# 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.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Rimington Trophy | Levi Brown | C | JR |
| Fred Biletnikoff Award | Tyre Brady | WR | SR |
| Butkus Award | Juwon Young | LB | JR |
| Jim Thorpe Award | Malik Gant | S | JR |
| Bronko Nagurski Trophy | Ryan Bee | DL | JR |
| Outland Trophy | Ryan Bee | DL | JR |
| Paul Hornung Award | Keion Davis | RB/KR | JR |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Chase Hancock | LB | SR |
| Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award | 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.

### 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.
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.
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 StadiumOxford, OH | ESPN+ | W 35–28 | 15,827 |
| September 8 | 6:30 p.m. | Eastern Kentucky* | Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV | ESPN+ | W 32–16 | 24,304 |
| September 22 | 7:00 p.m. | NC State* | Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV | CBSSN | L 20–37 | 32,349 |
| September 29 | 7:30 p.m. | at Western Kentucky | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | Stadium | W 20–17 | 20,811 |
| October 5 | 7:30 p.m. | Middle Tennessee | Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV | CBSSN | L 24–34 | 25,979 |
| October 13 | 3:30 p.m. | at Old Dominion | Foreman FieldNorfolk, VA | Stadium | W 42–20 | 20,118 |
| October 20 | 2:30 p.m. | Florida Atlantic | Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV | CBSSN | W 31–7 | 23,825 |
| November 3 | 3:00 p.m. | at Southern Miss | M. M. Roberts StadiumHattiesburg, MS | Stadium | L 24–26 | 20,375 |
| November 10 | 2:30 p.m. | Charlotte | Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV | ESPN+ | W 30–13 | 19,418 |
| November 17 | 2:30 p.m. | UTSA | Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV | Stadium | W 23–0 | 18,502 |
| November 24 | 12:00 p.m. | at FIU | Riccardo Silva StadiumMiami, FL | Stadium | W 28–25 | 14,862 |
| December 1 | 12:00 p.m. | at Virginia Tech* | Lane StadiumBlacksburg, VA | ESPN3 | L 20–41 | 31,336 |
| December 20 | 8:00 p.m. | at South Florida* | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL (Gasparilla Bowl) | ESPN | W 38–20 | 14,135 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
* ↑ 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.
    Schedule Source:

## Game summaries
### At Miami (OH)

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

### Eastern Kentucky

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

### NC State

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

### At Western Kentucky

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

### Middle Tennessee

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

### At Old Dominion

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

### Florida Atlantic

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

### At Southern Miss

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

### Charlotte

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

### UTSA

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

### At FIU

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

### At Virginia Tech

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

### At South Florida (Gasparilla Bowl)

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