- B/R Ticket Guide
1992 I-AA National Championship
Today's Must Reads
As a Marshall fan who has seen the movie four times, this is easy.
I was only 7 years old in 1992. Growing up in the Huntington, WV, area insured that I would become a diehard Marshall fan.
In 1991, my first year of being able to comprehend Herd football, I watched and bawled as the Herd gave up an 11 point lead and fell to Jim Tressel's Youngstown State Penguins in the I-AA national title game.
The following year, the game was to be played on Marshall's home field, and the Herd earned the right to a rematch against the Penguins.
My naive seven year old self (along with many other Herd fans) prematurely began celebrating the Herd's first national title as Marshall jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the 3rd quarter.
I
can still remember watching in horror as the Penguins came roaring back to tie the game at 28 with 4 minutes to play while their fans began chanting "Y-S-U...De-Ja-Vu."
Then, the Herd wrote another chapter in its unbelievable history. Michael Payton and Troy Brown were able to lead the Herd into field goal range. With 10 seconds to play, Willy Merrick kicked the national title winning field goal.
The most amazing part of that kick was that it was Merrick's first and only career field goal. His brother and starting kicker David was suspended for the game because he overslept for a practice that week. Willy, primarily a soccer player, jumped into his special teams coach's arms after erasing every Herd fan's 22 years of sorrow.
After Troy Brown intercepted YSU's ensuing hail mary, pandemonium broke loose. I will never forget the feeling my 7 year old self had as Marshall fans stormed the field and tore down the goalposts while Queen's "We Are the Champions" blared over the PA system.
After the goalposts were torn down, they were carried and laid to rest at the base of the memorial fountain on campus for the 75 victims of the 1970 plane crash (a fact that I wish would have been included in the movie.)
But that day made me a Marshall fan for life. I was lucky enough to witness one of the most unlikely success stories in college football as Marshall went from the losingest team of the 70's to the winningest team of the 90's.
About the Author Alex Vance (contributor)
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