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1971 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

1971 Marshall Thundering Herd football
ConferenceIndependent
Record2–8
Head coach
Offensive schemeVeer
Defensive coordinatorWilliam "Red" Dawson (4th season)
CaptainNate Ruffin
Home stadiumFairfield Stadium
Seasons
← 1970
1972 →
1971 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Penn State   –   11 – 1 – 0
Boston College   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 17 Houston   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 13 Notre Dame   –   8 – 2 – 0
Utah State   –   8 – 3 – 0
Florida State   –   8 – 4 – 0
Cincinnati   –   7 – 4 – 0
West Virginia   –   7 – 4 – 0
Temple   –   6 – 2 – 1
Air Force   –   6 – 4 – 0
Army   –   6 – 4 – 0
Colgate   –   6 – 4 – 0
Villanova   –   6 – 4 – 1
South Carolina   –   6 – 5 – 0
Southern Miss   –   6 – 5 – 0
Georgia Tech   –   6 – 6 – 0
New Mexico State   –   5 – 5 – 1
Northern Illinois   –   5 – 5 – 1
Syracuse   –   5 – 5 – 1
Dayton   –   5 – 6 – 0
Holy Cross   –   4 – 6 – 0
Miami (FL)   –   4 – 7 – 0
Rutgers   –   4 – 7 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   4 – 7 – 0
Navy   –   3 – 8 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   3 – 8 – 0
Tulane   –   3 – 8 – 0
Marshall   –   2 – 8 – 0
Xavier   –   1 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1971 Marshall Thundering Herd football team (sometimes referred to as the Young Thundering Herd) represented Marshall University as an independent during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Led by first-year head coach Jack Lengyel, the Thundering Herd compiled a record of 2–8. Nate Ruffin was the team captain.[1] Marshall played home games at Fairfield Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia.

Before the season

Previous season

On November 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932, which was chartered by the school to fly the 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team and fans to Greenville, North Carolina for a game against the East Carolina Pirates and back to Huntington, West Virginia, crashed on approach to Tri-State Airport after clipping trees just west of the runway and impacting nose-first into a hollow. All 75 people on board died. It was the worst single air tragedy in NCAA sports history.[2] The 1970 Marshall University football team was coached by Rick Tolley and finished with a record of 3–6.

New coaching staff

Marshall lost much of their coaching staff and their athletic director in the crash. Joe McMullen was hired to be the new AD. Georgia Tech assistant coach Dick Bestwick was hired to be the head coach. However, after two days he returned to Georgia Tech. William "Red" Dawson was named acting head coach, and later signed 21 prospects from five states.[3] Wooster coach Jack Lengyel was eventually hired to fill the position.[4] Dawson, an assistant coach, had gone on a recruiting trip instead of flying back with the team after the ECU game in 1970, and Lengyel convinced him to stay around for the 1971 season, providing some continuity. Dawson would retire from coaching following the season.

Freshmen eligibility waiver

Prior to and during the 1971 season the NCAA did not allow freshmen to compete in varsity football. Marshall requested and was granted a waiver to allow freshmen to compete so that they could field a complete team. Due to the age of the players on the team coach Lengyel nicknamed them the Young Thundering Herd.[5] Beginning with the 1972 season the NCAA allowed freshmen to compete for all varsity football teams.[6]

Construction of the roster

In addition to the true freshmen who were allowed to play the roster featured three players from the previous year's varsity team. Defensive backs Felix Jordan and Nate Ruffin had both missed the ECU game due to injuries, and defensive lineman Eddie Carter had missed the ECU game due to personal matters. As freshmen had not been allowed to play on the varsity team in 1970, the 1971 roster also had many sophomores that had been recruited to Marshall.[7]

Aside from nine players who did not board the flight,[8] the 1971 team consisted of walk-ons, former servicemen and three basketball players who had used their fifth year of eligibility to play for the football team.[9] 50 players tried out for the team, with 35 being accepted as walk-ons.[7] Lengyel dubbed his team the "Young Thundering Herd," and to motivate the team, President Richard Nixon wrote, "Friends across the land will be rooting for you, but whatever the season brings, you have already won your greatest victory by putting the 1971 varsity on the field."[9] The letter was later read by Legyel to the team at the first day of practice.[10]

The team did not have a placekicker and held tryouts. Blake Smith, who had never attended a football game, would ultimately win the job.[7]

Coaching staff

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 18at Morehead State
L 6–29
September 25Xavier
W 15–13[11]
October 2at Miami (OH)
L 6–66
October 9at Northern Illinois
L 18–33
October 16Dayton
  • Fairfield Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
L 0–13
October 23at Western Michigan
L 0–37
October 30Bowling Greendagger
  • Fairfield Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
W 12–10
November 6at Kent State
L 0–216,884[12]
November 13No. 14 Toledo
  • Fairfield Stadium
  • Huntington, WV
L 0–43
November 20Ohio
  • Fairfield Stadium
  • Huntington, WV (rivalry)
L 0–30
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[13]

The season

For the season opener, the team visited the Morehead State Eagles for the I-64 Rivalry. Despite losing 29–6, the Herd managed to score late in the game with Reggie Oliver's touchdown pass to Tom Smyth, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd.[7]

We Are Marshall

The event and its aftermath were dramatized in the 2006 Warner Brothers motion picture, We Are Marshall, starring Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel and Matthew Fox as Red Dawson.

References

  1. ^ "Nate Ruffin became victims' voice". August 20, 2014.
  2. ^ Sahadi, Lou. "Marshall football: From tragedy to triumph". ESPN Classic. Archived from the original on February 12, 2003.
  3. ^ Owen, Ray (February 25, 1971). "(Off-season) football watch". Southeast Missourian. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  4. ^ "Q&A: 'We Are Marshall' movie fact vs. fiction". The Herald Dispatch.
  5. ^ "ESPN Classic - Marshall football: From tragedy to triumph". ESPN. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  6. ^ "NCAA's decision to allow freshman eligibility changed football landscape". Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d Woodrum, Woody (September 25, 2006). "September 25, 1971: Marshall-15 Xavier-13". Scout.com. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  8. ^ "Plane crash devastates Marshall University". History. November 17, 1970. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  9. ^ a b Sahadi, Lou (November 19, 2003). "Marshall football: From tragedy to triumph". ESPN Classic. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  10. ^ Weir, Tom (May 1, 2006). "Former coach remembers his own Marshall plan". USA Today. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  11. ^ "Touchdown on final play gives Marshall 15–13 win". Beckley Post-Herald and Register. September 26, 1971. Retrieved January 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Scott Bosley (November 7, 1971). "Kent State Defeats Herd 21-0: First Shutout In Four Years". The Akron Beacon Journal. pp. B1, B7 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ DeLassus, David. "Marshall Yearly Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
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