The Marshall Thundering Herd football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Marshall Thundering Herd football program in various categories,[ 1] including passing , rushing , receiving , total offense , defensive stats, and kicking . Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, single-season, and career leaders. The Thundering Herd represent Marshall University in the NCAA Division I FBS Sun Belt Conference .
Although Marshall began competing in intercollegiate football in 1895,[ 1] the school's official record book considers the "modern era" to have begun in 1950. Records from before this year are often incomplete and inconsistent, and they are generally not included in these lists.
These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
Since 1950, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length. With the exception of the World War II years, freshmen were not allowed to play until the 1971 season in the aftermath of the crash of Southern Airways Flight 932 . The NCAA allowed freshmen at all schools to start playing in 1972 . Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002.[ 2] The Thundering Herd have played in seven bowl games since this decision, giving many recent players an extra game to accumulate statistics. Although bowl games were not counted toward single-season and career statistics until 2002, games in NCAA championship tournaments have always been included. This is relevant because Marshall had a very successful tenure in Division I-AA, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision . When Marshall first played at the I-AA level in 1982, the tournament involved 12 teams; it expanded to 16 teams in 1986, remaining at that size through Marshall's final I-AA season in 1996. The Herd were regularly involved in the division's championship tournament , advancing to the championship game seven times and winning it twice. Several single-season records date from this era. These lists are updated through the end of the 2020 season .
Passing
Passing yards Career Rk Player Yards Years 1 Rakeem Cato 14,079 2011 2012 2013 2014 2 Chad Pennington 13,143 1995 1997 1998 1999 3 Byron Leftwich 11,903 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 4 Michael Payton 9,411 1989 1990 1991 1992 5 Chase Litton 8,335 2015 2016 2017 6 Todd Donnan 7,050 1991 1992 1993 1994 7 John Gregory 7,020 1986 1987 1988 1989 8 Carl Fodor 6,655 1982 1983 1984 1985 9 Tony Petersen 6,501 1986 1987 10 Grant Wells 5,623[ 3] 2019 2020 2021
Single season Rk Player Yards Year 1 Tony Petersen 4,902 1987 2 Byron Leftwich 4,268 2002 3 Rakeem Cato 4,201 2012 4 Byron Leftwich 4,132 2001 5 Rakeem Cato 3,916 2013 6 Rakeem Cato 3,903 2014 7 Chad Pennington 3,799 1999 8 Michael Payton 3,610 1992 9 Grant Wells 3,532[ 3] 2021 10 Chad Pennington 3,480 1997
Passing touchdowns
Rushing Complete yardage totals for Jackie Hunt and John Zontini are not available because such specific statistics were not always kept back then. However, the Marshall record book estimates career totals for them and includes them in the official career rushing yards list.[ 1]
Rushing yards Career Rk Player Yards Years 1 Chris Parker 5,924 1992 1993 1994 1995 2 Doug Chapman 4,016 1996 1997 1998 1999 3 Ron Darby 3,903 1986 1987 1988 1989 4 Jackie Hunt 3,900 1939 1940 1941 5 Ahmad Bradshaw 2,982 2004 2005 2006 6 John Zontini 2,900 1931 1932 1933 1934 7 Darius Marshall 2,857 2007 2008 2009 2010 8 Brenden Knox 2,852[ 10] 2018 2019 2020 9 Rasheen Ali 2,831[ 11] 2020 2021 2022 2023 10 Glenn Pedro 2,724 1990 1991 1992 1993
Single season Rk Player Yards Year 1 Chris Parker 1,833 1995 2 Devon Johnson 1,767 2014 3 Chris Parker 1,750 1993 4 Chris Parker 1,728 1994 5 Ahmad Bradshaw 1,523 2006 6 Khalan Laborn 1,513[ 12] 2022 7 Ron Darby 1,506 1987 8 Rasheen Ali 1,401[ 11] 2021 9 Brenden Knox 1,387[ 10] 2019 10 Erik Thomas 1,296 1996
Rushing touchdowns
Receiving
Receptions
Receiving yards Career Rk Player Yards Years 1 Mike Barber 4,262 1985 1986 1987 1988 2 Darius Watts 4,031 2000 2001 2002 2003 3 Josh Davis 3,889 2001 2002 2003 2004 4 Tommy Shuler 3,563 2011 2012 2013 2014 5 Randy Moss 3,467 1996 1997 6 Tim Martin 2,886 1993 1994 1995 1996 7 Nate Poole 2,775 1997 1998 1999 8 Troy Brown 2,746 1991 1992 9 Cody Slate 2,619 2006 2007 2008 2009 10 Aaron Dobson 2,398 2009 2010 2011 2012
Single season Rk Player Yards Year 1 Mike Barber 1,757 1987 2 Randy Moss 1,709 1996 3 Troy Brown 1,654 1992 4 Randy Moss 1,647 1997 5 Darius Watts 1,417 2001 6 Sean Doctor 1,372 1987 7 Mike Barber 1,325 1988 8 Brian Dowler 1,197 1991 9 Josh Davis 1,191 2002 10 Mike Barber 1,180 1986
Receiving touchdowns
Total offense Total offense is the sum of passing and rushing statistics. It does not include receiving or returns.[ 21]
Total offense yards Career Rk Player Yards Years 1 Rakeem Cato 14,918 2011 2012 2013 2014 2 Chad Pennington 13,048 1995 1997 1998 1999 3 Byron Leftwich 12,084 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 4 Michael Payton 9,704 1989 1990 1991 1992 5 Todd Donnan 7,057 1991 1992 1993 1994 6 John Gregory 6,720 1986 1987 1988 1989 7 Bernard Morris 6,705 2004 2005 2006 2007 8 Carl Fodor 6,377 1982 1983 1984 1985 9 Tony Petersen 6,268 1986 1987 10 Chris Parker 5,924 1992 1993 1994 1995
Single season Rk Player Yards Year 1 Tony Petersen 4,737 1987 2 Rakeem Cato 4,385 2014 3 Byron Leftwich 4,267 2002 4 Rakeem Cato 4,232 2012 5 Byron Leftwich 4,224 2001 6 Rakeem Cato 4,210 2013 7 Chad Pennington 3,902 1999 8 Michael Payton 3,744 1992 9 Bernard Morris 3,637 2007 10 Grant Wells 3,588 [ 3] 2021
Touchdowns responsible for "Touchdowns responsible for" is the official NCAA term for combined passing and rushing touchdowns.[ 22]
Defense
Interceptions
Tackles Single season Rk Player Tackles Year 1 John Spellacy 189 1987 2 William King 178 1993 3 Duran Smith 160 2002 4 Max Yates 159 2001 5 Bill Yanossy 157 1974
Single game Rk Player Tackles Year Opponent 1 Charles Henry 30 1972 Miami (Ohio)
Sacks
Kicking
Field goals made
References ^ a b c "2015 Marshall Thundering Herd Record Book" (PDF) . HerdZone.com . Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016 . ^ "NCAA changes policy on football stats" . ESPN.com . AP. August 28, 2002. Retrieved August 20, 2016 . ^ a b c "Grant Wells" . ESPN.com . ^ a b c d GMAC Bowl ^ a b c "Litton with 2 TD passes; leads Marshall past Charlotte 34-10" . ESPN.com . October 31, 2015. ^ a b c d I-AA Playoff game ^ "Marshall comes back at Tulsa 45-34" . ESPN.com . November 14, 2013. ^ a b "Brandon Doughty's 8 TD passes, 2-point conversion sink Marshall" . ESPN.com . November 28, 2014. ^ "Litton throws 6 TD's, Marshall blasts Morgan St 62-0" . ESPN.com . September 10, 2016. ^ a b "Brenden Knox" . ESPN.com . ^ a b c d "Rasheen Ali" . ESPN.com . ^ a b "Khalan Laborn" . ESPN.com . ^ "No. 23 Marshall beats Florida Atlantic 35-16" . ESPN.com . October 25, 2014. ^ "Marshall vs. Florida Atlantic Box Score" . ESPN.com . October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019 . ^ "Corey Gammage" . ESPN.com . ^ "Caleb TerBush throws 4 TDs, leads Purdue past Marshall" . ESPN.com . September 29, 2012. ^ "Rakeem Cato ties TD mark as Marshall wins Boca Raton Bowl" . ESPN.com . December 23, 2014. ^ Boca Raton Bowl ^ "Marshall at NC State boxscore" . ESPN.com . September 9, 2017. ^ MAC Championship Game ^ "2022 Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF) . NCAA. p. 12. Retrieved October 2, 2022 . ^ "2022 Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF) . NCAA. p. 12. Retrieved October 2, 2022 . ^ a b "Micah Abraham" . ESPN.com . ^ a b "Mike Green" . ESPN.com . ^ "Individual Career History" (PDF) . HerdZone.com . Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016 . ^ "Koby Cumberlander" . ESPN.com . ^ "Owen Porter" . ESPN.com . ^ "Justin Rohrwasser" . ESPN.com . ^ "Marshall rallies past Louisiana Tech in Conference USA title game" . ESPN.com . December 6, 2014. ^ Conference USA Championship Game ^ "Marshall vs. Western Kentucky boxscore" . ESPN.com . October 26, 2019. ^ "Marshall vs. Old Dominion Box Score" . ESPN.com . November 5, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022 .
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