American college football season
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 .
Listed in the order that they were released
Preseason All-CUSA team [ edit ] Conference USA released their preseason all-CUSA team on July 16, 2018, with the Thundering Herd having five players selected.[ 10]
Offense
Levi Brown – OL
Tyre Brady – WR
Defense
Chase Hancock – LB
Malik Gant – DB
Special teams
Matt Beardall – LS
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 1 Florida Atlantic 2 Marshall 3 Middle Tennessee 4 FIU 5 Western Kentucky 6 Old Dominion 7 Charlotte
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 .
Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance September 1 3:30 p.m. at Miami (OH) * ESPN+ W 35–2815,827 September 8 6:30 p.m. Eastern Kentucky * ESPN+ W 32–1624,304 September 22 7:00 p.m. NC State * Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV CBSSN L 20–3732,349 September 29 7:30 p.m. at Western Kentucky Stadium W 20–1720,811 7:30 p.m. Middle Tennessee Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV CBSSN L 24–3425,979 October 13 3:30 p.m. at Old Dominion Stadium W 42–2020,118 October 20 2:30 p.m. Florida Atlantic Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV CBSSN W 31–723,825 November 3 3:00 p.m. at Southern Miss Stadium L 24–2620,375 November 10 2:30 p.m. Charlotte Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV ESPN+ W 30–1319,418 November 17 2:30 p.m. UTSA Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV Stadium W 23–018,502 November 24 12:00 p.m. at FIU Stadium W 28–2514,862 December 1[ a] 12:00 p.m. at Virginia Tech * ESPN3 L 20–4131,336 8:00 p.m. at South Florida * ESPN W 38–2014,135 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
^ 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] 1 2 3 4 Total Thundering Herd 14 7 7 7 35 RedHawks 0 7 7 14 28
1 2 3 4 Total Colonels 0 6 7 3 16 Thundering Herd 13 7 7 5 32
1 2 3 4 Total Wolfpack 3 20 14 0 37 Thundering Herd 0 7 13 0 20
At Western Kentucky [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Thundering Herd 7 3 0 10 20 Hilltoppers 3 7 0 7 17
1 2 3 4 Total Blue Raiders 3 7 14 10 34 Thundering Herd 3 14 0 7 24
1 2 3 4 Total Thundering Herd 0 14 7 21 42 Monarchs 0 3 7 10 20
1 2 3 4 Total Owls 0 7 0 0 7 Thundering Herd 0 10 14 7 31
1 2 3 4 Total Thundering Herd 3 7 7 7 24 Golden Eagles 3 14 3 6 26
1 2 3 4 Total 49ers 7 3 3 0 13 Thundering Herd 10 3 17 0 30
1 2 3 4 Total Roadrunners 0 0 0 0 0 Thundering Herd 10 10 3 0 23
1 2 3 4 Total Thundering Herd 14 0 7 7 28 Panthers 7 3 0 15 25
1 2 3 4 Total Thundering Herd 6 0 0 14 20 Hokies 10 21 3 7 41
At South Florida (Gasparilla Bowl)[ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Thundering Herd 21 7 3 7 38 Bulls 7 3 10 0 20
^ "Rimington Trophy Press Release" . May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018 . ^ "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List" . July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018 . ^ "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist" . The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2018 . ^ "Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Names 2018 Preseason Watchlist" (Press release). July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018 . ^ "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List" . July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018 . ^ "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED" . July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018 . ^ "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 . ^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List" . July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018 . ^ "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced" . August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018 . ^ "FB: 2018 Preseason Awards" . July 16, 2018. ^ "FB: Preseason Media Poll" . July 17, 2018. ^ "MCGILL: HERD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE HAS ATTRACTIVE HOME GAMES" (Press release). Marshall University Department of Athletics. January 23, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2018 . ^ "Hokies schedule Herd to keep bowl streak alive" . ESPN.com . November 18, 2018. ^ "2018 Marshall Thundering Herd Football Schedule" . FB Schedules. Retrieved February 1, 2018 .
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