2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

The 2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Thundering Herd played their home games at the Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia, and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They were led by ninth-year head coach Doc Holliday. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for second place in the East Division. They were invited to the Gasparilla Bowl where they defeated South Florida.

2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football
Gasparilla Bowl champion
Gasparilla Bowl, W 38–20 vs. South Florida
Conference	Conference USA
Division	East Division
Record	9–4 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Doc Holliday (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tim Cramsey (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro spread
Defensive coordinator	Adam Fuller (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Joan C. Edwards Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Middle Tennessee x		7	–	1					8	–	6
FIU		6	–	2					9	–	4
Marshall		6	–	2					9	–	4
Charlotte		4	–	4					5	–	7
Florida Atlantic		3	–	5					5	–	7
Old Dominion		2	–	6					4	–	8
Western Kentucky		2	–	6					3	–	9
West Division
UAB x$		7	–	1					11	–	3
North Texas		5	–	3					9	–	4
Louisiana Tech		5	–	3					8	–	5
Southern Miss		5	–	3					6	–	5
UTSA		2	–	6					3	–	9
UTEP		1	–	7					1	–	11
Rice		1	–	7					2	–	11
Championship: UAB 27, Middle Tennessee 25
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Rimington Trophy[1]	Levi Brown	C	JR
Fred Biletnikoff Award[2]	Tyre Brady	WR	SR
Butkus Award[3]	Juwon Young	LB	JR
Jim Thorpe Award[4]	Malik Gant	S	JR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[5]	Ryan Bee	DL	JR
Outland Trophy[6]	Ryan Bee	DL	JR
Paul Hornung Award[7]	Keion Davis	RB/KR	JR
Wuerffel Trophy[8]	Chase Hancock	LB	SR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award[9]	Alex Thomson	QB	JR

Preseason All-CUSA team

Conference USA released their preseason all-CUSA team on July 16, 2018, with the Thundering Herd having five players selected.^[10]

Offense Levi Brown – OL Tyre Brady – WR

Defense Chase Hancock – LB Malik Gant – DB

Special teams Matt Beardall – LS

Preseason media poll

Conference USA released their preseason media poll on July 17, 2018, with the Thundering Herd predicted to finish in second place in the East Division.^[11]

East Division
Predicted finish	Team
1	Florida Atlantic
2	Marshall
3	Middle Tennessee
4	FIU
5	Western Kentucky
6	Old Dominion
7	Charlotte

Schedule

Marshall announced its 2018 football schedule on January 23, 2018. The 2018 schedule consists of 6 home and away games in the regular season. The Thundering Herd will host CUSA foes Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, and UTSA, and will travel to Western Kentucky (WKU), Old Dominion, Southern Miss, and FIU.^[12]

The Thundering Herd will host two of the four non-conference opponents, Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley Conference at the FCS level and NC State of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and will travel to Miami of Ohio of the Mid-American Conference and South Carolina of the Southeastern Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	3:30 p.m.	at Miami (OH)*	Yager Stadium Oxford, OH	ESPN+	W 35–28	15,827
September 8	6:30 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky*	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN+	W 32–16	24,304
September 22	7:00 p.m.	NC State*	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CBSSN	L 20–37	32,349
September 29	7:30 p.m.	at Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	Stadium	W 20–17	20,811
October 5	7:30 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CBSSN	L 24–34	25,979
October 13	3:30 p.m.	at Old Dominion	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	Stadium	W 42–20	20,118
October 20	2:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CBSSN	W 31–7	23,825
November 3	3:00 p.m.	at Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	Stadium	L 24–26	20,375
November 10	2:30 p.m.	Charlotte	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN+	W 30–13	19,418
November 17	2:30 p.m.	UTSA	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	Stadium	W 23–0	18,502
November 24	12:00 p.m.	at FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, FL	Stadium	W 28–25	14,862
December 1[a]	12:00 p.m.	at Virginia Tech*	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPN3	L 20–41	31,336
December 20	8:00 p.m.	at South Florida*	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Gasparilla Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–20	14,135
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

1. The game between Marshall and South Carolina, originally scheduled for September 15, 2018, was canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence. Seeking bowl eligibility, Virginia Tech scheduled Marshall, as both teams had a game cancelled due to the hurricane and neither had made their respective conference championship games. The game was contingent upon the Hokies defeating rival Virginia, which they did.^[13]

Schedule Source:^[14]

Game summaries

At Miami (OH)

See also: 2018 Miami RedHawks football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	14	7	7	7	35
RedHawks	0	7	7	14	28

Eastern Kentucky

See also: 2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	0	6	7	3	16
Thundering Herd	13	7	7	5	32

NC State

See also: 2018 NC State Wolfpack football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolfpack	3	20	14	0	37
Thundering Herd	0	7	13	0	20

At Western Kentucky

See also: 2018 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	7	3	0	10	20
Hilltoppers	3	7	0	7	17

Middle Tennessee

See also: 2018 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Raiders	3	7	14	10	34
Thundering Herd	3	14	0	7	24

At Old Dominion

See also: 2018 Old Dominion Monarchs football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	0	14	7	21	42
Monarchs	0	3	7	10	20

Florida Atlantic

See also: 2018 Florida Atlantic Owls football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	0	7	0	0	7
Thundering Herd	0	10	14	7	31

At Southern Miss

See also: 2018 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	3	7	7	7	24
Golden Eagles	3	14	3	6	26

Charlotte

See also: 2018 Charlotte 49ers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	7	3	3	0	13
Thundering Herd	10	3	17	0	30

UTSA

See also: 2018 UTSA Roadrunners football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roadrunners	0	0	0	0	0
Thundering Herd	10	10	3	0	23

At FIU

See also: 2018 FIU Panthers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	14	0	7	7	28
Panthers	7	3	0	15	25

At Virginia Tech

See also: 2018 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	6	0	0	14	20
Hokies	10	21	3	7	41

At South Florida (Gasparilla Bowl)

See also: 2018 South Florida Bulls football team and 2018 Gasparilla Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	21	7	3	7	38
Bulls	7	3	10	0	20