2010 Marshall Thundering Herd football team
Encyclopedia
The 2010 season was the 114th consecutive year of Marshall University
Thundering Herd
college
football
. The team competes in the eastern division of Conference USA
of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's
Football Bowl Subdivision.
The 2010 season was the first for head coach John "Doc" Holliday
.
Marshall finished the season 5–7, 4–4 in C-USA play.
under former head coach Mark Snyder
, the Thundering Herd finished with an overall record of 7–6 and 4–4 within Conference USA. They played in the 2009
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, defeating the Ohio University
Bobcats
21–17. It was Marshall first bowl game since the 2004 Fort Worth Bowl
, and the Herd's first bowl win since the 2002 GMAC Bowl
. Snyder is currently the defensive coordinator of the University of South Florida
Bulls
.
MVP Terrelle Pryor
picked up where he left off in Pasadena, California
, with three touchdown passes, Brandon Saine
ran for 103 yards and two scores and Ohio State coasted past the error-prone Thundering Herd on Thursday night.
It was a bleak debut for new Marshall coach Doc Holliday, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant at West Virginia. The Thundering Herd fumbled the opening kickoff and were down 14–0 before running their first play in Ohio State territory.
Ohio State's defense limited Marshall to 44 yards on the ground and 199 total. Brian Rolle picked off Brian Anderson's pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter.
Anderson, who completed 17 of 28 passes for 135 yards, was harassed most of the night. He had an interception and the Herd also lost two fumbles.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302450194
rallied No. 23 West Virginia from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime and Tyler Bitancurt's 20-yard field goal in the first extra session lifted the Mountaineers to a 24–21 victory over Marshall on Friday night.
West Virginia improved to 10–0 all-time against Marshall. Except for their first meeting in 1911, this one was the closest in the series between the state's only Bowl Subdivision schools.
Marshall coach Doc Holliday, the Mountaineers' recruiting coordinator the past two seasons, brought inside knowledge of his former team. Former WVU offensive graduate assistant JaJuan Seider is Marshall's running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, while three ex-graduate assistants at WVU have similar roles at Marshall.
External link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302530276
The Thundering Herd tied the game at 28 with 1:01 left in the third quarter on Martin Ward's 1-yard run.
The Falcons responded with Bryan Wright's 27-yard field goal, and Aaron Pankratz threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Pronty with 9:21 left.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302610189
The Thundering Herd led 24–17 when Anderson threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Antavious Wilson with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter. Anderson, who finished with 295 yards passing, also had passing scores of 45 and 7 yards.
Ohio's Boo Jackson connected with Terrence McCrae on a 36-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 24–23 with no time left. The Bobcats elected to go for the two-point conversion, but Jackson's pass sailed through the back of the end zone to secure Marshall's win.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302680276
Southern Miss built a 28–0 halftime lead after Marshall gained just 46 yards on 23 first-half plays.
The Thundering Herd finished with 180 yards of offense, the lowest total of any Southern Miss opponent since Larry Fedora
took over after the 2007 season.
Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry, the national sacks leader coming into Saturday, reached Davis twice to run his season total to eight in five games.
Southern Miss ran its home winning streak to 11 games, and is off to its best start since 2004 when it started 4–0.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302752572
UCF broke open a close game in a steady rain with two touchdowns in the span of a minute in the third quarter and Marshall never recovered.
The nation's ninth-best defense limited Marshall's running game to 37 yards. And on a soggy night, two Marshall quarterbacks couldn't complete enough passes to overcome a big deficit.
The game was stopped for more than an hour in the second quarter due to lightning. Only a few thousand fans returned to their seats when play resumed and halftime was canceled.
External links: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302860276
Dominique Davis
threw for 208 yards and two scores for the Pirates, who are off to their best start in league play since going 5–0 in 2001. The two-time defending league champions have won 10 straight against C-USA opponents, including last season's win against Houston in the title game.
East Carolina shook off a sluggish start by scoring twice in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half to take a 20–10 halftime lead. The Pirates then scored on their first three drives of the second half to blow the game open against the struggling Thundering Herd.
Before the game, there was a moment of silence to honor the 75 victims of the 1970 plane crash that took place as the Marshall team was returning home from a loss at East Carolina. Next month marks the 40th anniversary of the crash.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302960151
Martinez's score, the first of his career, was set up by a personal foul penalty on the Miners. The Thundering Herd appeared to tie the score at 12 on Tyler Warner's 19-yard field goal with just under 2 minutes to play. But Warner was knocked over on the attempt, and Marshall got the ball back. Martinez scored on the next play.
UTEP led 12–7 after Kris Adams caught a 23-yard TD pass from Trevor Vittatoe
. The Miners opted to go for the two-point conversion, but the play backfired. Donald Brown intercepted Vittatoe's pass and returned it 100 yards for a two-point PAT return, making the score 12–9 with 5:25 left.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303030276
Anderson, who completed 25 of 41 passes with one interception for the Thundering Herd, threw two first-quarter touchdown passes.
The Blazers tied the game early in the fourth quarter on Josh Zahn's 20-yard field goal.
After the Thundering Herd's Troy Evans recovered his own fumble in the end zone for 24–17, Lee Smith caught his second touchdown pass from Anderson with 5:02 to go.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303100005
The Thundering Herd overcame a 10–0 halftime deficit.
Troy Evans started the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown run with 9:05 to go in the third quarter. After Tigers quarterback Ryan Williams fumbled a snap, Marshall took over on the Memphis 24, setting up Anderson's 6-yard scoring pass to Courtney Edmonson.
Paulo Henriques kicked a 45-yard field goal to make it 21–13, then Anderson found Evans for a 62-yard touchdown.
Marshall held the Tigers to 241 total yards, 77 in the second half.
External link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303170276
Brian Anderson was 24 of 42 for 277 yards and a touchdown but also threw three interceptions for the Thundering Herd, who fell to 0–7 all-time in Texas.
Marshall was held to 50 rushing yards and had its three-game winning streak snapped.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303242567
Anderson, who finished with 162 yards passing and one interception, connected with Courtney Edmonson on a 20-yard touchdown to give the Thundering Herd a 14–7 lead in the second quarter.
The Thundering Herd pushed their lead to 28–7 after Kevin Perry scored off a blocked punt and Anderson threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tron Martinez.
The Green Wave cut the margin to 14 points with 8 seconds left before halftime when Ryan Grant caught a 12-yard pass from Ryan Griffin. But Tulane pulled no closer after Tyler Warner's 33-yard field goal and Rashad Jackson's 84-yard interception for a score for Marshall.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303310276
.
Marshall University
Marshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....
Thundering Herd
Marshall Thundering Herd
The Marshall Thundering Herd are the intercollegiate athletic teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in Conference USA, which are members of the NCAA Division I...
college
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. The team competes in the eastern division of Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...
of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Football Bowl Subdivision.
The 2010 season was the first for head coach John "Doc" Holliday
Doc Holliday (football coach)
-External links:*...
.
Marshall finished the season 5–7, 4–4 in C-USA play.
Previous season
In the 2009 season2009 Marshall Thundering Herd football team
The 2009 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football during the 2009 season. Marshall competed as a member of the East Division of Conference USA, and played their home...
under former head coach Mark Snyder
Mark Snyder
Mark Snyder is the former head coach of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team in Huntington, West Virginia. He is currently the defensive coordinator at the University of South Florida...
, the Thundering Herd finished with an overall record of 7–6 and 4–4 within Conference USA. They played in the 2009
2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
The 2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association bowl game played at 1:00 PM EST on December 26, 2009 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan and aired on ESPN....
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, defeating the Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
Bobcats
Ohio Bobcats football
The Ohio Bobcats football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Ohio University. The team represents the university as a member of the Mid-American Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, playing at the Division 1 Bowl Subdivision level...
21–17. It was Marshall first bowl game since the 2004 Fort Worth Bowl
2004 Fort Worth Bowl
The 2004 edition to the Fort Worth Bowl, the second edition, featured the , and the . It had a title sponsor of PlainsCapital Bank. The game was particularly notable because it featured an incoming school to and outgoing school from Conference USA.Cincinnati scored first, when Antauwn Gibbons...
, and the Herd's first bowl win since the 2002 GMAC Bowl
2002 GMAC Bowl
The 2002 GMAC Bowl was an American college football bowl game. It was part of the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season, and was the 5th edition. It was played in December 2002, and featured the , and the Marshall Thundering Herd....
. Snyder is currently the defensive coordinator of the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
Bulls
South Florida Bulls football
The South Florida Bulls are a Division I FBS college football program that plays its home games in Tampa, Florida. The team began playing in 1997, holding its first team meeting under a shade tree as the school had no proper football facilities on campus...
.
2010 season
Ohio State
Rose BowlRose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
MVP Terrelle Pryor
Terrelle Pryor
Terrelle Pryor is an American football quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2008−2010...
picked up where he left off in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, with three touchdown passes, Brandon Saine
Brandon Saine
Brandon Croft Saine is an American football running back for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He was signed by the Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football at Ohio State University. He played high school football and ran track for the Piqua Indians...
ran for 103 yards and two scores and Ohio State coasted past the error-prone Thundering Herd on Thursday night.
It was a bleak debut for new Marshall coach Doc Holliday, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant at West Virginia. The Thundering Herd fumbled the opening kickoff and were down 14–0 before running their first play in Ohio State territory.
Ohio State's defense limited Marshall to 44 yards on the ground and 199 total. Brian Rolle picked off Brian Anderson's pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter.
Anderson, who completed 17 of 28 passes for 135 yards, was harassed most of the night. He had an interception and the Herd also lost two fumbles.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302450194
West Virginia
Geno SmithGeno Smith
Eugene "Geno" Smith is an American football quarterback. He currently plays for the West Virginia Mountaineers in his junior year...
rallied No. 23 West Virginia from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime and Tyler Bitancurt's 20-yard field goal in the first extra session lifted the Mountaineers to a 24–21 victory over Marshall on Friday night.
West Virginia improved to 10–0 all-time against Marshall. Except for their first meeting in 1911, this one was the closest in the series between the state's only Bowl Subdivision schools.
Marshall coach Doc Holliday, the Mountaineers' recruiting coordinator the past two seasons, brought inside knowledge of his former team. Former WVU offensive graduate assistant JaJuan Seider is Marshall's running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, while three ex-graduate assistants at WVU have similar roles at Marshall.
External link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302530276
Bowling Green
Bowling Green returned two interceptions for touchdowns, scoring the first 21 points and the final 16 Saturday night in a 44–28 win over Marshall.The Thundering Herd tied the game at 28 with 1:01 left in the third quarter on Martin Ward's 1-yard run.
The Falcons responded with Bryan Wright's 27-yard field goal, and Aaron Pankratz threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Pronty with 9:21 left.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302610189
Ohio
Brian Anderson threw for three touchdowns and Marshall survived on the final play to hold off Ohio in a 24–23 win on Saturday night.The Thundering Herd led 24–17 when Anderson threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Antavious Wilson with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter. Anderson, who finished with 295 yards passing, also had passing scores of 45 and 7 yards.
Ohio's Boo Jackson connected with Terrence McCrae on a 36-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 24–23 with no time left. The Bobcats elected to go for the two-point conversion, but Jackson's pass sailed through the back of the end zone to secure Marshall's win.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302680276
Southern Miss
Quarterback Austin Davis rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another as Southern Mississippi defeated Marshall 41–16 Saturday night.Southern Miss built a 28–0 halftime lead after Marshall gained just 46 yards on 23 first-half plays.
The Thundering Herd finished with 180 yards of offense, the lowest total of any Southern Miss opponent since Larry Fedora
Larry Fedora
-References:...
took over after the 2007 season.
Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry, the national sacks leader coming into Saturday, reached Davis twice to run his season total to eight in five games.
Southern Miss ran its home winning streak to 11 games, and is off to its best start since 2004 when it started 4–0.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302752572
Central Florida
Ronnie Weaver rushed for a career-high 150 yards, Jeff Godfrey ran for two touchdowns and Central Florida beat Marshall 35–14 on Wednesday night.UCF broke open a close game in a steady rain with two touchdowns in the span of a minute in the third quarter and Marshall never recovered.
The nation's ninth-best defense limited Marshall's running game to 37 yards. And on a soggy night, two Marshall quarterbacks couldn't complete enough passes to overcome a big deficit.
The game was stopped for more than an hour in the second quarter due to lightning. Only a few thousand fans returned to their seats when play resumed and halftime was canceled.
External links: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302860276
East Carolina
Jon Williams ran for 111 yards and a touchdown to help East Carolina stay perfect in Conference USA by beating Marshall 37–10 on Saturday.Dominique Davis
Dominique Davis
Dominique D. Davis is a quarterback for East Carolina University. He played for the Boston College Eagles for two seasons before transferring to Fort Scott Community College after an academic suspension. Davis was the back-up quarterback for senior Chris Crane and took over after Crane suffered a...
threw for 208 yards and two scores for the Pirates, who are off to their best start in league play since going 5–0 in 2001. The two-time defending league champions have won 10 straight against C-USA opponents, including last season's win against Houston in the title game.
East Carolina shook off a sluggish start by scoring twice in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half to take a 20–10 halftime lead. The Pirates then scored on their first three drives of the second half to blow the game open against the struggling Thundering Herd.
Before the game, there was a moment of silence to honor the 75 victims of the 1970 plane crash that took place as the Marshall team was returning home from a loss at East Carolina. Next month marks the 40th anniversary of the crash.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=302960151
UTEP
Tron Martinez gained a career-high 116 yards and scored on a 1-yard plunge with 1:47 remaining to give Marshall a 16–12 victory over UTEP on Saturday.Martinez's score, the first of his career, was set up by a personal foul penalty on the Miners. The Thundering Herd appeared to tie the score at 12 on Tyler Warner's 19-yard field goal with just under 2 minutes to play. But Warner was knocked over on the attempt, and Marshall got the ball back. Martinez scored on the next play.
UTEP led 12–7 after Kris Adams caught a 23-yard TD pass from Trevor Vittatoe
Trevor Vittatoe
Trevor Vittatoe is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2011...
. The Miners opted to go for the two-point conversion, but the play backfired. Donald Brown intercepted Vittatoe's pass and returned it 100 yards for a two-point PAT return, making the score 12–9 with 5:25 left.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303030276
UAB
Brian Anderson threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns to lead Marshall to a 31–17 win over Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday.Anderson, who completed 25 of 41 passes with one interception for the Thundering Herd, threw two first-quarter touchdown passes.
The Blazers tied the game early in the fourth quarter on Josh Zahn's 20-yard field goal.
After the Thundering Herd's Troy Evans recovered his own fumble in the end zone for 24–17, Lee Smith caught his second touchdown pass from Anderson with 5:02 to go.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303100005
Memphis
Brian Anderson threw three touchdown passes, all in the second half, as Marshall rallied to beat Memphis 28–13 Saturday for its first three-game winning streak since 2006.The Thundering Herd overcame a 10–0 halftime deficit.
Troy Evans started the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown run with 9:05 to go in the third quarter. After Tigers quarterback Ryan Williams fumbled a snap, Marshall took over on the Memphis 24, setting up Anderson's 6-yard scoring pass to Courtney Edmonson.
Paulo Henriques kicked a 45-yard field goal to make it 21–13, then Anderson found Evans for a 62-yard touchdown.
Marshall held the Tigers to 241 total yards, 77 in the second half.
External link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303170276
SMU
Zach Line ran for 202 yards and a touchdown and Kyle Padron threw two TD passes and ran for a score as Southern Methodist defeated Marshall 31–17 Saturday to become bowl eligible.Brian Anderson was 24 of 42 for 277 yards and a touchdown but also threw three interceptions for the Thundering Herd, who fell to 0–7 all-time in Texas.
Marshall was held to 50 rushing yards and had its three-game winning streak snapped.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303242567
Tulane
Brian Anderson threw for two touchdowns and Marshall jumped out to an early lead to beat Tulane 38–23 on Saturday in the season finale for both teams.Anderson, who finished with 162 yards passing and one interception, connected with Courtney Edmonson on a 20-yard touchdown to give the Thundering Herd a 14–7 lead in the second quarter.
The Thundering Herd pushed their lead to 28–7 after Kevin Perry scored off a blocked punt and Anderson threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tron Martinez.
The Green Wave cut the margin to 14 points with 8 seconds left before halftime when Ryan Grant caught a 12-yard pass from Ryan Griffin. But Tulane pulled no closer after Tyler Warner's 33-yard field goal and Rashad Jackson's 84-yard interception for a score for Marshall.
External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303310276
Team Players drafted in the NFL
The following players were selected in the 2011 NFL Draft2011 NFL Draft
The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players...
.
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Franchise |
| Lee Smith Lee Smith (American football) -New England Patriots:Smith was drafted by the New England Patriots in the 28th pick of 5th round, 159 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. He was released by the Patriots on September 3, 2011 and claimed by the Buffalo Bills on September 4, 2011.-Buffalo Bills:... |
Tight End | 5 | 159 | New England Patriots 2011 New England Patriots season The 2011 New England Patriots season is the 42nd season for the team in the National Football League and 52nd season overall.The Patriots dedicated their 2011 season to the memory of Myra Kraft, the wife of owner Robert Kraft, who died on July 20, 2011 after a long fight against cancer... |