1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football
NCAA Division I-AA champion SoCon champion
NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game, W 49–29 vs. Montana
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 1^[1]
Record	15–0 (8–0 SoCon)
Head coach	Bob Pruett (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Larry Kueck (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Kevin Kelly (1st season)
Captain	Eric Kresser, Tim Martin, Aaron Ferguson, Melvin Cunningham, Billy Lyon, Jermaine Swafford
Home stadium	Marshall University Stadium
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 Marshall $^	8	–	0	15	–	0
No. T–8 East Tennessee State ^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 13 Furman ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 25 Appalachian State	5	–	3	7	–	4
The Citadel	3	–	5	4	–	7
Georgia Southern	2	–	6	4	–	7
VMI	2	–	6	3	–	8
Chattanooga	2	–	6	3	–	8
Western Carolina	1	–	7	4	–	7

$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University as a member of Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by first-year head coach Bob Pruett, the Thundering Herd compiled an overall record of 15–0 with mark of 8–0 in conference play, winning the SoCon title. Marshall advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship playoffs, where they beat Delaware in the first round, Furman in the quarterfinals, Northern Iowa in the semifinals, and Montana in the NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game to win the program's second NCAA Division I-AA title. 1996 was Marshall's final season competing at the NCAA Division I-AA level as they moved to NCAA Division I-A competition and joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in 1997.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	7:00 pm	Howard*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV		W 55–27	26,054	^[2]
September 14	7:00 pm	West Virginia State*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV		W 42–7	21,851
September 21	3:30 pm	at No. 13 Georgia Southern	No. 1	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	WSAZ	W 29–13	13,977
September 28	7:00 pm	No. 12 Western Kentucky*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV		W 37–3	20,755
October 5	7:00 pm	Chattanooga	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	WSAZ	W 45–0	22,078
October 12	1:00 pm	at VMI	No. 1	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA		W 45–20	9,165	^[3]
October 19	7:00 pm	Western Carolina	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	WSAZ	W 56–21	19,330
October 26	1:00 pm	at No. 20 Appalachian State	No. 1	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	SS	W 24–10	23,458
November 2	1:00 pm	The Citadel	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	WSAZ	W 56–25	21,038
November 9	2:00 pm	at No. 7 East Tennessee State	No. 1	Memorial Center Johnson City, TN	WSAZ	W 34–10	13,131
November 16	1:00 pm	No. 12 Furman	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV		W 42–17	22,615	^[4]
November 30	1:00 pm	No. 11 Delaware*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	WSAZ	W 59–14	15,429
December 7	1:00 pm	No. 13 Furman	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	WSAZ	W 54–0	14,096	^[5]
December 14	1:00 pm	No. 3 Northern Iowa*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	WSAZ	W 31–14	14,414
December 21	2:00 pm	No. 2 Montana*	No. 1	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game)	ESPN	W 49–29	30,052
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`39`	Jason Balwanz	Fr
RB	`22`	Doug Chapman	Fr
WR	`18`	LaVorn Colclough	So
OT	`63`	Mike Guilliams	Fr
QB	`15`	Eric Kresser	Sr
WR	`1`	Tim Martin	Sr
WR	`88`	Randy Moss	Fr
QB	`10`	Chad Pennington	So
G	`52`	Brian Reed	Sr
G	`65`	Burt Scarbrough	So
C	`62`	Jason Starkey	Fr
RB	`3`	Erik Thomas	Sr
RB	`32`	Llow Turner	Fr
C	`66`	John Wade	Jr
OT	`60`	Jamie Wilson	Sr
TE	`87`	John White	So
WR	`2`	Mark Wicks	Jr
QB	`7`	Mark Zban	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`42`	Rogers Beckett	Fr
DE	`5`	B. J. Cohen	Jr
DB	`12`	Andy Cowan	Fr
DB	`25`	Melvin Cunningham	Sr
LB	`4`	John Grace	Fr
DL	`6`	Ricky Hall	So
DT	`86`	Billy Lyon	Sr
CB	`9`	Thomas Maxwell	Jr
LB	`28`	Larry McCloud	Jr
DE	`93`	Giradie Mercer	Fr
DB	`11`	Larry Moore	Jr
LB	`55`	Andre O'Neal	Fr
CB	`8`	B. J. Summers	Jr
DE	`58`	Paul Totten	So
DT	`97`	Joe Zeglowitsch	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`41`	Chris Hanson	So
K	`40`	Tim Openlander	Sr

Head coach

Bob Pruett

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Larry Kueck – Offensive coordinator
Brian Dowler – Wide receivers

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

Howard

Howard at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bison	10	10	7	0	27
• Thundering Herd	10	14	24	7	55

Date: September 7
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 26,054

^[6]

West Virginia State

West Virginia State at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	0	0	0	7	7
• Thundering Herd	21	14	7	0	42

Date: September 14
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 21,851

at Georgia Southern

#1 Marshall at #13 Georgia Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Thundering Herd	10	7	6	6	29
Eagles	0	7	6	0	13

Date: September 21
Location:
Paulson Stadium
Statesboro, GA
Game attendance: 13,977

Scoring summary

1		Marshall	Tim Openlander 26-yard field goal	Marshall 3–0
1	4:08	Marshall	Randy Moss 42-yard pass from Eric Kresser (Openlander kick)	Marshall 10–0

1		GSU	Corey Johnson 1-yard run (kick)	Marshall 10–7
1	4:52	Marshall	Randy Moss 4-yard pass from Eric Kresser (Openlander kick)	Marshall 17–7

3		GSU	Grant Chestnut fumble recovery in end zone (kick failed)	Marshall 17–13
3		Marshall	Doug Chapman 3-yard run (conversion failed)	Marshall 23–13

4		Marshall	Jason Wellman 6-yard pass from Eric Kresser (conversion failed)	Marshall 29–13

^[7]

Western Kentucky

#12 Western Kentucky at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	0	3	0	0	3
• Thundering Herd	10	7	6	14	37

Date: September 28
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 20,755

Scoring summary

1	10:57	Marshall	Randy Moss 3-yard pass from Eric Kresser (Openlander kick)	Marshall 3–0
1	0:21	Marshall	Tim Openlander 22-yard field goal	Marshall 10–0

1	2:11	WKU	Jeff Poisel 37-yard field goal	Marshall 10–3
1	1:12	Marshall	Doug Chapman 19-yard run (Openlander kick)	Marshall 17–3

3	7:55	Marshall	Tim Openlander 42-yard field goal	Marshall 20–3
3	4:30	Marshall	Tim Openlander 37-yard field goal	Marshall 23–3

4	9:11	Marshall	Mark Wicks 35-yard pass from Eric Kresser (Openlander kick)	Marshall 30–3
4	1:49	Marshall	Llow Turner 15-yard run (Openlander kick)	Marshall 37–3

^[8]

Chattanooga

Chattanooga at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mocs	0	0	0	0	0
• Thundering Herd	17	14	7	7	45

Date: October 5
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 22,078

at VMI

#1 Marshall at VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Thundering Herd	21	14	0	10	45
Keydets	7	0	10	3	20

Date: October 12
Location:
Alumni Memorial Field
Lexington, VA
Game attendance: 9,165

Western Carolina

Western Carolina at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	0	7	7	7	21
• Thundering Herd	28	21	7	0	56

Date: October 19
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 19,330

at Appalachian State

#1 Marshall at #20 Appalachian State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Thundering Herd	7	0	10	7	24
Mountaineers	7	3	0	0	10

Date: October 26
Location:
Kidd Brewer Stadium
Boone, NC
Game attendance: 23,458

The Citadel

The Citadel at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	9	3	6	25
• Thundering Herd	7	14	14	21	56

Date: November 2
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 21,038

at East Tennessee State

#1 Marshall at #7 East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Thundering Herd	0	10	14	10	34
Buccaneers	3	0	0	7	10

Date: November 9
Location:
Memorial Center
Johnson City, TN
Game attendance: 13,131

Furman

#12 Furman at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	0	17	0	0	17
• Thundering Herd	7	7	14	14	42

Date: November 16
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 22,615

Delaware (Division I-AA First Round Playoff Game)

#11 Delaware at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fightin' Blue Hens	0	14	0	0	14
• Thundering Herd	7	14	24	14	59

Date: November 30
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 15,429

Randy Moss caught 8 passes (3 TD) for a school record 288 yards.^[9]

Furman (Division I-AA Quarterfinal Playoff Game)

#13 Furman at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	0	0	0	0	0
• Thundering Herd	14	10	16	14	54

Date: December 7
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 14,096

^[10]

Northern Iowa (Division I-AA Semifinal Playoff Game)

#3 Northern Iowa at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	0	0	14	14
• Thundering Herd	7	3	14	7	31

Date: December 14
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game attendance: 14,414

^[11]

Montana (Division I-AA National Championship)

#2 Montana at #1 Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Grizzlies	0	6	0	23	29
• Thundering Herd	14	9	16	10	49

Date: December 21
Location:
Marshall Stadium
Huntington, WV
Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST
Elapsed time: 3:25
Game attendance: 30,052
Game weather: 39 °F (4 °C), Sunny, Wind NE 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h)
TV announcers (ESPN): Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson

Scoring summary

1	9:13	Marshall	Randy Moss 19-yard pass from Eric Kresser (Openlander kick)	Marshall 7–0
1	2:09	Marshall	Doug Chapman 61-yard run (Openlander kick)	Marshall 14–0

2	14:08	Marshall	Randy Moss 70-yard pass from Eric Kresser (kick blocked)	Marshall 20–0
	8:14	Marshall	Openlander 20-yard field goal	Marshall 23–0
	5:05	Montana	Larson 40-yard field goal	Marshall 23–3
	0:15	Montana	Larson 27-yard field goal	Marshall 23–6

3	14:05	Marshall	Randy Moss 54-yard pass from Eric Kresser (Openlander kick)	Marshall 30–6
	5:03	Marshall	Doug Chapman 9-yard run (Openlander kick)	Marshall 37–6
	3:34	Marshall	Safety, intentional grounding by Ah Yat in the end zone	Marshall 39–6

4	14:51	Marshall	Randy Moss 28-yard pass from Eric Kresser (Openlander kick)	Marshall 46–6
	10:52	Montana	Douglass 4-yard pass from Ah Yat (Neil pass from Ah Yat)	Marshall 46–14
	7:09	Montana	Branen 2-yard run (Douglass from Ah Yat)	Marshall 46–22
	4:18	Marshall	Openlander 37-yard field goal	Marshall 49–22
	2:09	Montana	Paffhausen 18 pass from Ah Yat (Larson kick)	Marshall 49–29

Randy Moss hauled in 9 passes for 220 yards and 4 TD as the Thundering Herd avenged the previous season's loss to Montana in the title game.^[12] ^[13]

References

^ "Final Sports Network's 1996 Division I-AA College Football Poll". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
^ "Marshall 55, Howard 27". Lexington Herald-Leader. September 8, 1996. Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Marshall thunders past VMI". The Daily News Leader. October 13, 1996. Retrieved February 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Marshall downs Furman for conference crown". The Times and Democrat. November 17, 1996. Retrieved September 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Marshall rips Furman in I-AA quarterfinal". The Charlotte Observer. December 8, 1996. Retrieved September 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Past and Passes Key Moss's Future". The Washington Post. August 31, 1996. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
^ "Marshall 29, Georgia Southern 13". Associated Press. September 21, 1996. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
^ "Western loses quarterback, then Marshall romps 37-3". The Courier-Journal via Newspapers.com. September 29, 1996. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
^ "Marshall 59, Delaware 14". Chicago Tribune. December 1, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
^ "Marshall Routs Furman in NCAA I-AA Playoffs". Tulsa World. December 8, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
^ "Marshall 31, N. Iowa 14". Associated Press. December 14, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
^ "Moss, Marshall Thunder Montana". The Spokesman-Review. December 22, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
^ "No Slipping for Marshall, Moss". Chicago Tribune. December 22, 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2019.

v t e 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football—NCAA Division I-AA national champions
Rogers Beckett Doug Chapman B. J. Cohen Melvin Cunningham John Grace Chris Hanson Eric Kresser Billy Lyon Randy Moss Giradie Mercer Andre O'Neal Chad Pennington Jason Starkey John Wade Jamie Wilson Head coach: Bob Pruett Assistant coaches: Tim Billings Gunter Brewer Jay Hopson Kevin Kelly Tony Petersen

v t e Marshall Thundering Herd football
Venues	Central Field (1895–1927) Fairfield Stadium (1928–1990) Joan C. Edwards Stadium (1991–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Appalachian State East Carolina Ohio: Battle for the Bell West Virginia: Friends of Coal Bowl
Culture & lore	Marco the Bison "Sons of Marshall" Marching Thunder Southern Airways Flight 932 Marshall University: Ashes to Glory We Are Marshall
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e NCAA Division I-AA/FCS football champions
1970s	1978: Florida A&M 1979: Eastern Kentucky
1980s	1980: Boise State 1981: Idaho State 1982: Eastern Kentucky 1983: Southern Illinois 1984: Montana State 1985: Georgia Southern 1986: Georgia Southern 1987: Northeast Louisiana 1988: Furman 1989: Georgia Southern
1990s	1990: Georgia Southern 1991: Youngstown State 1992: Marshall 1993: Youngstown State 1994: Youngstown State 1995: Montana 1996: Marshall 1997: Youngstown State 1998: UMass 1999: Georgia Southern
2000s	2000: Georgia Southern 2001: Montana 2002: Western Kentucky 2003: Delaware 2004: James Madison 2005: Appalachian State 2006: Appalachian State 2007: Appalachian State 2008: Richmond 2009: Villanova
2010s	2010: Eastern Washington 2011: North Dakota State 2012: North Dakota State 2013: North Dakota State 2014: North Dakota State 2015: North Dakota State 2016: James Madison 2017: North Dakota State 2018: North Dakota State 2019: North Dakota State
2020s	2020: Sam Houston State 2021: North Dakota State 2022: South Dakota State 2023: South Dakota State

v t e 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants
Delaware East Tennessee State Eastern Illinois Florida A&M Furman Jackson State Marshall Montana Murray State Nicholls State Northern Arizona Northern Iowa Troy State Villanova Western Illinois William & Mary
Champion – Marshall Thundering Herd

v t e Southern Conference football champions
Pre-SEC	Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech & North Carolina (1922) Vanderbilt & Washington and Lee (1923) Alabama (1924) Alabama & Tulane (1925) Alabama (1926) Georgia Tech, Tennessee, & NC State (1927) Georgia Tech (1928) Tulane (1929) Alabama & Tulane (1930) Tulane (1931) Tennessee & Auburn & LSU (1932)
Pre-ACC	Duke (1933) Washington and Lee (1934) Duke (1935) Duke (1936) Maryland (1937) Duke (1938) Duke (1939) Clemson (1940) Duke (1941) William & Mary (1942) Duke (1943) Duke (1944) Duke (1945) North Carolina (1946) William & Mary (1947) Clemson (1948) North Carolina (1949) Washington and Lee (1950) Maryland & VMI (1951) Duke (1952)
Post-ACC	West Virginia (1953) West Virginia (1954) West Virginia (1955) West Virginia (1956) VMI (1957) West Virginia (1958) VMI (1959) VMI (1960) The Citadel (1961) VMI (1962) VPI (1963) West Virginia (1964) West Virginia (1965) East Carolina & William & Mary (1966) West Virginia (1967) Richmond (1968) Davidson & Richmond (1969) William & Mary (1970) Richmond (1971) East Carolina (1972) East Carolina (1973) VMI (1974) Richmond (1975) East Carolina (1976) Chattanooga & VMI (1977) Chattanooga & Furman (1978) Chattanooga (1979) Furman (1980) Furman (1981)
I-AA/FCS	Furman (1982) Furman (1983) Chattanooga (1984) Furman (1985) Appalachian State (1986) Appalachian State (1987) Furman & Marshall (1988) Furman (1989) Furman (1990) Appalachian State (1991) The Citadel (1992) Georgia Southern (1993) Marshall (1994) Appalachian State (1995) Marshall (1996) Georgia Southern (1997) Georgia Southern (1998) Appalachian State, Furman, & Georgia Southern (1999) Georgia Southern (2000) Furman & Georgia Southern (2001) Georgia Southern (2002) Wofford (2003) Furman & Georgia Southern (2004) Appalachian State (2005) Appalachian State (2006) Appalachian State & Wofford (2007) Appalachian State (2008) Appalachian State (2009) Appalachian State & Wofford (2010) Georgia Southern (2011) Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, & Wofford (2012) Chattanooga, Furman, & Samford (2013) Chattanooga (2014) Chattanooga & The Citadel (2015) The Citadel (2016) Wofford (2017) East Tennessee State, Furman, & Wofford (2018) Wofford (2019) VMI (2020) East Tennessee State (2021) Samford (2022) Furman (2023)
National championships in bold