Topic: The end of a play that negatively impacted the trajectory of Marshall Football

[Ovaltine Jenkins]

Stan Hill getting injured.

https://youtu.be/abUIqfXNRqE?si=DZhRSBEeVBnBI8ic.

[MU42]

I thought it was going to be Bob Pruett losing scholarships and then leaving right before Spring Practice, 5 months before moving to a tougher conference and the most difficult non-conference schedules on MU history.

[mubowhunter]

Stan Hill getting injured.

https://youtu.be/abUIqfXNRqE?si=DZhRSBEeVBnBI8ic.

This certainly had a negative effect on our progress.  Such a fluke incident and we had the Volunteers on the ropes and were gaining steam before a ruckus crowd.  I miss having a quarterback with true grit.

What?s crazy is the fact that we can?t find one today amongst the 100?s of kids out there.  This is a coaching issue.

[Flat Tire 2]

This certainly had a negative effect on our progress.  Such a fluke incident and we had the Volunteers on the ropes and were gaining steam before a ruckus crowd.  I miss having a quarterback with true grit.

What?s crazy is the fact that we can?t find one today amongst the 100?s of kids out there.  This is a coaching issue.

Bob had his faults, but he could find good players. Say what you want to but on game day; Bob was by far the best Marshall Football Coach we ever had.

[MUther]

This certainly had a negative effect on our progress.  Such a fluke incident and we had the Volunteers on the ropes and were gaining steam before a ruckus crowd.  I miss having a quarterback with true grit.

What?s crazy is the fact that we can?t find one today amongst the 100?s of kids out there.  This is a coaching issue.

Not that much of a fluke.  We seem to lose QBs every other year to some kind of injury.  Leftwich breaks leg Hill takes over.  Stan gets hurt, QB by committee for years. Cato hurt, use Graham. Birdsong down, get Chase.  Chase gets bell rung, use backup, Chase never the same.  Wells dumps game vs Rice goes mental. Wells gets concussion.  Columbi hurt, use Fancher.  Fancher plays hurt most of last season.  I don't know any team with that string of bad luck over a 20 year period.  When we do that to other teams, suddenly they have Johnny Unitas waiting in the wings to take over.  QBU has had crap development of backup and replacement QBs for decades.

[Johnnyherd]

.

[herdman22]

Bob had his faults, but he could find good players. Say what you want to but on game day; Bob was by far the best Marshall Football Coach we ever had.

Best we've had in my lifetime at halftime adjustments.


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[IM4DHERD]

I was there.  After that play it was a pure pleasure to hear silence from 100,000 TN fans.

[MicDrass1]

Stan Hill might be the best pure passing talent in MU history.  He could make every single throw in football. Could run as well.  He?s not the best Qb we had but probably the best arm talent. 

[THECHAMPISHERE]

I think the two biggest things that impacted the trajectory of Marshall football is a mix between Mark Snyder not being a great coach. If he ends up being a knock out hire he could have kept the momentum going and we would probably be in a P5 conference now...with an entirely different looking athletic budget and presence nationally...AND the hiring and keeping of Doc Holiday WAYYYYYYYYYY TOOOOOO LONNNNGGGGG....dude was served 6-7-8 championships on a silver platter and monumentally crapped the bed....that was the nail in the coffin for Marshall football. I doubt we ever recover. Two coaches changed Marshall athletics forever...we missed the bus, train, ship has sailed...whatever analogy you want to use. On the flip side the Marshall brass took care of their buddy...which was the only goal they had anyway...so they won...we, as fans, lost.

[Herd72]

Going back farther ... Ron Lear's injury that forced him to leave football.

[Flat Tire 2]

Going back farther ... Ron Lear's injury that forced him to leave football.

I remember attending Lear's first game of the 1979 season, we beat Toledo for the only win of the season 1-10. We were held scoreless the next three games and were shutout at another game at Miss State. We only scored 3 points in the loss to VMI and 7 points in a loss to Appy State. Old Sonny was never an offensive minded coach. Lear had 1162 yards rushing that year.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/ron-lear-1.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Marshall_Thundering_Herd_football_team

Lear had 617 yards rushing on a team that 2-8-1. At least that team stopped the non winning Southern Conference streak. That was another team that horrible on offense. One would think Sonny, being a former NFL wide receiver, would have been a good offensive minded coach. Everyone at Farifield knew the plays Sonny was going to call every series; run up the middle; run to the left; run to the right and then punt. Watching Sonny's offense was like watching paint dry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Marshall_Thundering_Herd_football_team

[Lord Haw-Haw]

I remember attending Lear's first game of the 1979 season, we beat Toledo for the only win of the season 1-10. We were held scoreless the next three games and were shutout at another game at Miss State. We only scored 3 points in the loss to VMI and 7 points in a loss to Appy State. Old Sonny was never an offensive minded coach. Lear had 1162 yards rushing that year.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/ron-lear-1.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Marshall_Thundering_Herd_football_team

Lear had 617 yards rushing on a team that 2-8-1. At least that team stopped the non winning Southern Conference streak. That was another team that horrible on offense. One would think Sonny, being a former NFL wide receiver, would have been a good offensive minded coach. Everyone at Farifield knew the plays Sonny was going to call every series; run up the middle; run to the left; run to the right and then punt. Watching Sonny's offense was like watching paint dry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Marshall_Thundering_Herd_football_team

Yeah, I was there at the 1979 game versus Mississippi State. It was lot of fun seeing Marshall for the first time in 3 years, albeit in a blowout loss. Saw some Green Wave games during that period. Too bad Jon Sharetts couldn't have played longer for the Herd.

[HERDLUVR]

l was there as well. Muther, I think you were with us? The Vols fans around us were saying all game they wished they had our QB instead of Claussen ( I think was the QB). Great game. If he had not gotten hurt, I believe we would have won. And I believe we beat nationally ranked K State the next week.

[IM4DHERD]

Graham Gochneaur was QB for the Kansas State Game, in 2003.

[Thundering In MD]

It was Kopp, not a failed chest bump.

[yogiherd]

It was kayo as AD.
Football went downhill along with basketball. Kayo in a couple of years hired Jirsa as HC because kayo's friend Tubby recommended Jirsa and kayo and could pass on a bball coaching search.

[puma]

There was a lot going on that season including some very poor personal decisions by a player prior to the Louisville game. But that nasty hit Litton took against Akron in 2016 seemed to change the course of the season and the entire Doc Holliday era.

[MUther]

Graham Gochneaur was QB for the Kansas State Game, in 2003.

I think he meant we still win that game if Hill wasn't hurt.

[MicDrass1]

Akron meltdown

Hill should have had 800 yards passing.  TO and dropped balls

[Grazing Marco]

Akron meltdown

Hill should have had 800 yards passing.  TO and dropped balls

That game pissed me off more than any other frustrating Herd loss. We dropped 2 TD passes if I remember correctly, Earl Charles fumbled just before crossing the goal line, and O?Connor missed multiple short field goals AND dropped a long snap that set up Akron?s game winning field goal.

[IM4DHERD]

Memory from that game...Although was warned repeatedly that UT Security was notorious about not allowing alcohol into the stadium, I stuffed my cargo shorts pockets with mini bottles before heading in.  Luckily the Security Guard who noticed the bulges was a smoking hot Blue Steel and Sex Appeal female who asked me to empty my pockets and when I did asked if any more were down there.  I answered "Not sure", hoping she would search me but she only winked at me. Pretty obvious I wasn't the only one who asked for a pat down.

They were putting all the confiscated liquor into these trash bins and when one obviously younger guard started cracking bottles open and pouring them out, a half dozen others damn near tackled him.  Obviously they split the booty amongst themselves later. 

[IM4DHERD]

'Nuther memory...Then girlfriend, now wife and I stayed at a Marriott about 5 blocks up from the stadium.  She got hammered the night before and was too hungover to go to the game.  Had the game on TV and said whenever UT scored the hotel windows rattled from the crowd noise.