American college football season
Memorial at Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington, West Virginia to the victims of the 1970 plane crash. The 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team was an American football team that represented Marshall University as an independent during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season . In its second season under head coach Rick Tolley , the team compiled a 3–6 record and was outscored by a total of 202 to 138.[ 1] The team played its home games at Fairfield Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia .
On November 14, Southern Airways Flight 932 , which was chartered by the school to fly the Thundering Herd football team, coaches, and fans to Kinston, North Carolina for a game against the East Carolina Pirates and back to Huntington, crashed on approach to Tri-State Airport after clipping trees just west of the runway and impacting nose-first into a hollow. All 75 people on board died. 37 of them were members of the football team. It was the worst single air tragedy in NCAA sports history. The tragedy was depicted in the movie We Are Marshall (2006) and the documentary film Marshall University: Ashes to Glory (2000).
1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team roster Players Coaches Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 12 Bob Harris Jr QB 14 Ted Shoebridge Jr QB 20 Rick Lech Jr RB 22 Art Harris So RB/KR 25 Kevin Gilmore Sr RB 30 Dickie Carter Sr TE 35 Barry Nash So OL 50 Rick Dardinger Sr OL 51 Jim Adams Sr OL 52 Mike Swartley So OL 53 Wes Hickman Jr OL 54 Jim Sly Jr C 55 Dennis Foley So C 59 Allen Skeens So G 60 Tom Howard Jr OL 61 Mark Andrews Jr OL 63 Jack Crabtree So G 67 Mike Blake So OT 71 Bob Patterson Jr OT 73 Jon Calvin So OT 76 David DeBord Sr WR 80 Dennis Blevins Jr WR 82 Jack Repasy Jr WR 86 John Young So TE 87 Freddy Wilson So
Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 21 Felix Jordan So DB 25 Nate Ruffin Jr DB 27 Roger Childers So DL 31 Willie Bluford Jr RB 33 Joe Hood So LB 34 Art Shannon Jr LB 35 Dave Cyrus Sr DB 40 Larry Sanders Jr DB 41 Bobby Hill So DB 42 Tony Barile So DB 43 Stuart Cottrell So DB 44 Richard Taglang Jr DB 45 Gary Morgan So LB 56 Jerry Stainback Sr DL 62 Tom Zborill Jr DL 64 Greg Finn Jr DL 65 Tom Brown Sr LB 68 Larry Brown Sr DL 70 Ed Deeds Jr DL 72 Fred Gaudet Jr DL 74 Paul Oden So DL 75 Robert Van Horn So DL 77 Eddie Carter So DL 79 David Withers So LB 81 Dave Griffith Sr LB 83 Scotty Reese Jr DE 84 Pete Naputano Jr DE 85 Roger Vanover Jr DE 88 Al Saylor So
Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK/P 23 Marcelo Lajterman So P 32 Richard Brautigan So
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt
Rick Tolley – Head coach Jim Moss – Offensive coordinator Red Dawson – Defensive coordinator Deke Brackett – Kicking Game Al Carelli, Jr. – Offensive line Mickey Jackson – Backfield Carl Kokor – Defensive line Frank Loria – Defensive backs
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold