1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

The 1994 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The team advanced to the Semifinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, where they lost to Boise State.

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
1994 record	12–2 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Jim Donnan (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Chris Scelfo (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Matthews (5th season)
Home stadium	Marshall University Stadium

1994 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Marshall $^		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 17 Appalachian State ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
Georgia Southern		5	–	3					6	–	5
Western Carolina		5	–	3					6	–	5
The Citadel		4	–	4					6	–	5
East Tennessee State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Furman		2	–	6					3	–	8
Chattanooga		2	–	6					3	–	8
VMI		1	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant

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
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
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
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
October 29	The Citadel	No. 5	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	W 42–30
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
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
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 [2]
• 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. "Marshall's All-Americans" (PDF). CSTV. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 28, 2015.
2. "Marshall's All-Americans" (PDF). Grfx.cstv.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-28.