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1981 Marshall

2–⁠9 (1–⁠5 Southern Conference), coached by Sonny Randle.

Schedule and results

Marshall in 1981, game by game: won vs. Morehead State 20–17; lost at Western Michigan 3–14; lost vs. East Tennessee State 0–14; lost at Louisville 0–36; lost at Chattanooga 0–20; lost at William & Mary 7–38; lost vs. VMI 16–20; lost at Furman 3–35; won at App State 17–10; lost vs. Western Carolina 28–38; lost vs. Indiana State 0–42+7−42Won 20–17 vs. Morehead State+3Morehead StateLost 3–14 at Western Michigan-11Western MichiganLost 0–14 vs. East Tennessee State-14East Tennessee …Lost 0–36 at Louisville-36LouisvilleLost 0–20 at Chattanooga-20ChattanoogaLost 7–38 at William & Mary-31William & MaryLost 16–20 vs. VMI-4VMILost 3–35 at Furman-32FurmanWon 17–10 at App State+7App StateLost 28–38 vs. Western Carolina-10Western CarolinaLost 0–42 vs. Indiana State-42Indiana State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsMorehead StateW 20–⁠1774%
Sep 19atWestern MichiganL 3–⁠1419%
Sep 26vsEast Tennessee StateL 0–⁠1467%
Oct 3atLouisvilleL 0–⁠3617%
Oct 10atChattanoogaL 0–⁠2014%
Oct 17atWilliam & MaryL 7–⁠3832%
Oct 24vsVMIL 16–⁠2027%
Oct 31atFurmanL 3–⁠3511%
Nov 7atApp StateW 17–⁠1017%
Nov 14vsWestern CarolinaL 28–⁠3849%
Nov 21vsIndiana StateL 0–⁠4229%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Indiana State 42–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Southern Conference.

In program history: The 60th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 83 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1981.

Record
2–⁠9
Conference
1–⁠5 8th in Southern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
94–⁠284
Coach
Sonny Randle
Elo
1219 −98 this season
SP+ rating
-28.6 No. 130 of 132; offense No. 132, defense No. 120
SRS
−29.1 No. 136 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

1981 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Furman6–⁠28–⁠3
VMI3–⁠1–⁠16–⁠3–⁠1
East Tennessee State4–⁠26–⁠5
The Citadel4–⁠2–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Chattanooga3–⁠2–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Western Carolina3–⁠44–⁠7
App State1–⁠5–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Marshall1–⁠52–⁠9
Davidson0–⁠20–⁠2

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.