1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

The 1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Jim Donnan, the Thundering Herd compiled an overall record of 12–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, winning the SoCon title. Marshall advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Championship playoffs for the fourth straight season, where they defeated Middle Tennessee in the first round and James Madison in the quarterfinals, before losing to Boise State in the semifinals. Marshall played home games at Marshall University Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia.

1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football
SoCon champion
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Ranking
Sports NetworkNo. 2
Record12–2 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorChris Scelfo (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorMickey Matthews (5th season)
CaptainRoger Johnson, Shannon Morrison, Vince Parker, Chris Parker, J. D. Cyrus, Todd Donnan
Home stadiumMarshall University Stadium
Seasons
← 1993
1995 →
1994 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Marshall $^ 7 1 0 12 2 0
No. 17 Appalachian State ^ 6 2 0 9 4 0
Georgia Southern 5 3 0 6 5 0
Western Carolina 5 3 0 6 5 0
The Citadel 4 4 0 6 5 0
East Tennessee State 4 4 0 6 5 0
Furman 2 6 0 3 8 0
Chattanooga 2 6 0 3 8 0
VMI 1 7 0 1 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Regular season

edit

Marshall went undefeated at home during the regular season and lost one game on the road to Appalachian State. Marshall's 7–1 conference record earned them the Southern Conference championship.

Postseason

edit

By winning the Southern Conference championship, Marshall was awarded a bid in the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. Marshall defeated Middle Tennessee State and James Madison in Huntington before falling to Boise State in Boise in the semifinal game.

During the James Madison playoff game Marshall cornerback Melvin Cunningham set a 1-AA playoff record with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.[1]

Schedule

edit
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 3Morehead State*No. 1W 71–7
September 10No. 16 Tennessee Tech*No. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 24–10
September 17at No. 21 Georgia SouthernNo. 1W 34–1314,411
September 24West Virginia State*No. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 48–0
October 1ChattanoogaNo. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 62–21
October 8at VMINo. 1W 49–79,538[2]
October 15No. 16 Western CarolinaNo. 1
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 38–14
October 22at No. 24 Appalachian StateNo. 1L 14–2419,781[3]
October 29The CitadelNo. 5
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 42–3023,260
November 5at East Tennessee StateNo. 3W 42–12
November 12FurmanNo. 2
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 35–1420,405[4]
November 26No. 16 Middle Tennessee*No. 2
W 49–14
December 3No. 13 James Madison*No. 2
  • Marshall University Stadium
  • Huntington, WV (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)
W 28–21 OT16,494[5]
December 10at No. 3 Boise State*No. 2
L 24–2820,068

Roster

edit
1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 4 Jeff Edwards Jr
C 66 John Wade Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 86 Billy Lyon So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Awards and honors

edit
  • William Pannell, 1st Team All-Southern Conference [6]
  • Travis Colquitt. 1st Team All-Southern Conference
  • Shannon Morrison, 1st Team All-Southern Conference
  • Billy Lyon, 1st Team All-Southern Conference
  • Jamie Wilson, 2nd Team All-Southern Conference
  • David Merrick, 2nd Team All-Southern Conference

References

edit
  1. ^ "Marshall's All-Americans" (PDF). CSTV. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 2, 2015.
  2. ^ "Marshall 49, VMI 7". The News and Observer. October 9, 1994. Retrieved February 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "No. 1 Marshall suffers setback". The Billings Gazette. October 23, 1994. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Donnan guides Marshall over Furman". The Times and Democrat. November 13, 1994. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Marshall ousts JMU by 28–21". Daily Press. December 4, 1994. Retrieved October 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Marshall's All-Americans" (PDF). Grfx.cstv.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.