1999 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

The 1999 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. Marshall became the second non-automatic qualifying team in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) era to finish the year ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll.

1999 Marshall Thundering Herd football
MAC champion MAC East Division champion Motor City Bowl champion
MAC Championship Game, W 34–30 vs. Western Michigan
Motor City Bowl, W 21–3 vs. BYU
Conference	Mid-American Conference
	East
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
1999 record	13–0 (8–0 MAC)
Head coach	Bob Pruett (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Marty Galbraith
Defensive coordinator	Tim Billings
Home stadium	Marshall University Stadium (Capacity: 30,000)

1999 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 10 Marshall x$		8	–	0					13	–	0
Miami		6	–	2					7	–	4
Akron		5	–	3					7	–	4
Ohio		5	–	3					5	–	6
Bowling Green		3	–	5					5	–	6
Kent State		2	–	6					2	–	9
Buffalo		0	–	8					0	–	11
West Division
Western Michigan x		6	–	2					7	–	5
Toledo		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Illinois		5	–	3					5	–	6
Eastern Michigan		4	–	4					4	–	7
Central Michigan		3	–	5					4	–	7
Ball State		0	–	8					0	–	11
Championship: Marshall 34, Western Michigan 30
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Marshall outscored its opponents 463–137 en route to an undefeated, 13–0, season. The season-opener at Clemson (13–10) and the MAC Championship Game vs. Western Michigan (34–30) were the only games decided by less than 12 points.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	6:00 pm	at Clemson*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	WSAZ	W 13–10	79,186
September 11	7:00 pm	Liberty*		Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	WSAZ	W 63–3	26,374
September 18	7:00 pm	Bowling Green		Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	FSNP	W 35–16	29,741
September 25	8:00 pm	Temple*	No. 21	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	FSNP	W 34–0	30,194
October 2	2:00 pm	at Miami (OH)	No. 17	Yager Stadium Oxford, OH	ESPN+	W 32–14	30,087
October 14	8:00 pm	Toledo	No. 15	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN	W 38–13	30,203
October 23	12:00 pm	at Buffalo	No. 15	UB Stadium Amherst, NY	FSNP	W 59–3	13,120
October 30	4:00 pm	Northern Illinois	No. 13	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	FSN	W 41–9	30,081
November 6	2:00 pm	at Kent State	No. 13	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	WSAZ	W 28–16	12,280
November 13	12:00 pm	at Western Michigan	No. 12	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI		W 31–17	30,472
November 26	12:30 pm	Ohio	No. 12	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (Battle for the Bell)	FSN	W 34–3	26,053
December 3	8:00 pm	Western Michigan	No. 11	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (MAC Championship Game)	ESPN2	W 34–30	28,069
December 27	1:30 pm	vs. BYU*	No. 11	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, MI (Motor City Bowl)	ESPN	W 21–3	52,449
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Clemson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	6	0	0	7	13
Tigers	0	3	0	7	10

Liberty

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flames	0	0	3	0	3
Thundering Herd	7	28	14	14	63

Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	3	10	3	0	16
Thundering Herd	14	14	7	0	35

Temple

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	0	0	0	0	0
#21 Thundering Herd	14	7	10	3	34

Miami (OH)

	1	2	3	4	Total
#17 Thundering Herd	9	10	3	10	32
RedHawks	0	0	0	14	14

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rockets	3	10	0	0	13
#15 Thundering Herd	7	17	0	14	38

Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
#15 Thundering Herd	14	24	14	7	59
Bulls	3	0	0	0	3

Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	6	0	3	9
#13 Thundering Herd	14	0	14	13	41

Kent State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Thundering Herd	14	0	7	7	28
Golden Flashes	0	10	3	3	16

Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Thundering Herd	7	7	17	0	31
Broncos	3	7	0	7	17

Ohio

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	0	3	0	0	3
#12 Thundering Herd	0	13	7	14	34

Western Michigan–MAC Championship

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	10	10	3	7	30
#11 Thundering Herd	0	0	20	14	34

BYU–Motor City Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	3	0	0	0	3
#11 Thundering Herd	0	7	7	7	21

Roster

1999 Marshall Thundering Herd football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 22 Doug Chapman Sr WR 6 John Cooper Jr WR 82 Chris DeShazor So QB 7 Byron Leftwich Fr QB 10 Chad Pennington Sr WR 3 Nate Poole Jr OL 75 Steve Sciullo Fr C 62 Jason Starkey Sr WR 9 Lanier Washington Jr WR 83 James Williams Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 50 Antony Beckett Jr DB 42 Rogers Beckett Sr DL 96 Ronnie Bowman Jr DB 19 Chris Crocker Fr LB 4 John Grace Sr DT 93 Giradie Mercer Sr LB 55 Andre O'Neal Sr DE 53 Ralph Street Jr DB 21 Terrance Tarpley Fr DB 27 Willie Tisdale Jr DE 85 Paul Toviessi Jr LB 5 Max Yates So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 43 J. R. Jenkins Jr LS 54 Chris Massey So K 20 Jason Witczak So	Head coach Bob Pruett Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 1999-10-12

Team players drafted in the NFL

The following players were selected in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Chad Pennington	Quarterback	1	17	New York Jets
Rogers Beckett	Defensive Back	2	43	San Diego Chargers
Doug Chapman	Running Back	3	88	Minnesota Vikings
James Williams	Wide Receiver	6	175	Seattle Seahawks

[1]

Awards and honors

• Chad Pennington, Davey O'Brien Trophy finalist[2]
• Chad Pennington, Heisman Trophy Finalist[2]
• Chad Pennington, MAC Championship Game MVP and MAC Offensive Player of the Year
• Chad Pennington, 1st Team All-MAC
• Nate Poole, 1st Team All-MAC
• Giradie Mercer, 1st Team All-MAC
• Doug Chapman, 1st Team All-MAC
• John Grace, 1st Team All-MAC
• Rogers Beckett, 1st Team All-MAC
• James Williams, 1st Team All-MAC

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	RV	21	17	15	15	15	13	13	12	11	12	11	11	10
Coaches	RV		RV	25	22	17	15	16	15	13	12	11	11	12	11	11	10
BCS	Not released									14	14	NR	14	13	12	12	Not released

References

1. "2000 NFL Draft Listing". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
2. "1999 Heisman Trophy, College Football Awards". College Football Poll. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved April 17, 2009.