2008 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

The 2008 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Marshall competed as a member of the East Division of Conference USA, and played their home games at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. The Thundering Herd were led by fourth-year head coach Mark Snyder. Marshall finished the season with a 4–8 record (3–5).^[1]

2008 Marshall Thundering Herd football
Conference	Conference USA
Division	East
Record	4–8 (3–5 C-USA)
Head coach	Mark Snyder (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	John Shannon
Defensive coordinator	Rick Minter (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Joan C. Edwards Stadium
Seasons ← 2007 2009 →

2008 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
East Carolina x$		6	–	2					9	–	5
Memphis		4	–	4					6	–	7
Southern Miss		4	–	4					7	–	6
UAB		3	–	5					4	–	8
UCF		3	–	5					4	–	8
Marshall		3	–	5					4	–	8
West Division
Tulsa xy		7	–	1					11	–	3
Rice x		7	–	1					10	–	3
Houston		6	–	2					8	–	5
UTEP		4	–	4					5	–	7
Tulane		1	–	7					2	–	10
SMU		0	–	8					1	–	11
Championship: East Carolina 27, Tulsa 24
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Before the season, Sports Illustrated ranked Marshall the 115th team in the FBS (out of 120) and predicted they would finish with a 1–11 record. Against 11th-ranked Wisconsin, the Herd led 14–0 in the second quarter, but gave up 51 unanswered points in the remainder of the game. Later in the season, Marshall upset Houston, 37–23, after having led 37–9 earlier in the final period. The following week, they lost in overtime to favorite East Carolina by a field goal, 19–16. Marshall held Rice quarterback Chase Clement to 84 passing yards in the first half, which was tied at 7, but went on to lose, 35–10. In the season closer, they proved competitive for eventual Conference USA runners-up Tulsa.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	4:30 pm	Illinois State*	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN Plus	W 35–10	25,661	[3]
September 6	12:00 pm	at No. 11 Wisconsin*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	BTN	L 14–51	80,386
September 13	7:00 pm	Memphis	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CSS	W 17–16	27,349
September 20	3:30 pm	at Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	CSS	W 34–27	28,178
September 27	3:30 pm	at West Virginia*	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV (Friends of Coal Bowl)	ESPN Plus	L 3–27	60,154
October 3	8:00 pm	Cincinnati*	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN	L 10–33	29,237
October 18	4:00 pm	at UAB	Legion Field Birmingham, AL		L 21–23	17,868
October 28	8:00 pm	Houston	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN2	W 37–23	20,716
November 8	3:30 pm	at East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC (rivalry)	CBSCS	L 16–19 OT	43,515
November 15	4:30 pm	UCF	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CSS	L 14–30	24,059
November 22	3:30 pm	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	CBSCS	L 10–35	15,131
November 29	3:30 pm	Tulsa	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV		L 35–38	21,571
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time