The 2011 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represents Marshall University

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....

 in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season

2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, play of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level, began on Thursday, September 1, 2011...

. The Thundering Herd will be led by second year head coach John "Doc" Holliday and will play their home games at Joan C. Edwards Stadium

Joan C. Edwards Stadium

The Joan C. Edwards Stadium is a football stadium located on the campus of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. It can hold 38,019 spectators and includes twenty deluxe, indoor suites, 300 wheelchair-accessible seating, a state-of-the-art press-box, fourteen concession areas, and...

. They are a member of the East 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...

.

Previous season

In the 2010 season

2010 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

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....

 under first year head coach Doc Holliday, the Thundering Herd finished with an overall record of 5–7 and 4–4 within Conference USA. After starting the season 1–6, Marshall won four of the last five games. They missed playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2008.

Schedule

West Virginia

The Herd again fell to The Mountaineers in a game that was delayed a total of 4 hours, 22 minutes and called with 14:36 left in the 4th quarter. Following 3rd a quarter Tavon Austin kickoff return for a TD that gave the Mountaineers a 27-13 lead with 5 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter the game experienced a lightning delay that lasted 3 hours, 6 minutes. Once resuming play a Vernard Roberts 1 Yd Run extended the WVU lead to 34-13 early in the 4th quarter, after which the game was once again delayed for lightning. It was ultimately agreed to by both teams to end the game.

Southern Miss

Rakeem Cato threw three touchdown passes to rally Marshall in a 26-20 win over Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA opener for both teams.
The Thundering Herd trailed 17-3 with 5:30 left in the second quarter before Cato orchestrated three straight touchdown drives. His third straight score, a 17-yard pass to Aaron Dobson, gave Marshall a 24-17 lead with 1:19 remaining in the third quarter. Cato finished with 275 yards and two interceptions on 27-of-42 passing. Southern Miss QB Austin Davis

Austin Davis

Austin Davis is the starting quarterback for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles college football team. A walk-on to the program, Davis redshirted the 2007 season and became the starter a year later...

 broke Brett Favre

Brett Favre

Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...

's career passing mark. Davis needed 74 yards coming in, broke the record of 7,695 set from 1987-1990.

External link: http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312530276

Ohio

Tyler Tettleton threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, leading Ohio over Marshall 44-7 to cement the Bobcats' best start in 35 years. Tettleton was 20 of 29 for 285 yards and also rushed for 53 yards on nine carries for the Bobcats, who have won their first three games of the season for the first time since 1976. Ryan Boykin had 130 yards rushing with a touchdown on 25 carries, and caught two passes for 20 yards for Ohio. Rakeem Cato threw for 116 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions for the Thundering Herd.

External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312600195

Virginia Tech

David Wilson

David Wilson (American football)

David Emmanuel Wilson is an American football running back for the Virginia Tech Hokies.-Early years:Wilson attended George Washington High School in Danville, Virginia. As a senior he set a school record with 2,291 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns...

 rushed for 132 yards, Josh Oglesby scored two touchdowns and No. 13 Virginia Tech improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2006 with a 30-10 win over Marshall. The day started poignantly for Frank Beamer

Frank Beamer

Frank Beamer is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , a position he has held since 1987. From 1981 to 1986, Beamer served as the head coach at Murray State University...

, who laid a memorial stone at the Marshall University Memorial to the 75 players, coaches and members of the university community killed in a 1970 plane crash about 2½ hours before the game. Two of the coaches killed in the crash -- coach Rick Tolley

Rick Tolley

-External links:* *...

 and assistant coach Frank Loria

Frank Loria

Frank Loria was an American football defensive back. He was born in the town of Clarksburg, West Virginia in Harrison County and was a three sport athlete at Notre Dame Catholic High School....

 -- were Virginia Tech graduates and Loria and Beamer played together in the Hokies secondary in the mid-1960s.

External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312670276

Louisville

Rakeem Cato's 4-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Crawford put Marshall ahead with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Thundering Herd held on to beat Louisville 17-13. Omar Brown helped seal the victory with an interception of Teddy Bridgewater's pass on the second play of the ensuing drive. The ball was tipped in the air by teammate Darryl Roberts and Brown dove forward along the sideline, cradling the ball against his chest before it reached the ground. This was Marshall's first win over a BCS school since 2003.

External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312740097

Central Florida

Central Florida running back Brynn Harvey rushed 30 times for 180 yards and quarterback Jeff Godfrey

Jeff Godfrey

Jeffrey Godfrey IV, also known as Jeff Godfrey is an American football quarterback currently starting for the University of Central Florida Knights...

 threw his first passing touchdown of the season as the Knights held on to beat Marshall. Marshall came in with lots of momentum after an upset win over Louisville last week, but struggled to find its offensive footing in steady rainfall throughout the game. The win ended a two-game losing skid for UCF and gave coach George O'Leary

George O'Leary

George Joseph O'Leary is the head football coach of the UCF Knights football team that represents the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida; he previously coached the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team from 1994 to 2001, and served as an assistant coach for the Minnesota...

 his 100th career victory.

External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312812116

Rice

Tron Martinez scored on a 4-yard run with 1:48 to play to lift Marshall to a 24-20 win over Rice. Marshall trailed 20-17 when it recovered a Rice fumble at the Owls' 23-yard-line with 3:31 remaining in the game. Six plays later, Martinez scored the game-winning touchdown. A.J. Graham rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns as the Thundering Herd gained 217 yards on the ground.

External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312880276

Houston

Case Keenum

Case Keenum

Casey Austin "Case" Keenum is a redshirt senior quarterback for the Houston Cougars football team. Keenum has already set several school records at the University of Houston and has positioned himself to become the NCAA's all-time leader in total passing yards in 2011...

 became the Football Bowl Subdivision's career leader in total offense, throwing for 376 yards and tying his career high with six touchdown passes as Houston beat Marshall 63-28. The senior quarterback needed 130 yards to eclipse the record (16,910 yards) set by Hawaii's Timmy Chang

Timmy Chang

Timothy Kealii'okaaina Awa Chang is a retired American football player. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2005...

 from 2000-04. He moved past Chang on a 30-yard pass to Justin Johnson with 3:56 left in the first quarter. A.J. Graham threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score for Marshall, which lost handily despite gaining 506 yards and winning possession time by 24 minutes.

External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312950248

UAB

A.J. Graham passed for four of his five touchdowns in the first half and Marshall dominated from the start in a 59-14 rout over Alabama-Birmingham. Graham, who completed 19 of 27 passes, threw for 239 yards and had one interception in just his third career start for the Thundering Herd. Marshall never trailed against UAB, who struggled to keep pace as Marshall held the Blazers scoreless in the first half. Other than Graham's first-half passing scores, Marshall had another highlight from Omar Brown, who returned an interception 48-yards for a touchdown to give it a 24-0 lead in the second quarter.

External link: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=313020276

Tulsa

Marshall and Tulsa last met in 2008 at Huntington in a game won by Tulsa 38-35. Marshall is 0-2 all time against Tulsa.

Memphis

Marshall and Memphis last met in 2010 at Huntington in a game won by Marshall 28-13. Marshall is 4-2 all time against Memphis. This year's game will be played on a Thursday.

East Carolina

Marshall and East Carolina last met in 2010 at Greenville in a game won by East Carolina 37-10. Marshall is 3-9 all time against ECU. Because both teams are 5-6, the winner of the matchup will receive bowl eligibility, while the loser will not.