2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

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 Marshall Thundering Herd football
Gasparilla Bowl champion
ConferenceConference USA
DivisionEast Division
2018 record9–4 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTim Cramsey (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorAdam Fuller (1st season)
Home stadiumJoan C. Edwards Stadium
(Capacity: 38,227)
2018 Conference USA football standings
Conf  Overall
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

Previous season

The Thundering Herd finished the 2017 season 8–5, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for third place in the East Division. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they defeated Colorado State.

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]

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]

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

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.

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 13:30 p.m.at Miami (OH)*
ESPN+W 35–2815,827
September 86:30 p.m.Eastern Kentucky*
ESPN+W 32–1624,304
September 227:00 p.m.NC State*
  • Joan C. Edwards Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
CBSSNL 20–3732,349
September 297:30 p.m.at Western Kentucky
StadiumW 20–1720,811
October 57:30 p.m.Middle Tennessee
  • Joan C. Edwards Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
CBSSNL 24–3425,979
October 133:30 p.m.at Old Dominion
StadiumW 42–2020,118
October 202:30 p.m.Florida Atlantic
  • Joan C. Edwards Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
CBSSNW 31–723,825
November 33:00 p.m.at Southern Miss
StadiumL 24–2620,375
November 102:30 p.m.Charlotte
  • Joan C. Edwards Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
ESPN+W 30–1319,418
November 172:30 p.m.UTSA
  • Joan C. Edwards Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
StadiumW 23–018,502
November 2412:00 p.m.at FIU
StadiumW 28–2514,862
December 1[lower-alpha 1]12:00 p.m.at Virginia Tech*
ESPN3L 20–4131,336
December 208:00 p.m.at South Florida*
ESPNW 38–2014,135
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time
  1. 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)
See also: 2018 Miami RedHawks football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Thundering Herd 14 7 7 7 35
RedHawks 0 7 7 14 28

Eastern Kentucky
See also: 2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Colonels 0 6 7 3 16
Thundering Herd 13 7 7 5 32

NC State
See also: 2018 NC State Wolfpack football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wolfpack 3 20 14 0 37
Thundering Herd 0 7 13 0 20

at Western Kentucky
See also: 2018 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Thundering Herd 7 3 0 10 20
Hilltoppers 3 7 0 7 17

Middle Tennessee
See also: 2018 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Blue Raiders 3 7 14 10 34
Thundering Herd 3 14 0 7 24

at Old Dominion
See also: 2018 Old Dominion Monarchs football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Thundering Herd 0 14 7 21 42
Monarchs 0 3 7 10 20

Florida Atlantic
See also: 2018 Florida Atlantic Owls football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Owls 0 7 0 0 7
Thundering Herd 0 10 14 7 31

at Southern Miss
See also: 2018 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Thundering Herd 3 7 7 7 24
Golden Eagles 3 14 3 6 26

Charlotte
See also: 2018 Charlotte 49ers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
49ers 7 3 3 0 13
Thundering Herd 10 3 17 0 30

UTSA
See also: 2018 UTSA Roadrunners football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Roadrunners 0 0 0 0 0
Thundering Herd 10 10 3 0 23

at FIU
See also: 2018 FIU Panthers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Thundering Herd 14 0 7 7 28
Panthers 7 3 0 15 25

at Virginia Tech
See also: 2018 Virginia Tech Hokies football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Thundering Herd 6 0 0 14 20
Hokies 10 21 3 7 41

at South Florida (Gasparilla Bowl)
See also: 2018 South Florida Bulls football team and 2018 Gasparilla Bowl
1 2 3 4 Total
Thundering Herd 21 7 3 7 38
Bulls 7 3 10 0 20

References
  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. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  4. "Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Names 2018 Preseason Watchlist". 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. 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. http://conferenceusa.com/news/2018/7/16/football-fb-2018-preseason-awards.aspx
  11. http://conferenceusa.com/news/2018/7/17/football-fb-preseason-media-poll.aspx
  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.
  14. "2018 Marshall Thundering Herd Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
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