2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football
2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football
Gasparilla Bowl champion
Gasparilla Bowl, W 38–20 vs. South Florida
Conference	Conference USA
	East Division
Record	9–4 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Doc Holliday (9th season);
Offensive coordinator	Tim Cramsey (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro spread
Defensive coordinator	Adam Fuller (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Joan C. Edwards Stadium
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Thundering Herd played their home games at the Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia, and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They were led by ninth-year head coach Doc Holliday. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for second place in the East Division. They were invited to the Gasparilla Bowl where they defeated South Florida.

2018 Conference USA football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Middle Tennessee x	7	–	1	8	–	6
Marshall	6	–	2	9	–	4
FIU	6	–	2	9	–	4
Charlotte	4	–	4	5	–	7
Florida Atlantic	3	–	5	5	–	7
Old Dominion	2	–	6	4	–	8
Western Kentucky	2	–	6	3	–	9
West Division
UAB x$	7	–	1	11	–	3
North Texas	5	–	3	9	–	4
Louisiana Tech	5	–	3	8	–	5
Southern Miss	5	–	3	6	–	5
UTSA	2	–	6	3	–	9
UTEP	1	–	7	1	–	11
Rice	1	–	7	2	–	11
Championship: UAB 27, Middle Tennessee 25
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Rimington Trophy^[1]	Levi Brown	C	JR
Fred Biletnikoff Award^[2]	Tyre Brady	WR	SR
Butkus Award^[3]	Juwon Young	LB	JR
Jim Thorpe Award^[4]	Malik Gant	S	JR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy^[5]	Ryan Bee	DL	JR
Outland Trophy^[6]	Ryan Bee	DL	JR
Paul Hornung Award^[7]	Keion Davis	RB/KR	JR
Wuerffel Trophy^[8]	Chase Hancock	LB	SR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award^[9]	Alex Thomson	QB	JR

Preseason All-CUSA team

Conference USA released their preseason all-CUSA team on July 16, 2018, with the Thundering Herd having five players selected.^[10]

Offense

Levi Brown – OL

Tyre Brady – WR

Defense

Chase Hancock – LB

Malik Gant – DB

Special teams

Matt Beardall – LS

Preseason media poll

Conference USA released their preseason media poll on July 17, 2018, with the Thundering Herd predicted to finish in second place in the East Division.^[11]

Predicted finish	Team
East Division
1	Florida Atlantic
2	Marshall
3	Middle Tennessee
4	FIU
5	Western Kentucky
6	Old Dominion
7	Charlotte

Schedule

Marshall announced its 2018 football schedule on January 23, 2018. The 2018 schedule consists of 6 home and away games in the regular season. The Thundering Herd will host CUSA foes Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, and UTSA, and will travel to Western Kentucky (WKU), Old Dominion, Southern Miss, and FIU.^[12]

The Thundering Herd will host two of the four non-conference opponents, Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley Conference at the FCS level and NC State of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and will travel to Miami of Ohio of the Mid-American Conference and South Carolina of the Southeastern Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	3:30 p.m.	at Miami (OH)*	Yager Stadium Oxford, OH	ESPN+	W 35–28	15,827
September 8	6:30 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky*	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN+	W 32–16	24,304
September 22	7:00 p.m.	NC State*	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CBSSN	L 20–37	32,349
September 29	7:30 p.m.	at Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	Stadium	W 20–17	20,811
October 5	7:30 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CBSSN	L 24–34	25,979
October 13	3:30 p.m.	at Old Dominion	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	Stadium	W 42–20	20,118
October 20	2:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CBSSN	W 31–7	23,825
November 3	3:00 p.m.	at Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	Stadium	L 24–26	20,375
November 10	2:30 p.m.	Charlotte	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN+	W 30–13	19,418
November 17	2:30 p.m.	UTSA	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	Stadium	W 23–0	18,502
November 24	12:00 p.m.	at FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, FL	Stadium	W 28–25	14,862
December 1^[a]	12:00 p.m.	at Virginia Tech*	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPN3	L 20–41	31,336
December 20	8:00 p.m.	at South Florida*	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Gasparilla Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–20	14,135
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^ The game between Marshall and South Carolina, originally scheduled for September 15, 2018, was canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence. Seeking bowl eligibility, Virginia Tech scheduled Marshall, as both teams had a game cancelled due to the hurricane and neither had made their respective conference championship games. The game was contingent upon the Hokies defeating rival Virginia, which they did.^[13]

Schedule Source:^[14]

Game summaries

At Miami (OH)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	14	7	7	7	35
RedHawks	0	7	7	14	28

Eastern Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	0	6	7	3	16
Thundering Herd	13	7	7	5	32

NC State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolfpack	3	20	14	0	37
Thundering Herd	0	7	13	0	20

At Western Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	7	3	0	10	20
Hilltoppers	3	7	0	7	17

Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Raiders	3	7	14	10	34
Thundering Herd	3	14	0	7	24

At Old Dominion

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	0	14	7	21	42
Monarchs	0	3	7	10	20

Florida Atlantic

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	0	7	0	0	7
Thundering Herd	0	10	14	7	31

At Southern Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	3	7	7	7	24
Golden Eagles	3	14	3	6	26

Charlotte

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	7	3	3	0	13
Thundering Herd	10	3	17	0	30

UTSA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roadrunners	0	0	0	0	0
Thundering Herd	10	10	3	0	23

At FIU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	14	0	7	7	28
Panthers	7	3	0	15	25

At Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	6	0	0	14	20
Hokies	10	21	3	7	41

At South Florida (Gasparilla Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	21	7	3	7	38
Bulls	7	3	10	0	20

References

^ "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
^ "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
^ "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist". The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
^ "Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Names 2018 Preseason Watchlist" (Press release). July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
^ "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
^ "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
^ "43 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2018 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
^ "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced". August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
^ "FB: 2018 Preseason Awards". July 16, 2018.
^ "FB: Preseason Media Poll". July 17, 2018.
^ "MCGILL: HERD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE HAS ATTRACTIVE HOME GAMES" (Press release). Marshall University Department of Athletics. January 23, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
^ "Hokies schedule Herd to keep bowl streak alive". ESPN.com. November 18, 2018.
^ "2018 Marshall Thundering Herd Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved February 1, 2018.

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[14] The game between Marshall and South Carolina, originally scheduled for September 15, 2018, was canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence. Seeking bowl eligibility, Virginia Tech scheduled Marshall, as both teams had a game cancelled due to the hurricane and neither had made their respective conference championship games. The game was contingent upon the Hokies defeating rival Virginia, which they did.^[13]

[1] "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.

[2] "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.

[3] "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist". The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2018.

[4] "Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Names 2018 Preseason Watchlist" (Press release). July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.

[5] "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.

[6] "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.

[7] "43 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2018 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.

[8] "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.

[9] "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced". August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.

[10] "FB: 2018 Preseason Awards". July 16, 2018.

[11] "FB: Preseason Media Poll". July 17, 2018.

[MU17-12] "MCGILL: HERD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE HAS ATTRACTIVE HOME GAMES" (Press release). Marshall University Department of Athletics. January 23, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2018.

[13] "Hokies schedule Herd to keep bowl streak alive". ESPN.com. November 18, 2018.

[15] "2018 Marshall Thundering Herd Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved February 1, 2018.

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