Moss Herds Thundering Marshall Return

Randy Moss put the exclamation point on Marshall’s season-long statement that it belongs in Division I-A.

With about two minutes left in Marshall’s 27-0 victory over Ohio, Moss caught his 22nd touchdown pass of the season, tying the NCAA single-season record. To celebrate, he flung the ball over the end zone stands, across a street and into a McDonalds parking lot.

“I tried to throw it as far as I could,” Moss said.

Twenty-eight years after Marshall was kicked out of the Mid-American Conference for poor facilities and NCAA violations, the Thundering Herd returned with a vengeance.

After winning the 1996 Division I-AA national championship over Montana, Moss and Marshall rejoined the MAC and stampeded to the East Division title.

A victory in the conference title game Dec. 5 against Toledo would send Marshall (9-2) to its first bowl game since 1947.

“We’ve done more in my two years here than have ever happened before in Marshall football history,” said Marshall coach Bob Pruett, who played for the Herd from 1962 to 1964.

Expectations for Marshall’s first season in Division I-A were mixed. There was little doubt the Herd was talented, but it was unknown if it had the depth to win, or be competitive, the entire season.

Moss led the way with a season’s worth of highlights and records. He tied the Division I-A record for most TD receptions in the regular season, first set in 1989 by Houston’s Manny Hazard. Moss’ record-tying catch also gave him a MAC record 134 points in a season.

The sophomore has 50 touchdown catches in his career and has scored at least one in 26 straight games dating back to last season. He has 83 catches for 1,477 yards this season.

But Moss insists Marshall is not a one-man team, pointing to the Herd’s two consecutive shutouts over Bowling Green and Ohio.

“That’s showed me this team can turn on a switch and start brawling,” he said.

He says his team has the same winning attitude that’s at Notre Dame and Florida State, where Moss expected to play before troubles off the field landed him in Huntington.

“It’s been like that since I’ve got here and no one here is going to let that change,” Moss said.

Indeed. Marshall’s 15-0 record in 1996 was the finishing touch on several years of dominance in Division I-AA. The Herd went to the I-AA title game five times in the 1990s, also winning in ‘92, while finishing second to Youngstown State twice and once to Montana.

This year, Marshall dominated its conference, winning by an average score of 41-14. Its only conference loss was 45-21 at Miami of Ohio in October. It is the first team to win nine games in its first season in Division I-A.

But it was Marshall’s season-opening loss at West Virginia that Pruett says proved Marshall belonged in the big leagues.

In that game, Marshall rallied from a 28-3 first-half deficit to take a 31-28 fourth-quarter lead, only to lose in the end. Moss had two touchdown catches in the rally.

“It showed we would never quit,” Pruett said.

Since then, Marshall has chased the conference crown while Moss chased records.

“Every game we’ve played has been to prove that we belong not just in Division I, but maybe even on the national level,” said Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington, who has passed for 3,158 yards and 36 touchdowns.

Winning and setting records has already brought national attention. Moss’ highlights are frequently broadcast nationwide, he has been mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate and he’s even talked about leaving school early for the NFL.

The conference title game will be played in Marshall Stadium and shown nationally on ESPN2. The winner advances to the Motor City Bowl on Dec. 26 at the Pontiac Silverdome.

Exposure like that helps a program trying to break into the Top 25, Pruett said.

“We call (a recruit) now and we don’t have to tell them who Marshall is. They know us now.”

Marshall players insist the MAC East Division title is not enough. Losing the league championship game or the bowl would ruin the season.

“Those two games will make or break everything,” said linebacker Larry McCloud. “We have to win them both to feel we’ve accomplished our goal.”