last meeting Result
12–4 1995 MARSH, 52–0

Furman
Overall record Last meeting Result
6–15 1995 MARSH, 31–6

Delaware (Division 1-AA First Round Playoff Game)
Overall record Last meeting Result
2–1–1 1993 MARSH, 34–31

Randy Moss caught 8 passes (3 TD) for a school record 288 yards.[5]

Furman (Division I-AA Quarterfinal Playoff Game)
Overall record Last meeting Result
7–15 1996 MARSH, 42–17

[6]

Northern Iowa (Division I-AA Semifinal Playoff Game)
#3 Northern Iowa at #1 Marshall
1 234Total
Panthers 0 0014 14
• Thundering Herd 7 3147 31
Overall record Last meeting Result
2–0 1995 MARSH, 41–24

[7]

Montana (Division I-AA National Championship)
See also: 1996 Montana Grizzlies football team
#2 Montana at #1 Marshall
1 234Total
Grizzlies 0 6023 29
• Thundering Herd 14 91610 49
          
Overall record Last meeting Result
0–1 1995 MON, 22–20

Randy Moss hauled in 9 passes for 220 yards and 4 TD as the Thundering Herd avenged the previous season's loss to Montana in the title game.[8] [9]

References
  1. "Final Sports Network's 1996 Division 1-AA College Football Poll". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on June 7, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
  2. "Past and Passes Key Moss's Future". The Washington Post. August 31, 1996. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  3. "Marshall 29, Georgia Southern 13". Associated Press. September 21, 1996. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  4. "Western loses quarterback, then Marshall romps 37-3". The Courier-Journal via Newspapers.com. September 29, 1996. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  5. "Marshall 59, Delaware 14". Chicago Tribune. December 1, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  6. "Marshall Routs Furman in NCAA I-AA Playoffs". Tulsa World. December 8, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  7. "Marshall 31, N. Iowa 14". Associated Press. December 14, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  8. "Moss, Marshall Thunder Montana". The Spokesman-Review. December 22, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  9. "No Slipping for Marshall, Moss". Chicago Tribune. December 22, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.


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