1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football
1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football
SoCon champion
NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 24–28 vs. Boise State
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 2
Record	12–2 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Jim Donnan (5th season);
Offensive coordinator	Chris Scelfo (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Matthews (5th season)
Captain	Roger Johnson, Shannon Morrison, Vince Parker, Chris Parker, J. D. Cyrus, Todd Donnan
Home stadium	Marshall University Stadium
	Seasons ← 1993 1995 →

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 Southern Conference football standings
v t e	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

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

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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	Morehead State*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	W 71–7
September 10	No. 16 Tennessee Tech*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	W 24–10
September 17	at No. 21 Georgia Southern	No. 1	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 34–13	14,411
September 24	West Virginia State*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	W 48–0
October 1	Chattanooga	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	W 62–21
October 8	at VMI	No. 1	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	W 49–7	9,538	^[2]
October 15	No. 16 Western Carolina	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	W 38–14
October 22	at No. 24 Appalachian State	No. 1	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	L 14–24	19,781	^[3]
October 29	The Citadel	No. 5	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	W 42–30	23,260
November 5	at East Tennessee State	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Johnson City, TN	W 42–12
November 12	Furman	No. 2	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	W 35–14	20,405	^[4]
November 26	No. 16 Middle Tennessee*	No. 2	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 49–14
December 3	No. 13 James Madison*	No. 2	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 28–21 ^OT	16,494	^[5]
December 10	at No. 3 Boise State*	No. 2	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	L 24–28	20,068
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

Roster

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

Jim Donnan

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Awards and honors

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

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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