1997 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

1997 Marshall Thundering Herd football
MAC Champions MAC East Division Champions
MAC Championship Game, W 34–14 vs. Toledo
Motor City Bowl, L, 31–34 vs. Ole Miss
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	East
1997 record	10–3 (7–1 MAC)
Head coach	Bob Pruett
Offensive coordinator	Tim Nunez
Defensive coordinator	Kevin Kelly
Home stadium	Marshall University Stadium (Capacity: 30,000)

1997 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
East Division
Marshall x$		7	–	1		10	–	3
Miami		6	–	2		8	–	3
Ohio		6	–	2		8	–	3
Bowling Green		3	–	5		3	–	8
Kent State		3	–	5		3	–	8
Akron		2	–	7		2	–	9
West Division
Toledo x		7	–	1		9	–	3
Western Michigan		6	–	2		8	–	3
Ball State		4	–	4		5	–	6
Eastern Michigan		4	–	5		4	–	7
Central Michigan		1	–	7		2	–	9
Northern Illinois		0	–	8		0	–	11
Championship: Marshall 34, Toledo 14
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented the Marshall University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A college football season. It was their first year in the Mid-American Conference.

Regular season

In the 1997 season, Marshall University's first in Division I-A (now known as FBS), Randy Moss and future NFL quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 25 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.^[1] For the season, Moss had 96 receptions for 1820 yards, and 26 touchdowns. Moss won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's leading wide receiver, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). Moss left Marshall with 168 receptions for 3,467 yards and a school record 53 touchdowns.

The Herd became only the second team to win a conference championship in its first FBS season, after Nevada in 1992 (Big West Conference). The feat would not be repeated again until 2014, when Georgia Southern won the Sun Belt Conference title.

Season schedule

The Thundering Herd finished the regular season with a record of 10 wins and 2 losses.

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	12:00 PM	at West Virginia*	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV	ESPN+	L 31–42	65,492
September 6	1:00 PM	at Army*	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY		W 35–25	30,358
September 13	3:30 PM	at Kent State	Dix Stadium • Kent, OH		W 42–17	11,021
September 20	7:00 PM	Western Illinois*	Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV	WSAZ	W 48–7	26,724
September 27	1:00 PM	at Ball State	Ball State Stadium • Muncie, IN	WVAH	W 42–16	20,415
October 11	7:00 PM	Akron	Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV		W 52–17	26,642
October 18	2:00 PM	at Miami (OH)	Yager Stadium • Oxford, OH	WSAZ	L 21–45	29,027
October 25	7:00 PM	Eastern Michigan	Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV		W 48–25	21,474
November 1	1:00 PM	at Central Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium • Mount Pleasant, MI	WSAZ	W 45–17	15,324
November 8	3:30 PM	Bowling Green	Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV	WSAZ	W 28–0	23,509
November 15	3:30 PM	Ohio	Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV (Battle for the Bell)		W 27–0	32,012
December 5	7:30 PM	Toledo	Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV (MAC Championship Game)	ESPN2	W 34–14	28,021
December 26	8:00 PM	vs. Ole Miss*	Pontiac Silverdome • Pontiac, MI (Motor City Bowl)	ESPN	L 31–34	43,340
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[2]

1997 Team Players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Team
Randy Moss	Wide Receiver	1	21	Minnesota Vikings
John Wade	Center	5	148	Jacksonville Jaguars

^[3]

Awards and honors

Randy Moss, Fred Biletnikoff Award^[4]
Randy Moss, Finalist, Heisman Trophy

References

↑ Carter, Bob. "Moves, Emotions Have Moss Causin' a Commotion". ESPNaccessdate=February 22, 2007.
↑ http://cfreference.net/cfr/school.s?id=690&season=1997
↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1998.htm
↑ http://www.biletnikoffaward.com/

External links

Marshall Football Web Site

Marshall Thundering Herd football

Venues	Fairfield Stadium (1927–1990) Joan C. Edwards Stadium (1991–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games East Carolina Ohio: Battle for the Bell West Virginia: Friends of Coal Bowl

Culture & lore	Marco the Buffalo "Sons of Marshall" Marching Thunder Southern Airways Flight 932 Marshall University: Ashes to Glory We Are Marshall

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

Mid-American Conference football champions

Cincinnati (1947)
Miami (1948)
Cincinnati (1949)
Miami (1950)
Cincinnati (1951)
Cincinnati (1952)
Ohio (1953)
Miami (1954)
Miami (1955)
Bowling Green (1956)
Miami (1957)
Miami (1958)
Bowling Green (1959)
Ohio (1960)
Bowling Green (1961)
Bowling Green (1962)
Ohio (1963)
Bowling Green (1964)
Bowling Green & Miami (1965)
Miami & Western Michigan (1966)
Ohio & Toledo (1967)
Ohio (1968)
Toledo (1969)
Toledo (1970)
Toledo (1971)
Kent State (1972)
Miami (1973)
Miami (1974)
Miami (1975)
Ball State (1976)
Miami (1977)
Ball State (1978)
Central Michigan (1979)
Central Michigan (1980)
Toledo (1981)
Bowling Green (1982)
Northern Illinois (1983)
Toledo (1984)
Bowling Green (1985)
Miami (1986)
Eastern Michigan (1987)
Western Michigan (1988)
Ball State (1989)
Central Michigan & Toledo (1990)
Bowling Green (1991)
Bowling Green (1992)
Ball State (1993)
Central Michigan (1994)
Toledo (1995)
Ball State (1996)
Marshall (1997)
Marshall (1998)
Marshall (1999)
Marshall (2000)
Toledo (2001)
Marshall (2002)
Miami (2003)
Toledo (2004)
Akron (2005)
Central Michigan (2006)
Central Michigan (2007)
Buffalo (2008)
Central Michigan (2009)
Miami (2010)
Northern Illinois (2011)
Northern Illinois (2012)
Bowling Green (2013)
Northern Illinois (2014)
Bowling Green (2015)
Western Michigan (2016)

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