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2012 Marshall

5–⁠7 (4–⁠4 Conference USA), coached by Doc Holliday.

Schedule and results

Marshall in 2012, game by game: lost at No. 11 West Virginia 34–69; won vs. Western Carolina 52–24; lost vs. Ohio 24–27; won at Rice 54–51; lost at Purdue 41–51; lost vs. Tulsa 38–45; won at Southern Miss 59–24; lost vs. UCF 17–54; won vs. Memphis 38–28; lost at UAB 31–38; won vs. Houston 44–41; lost at East Carolina 59–65+35−37Lost 34–69 at No. 11 West Virginia-35No. 11 West VirginiaWon 52–24 vs. Western Carolina+28Western CarolinaLost 24–27 vs. Ohio-3OhioWon 54–51 at Rice+3RiceLost 41–51 at Purdue-10PurdueLost 38–45 vs. Tulsa-7TulsaWon 59–24 at Southern Miss+35Southern MissLost 17–54 vs. UCF-37UCFWon 38–28 vs. Memphis+10MemphisLost 31–38 at UAB-7UABWon 44–41 vs. Houston+3HoustonLost 59–65 at East Carolina-6East Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1at11West VirginiaL 34–⁠6927%
Sep 8vsWestern CarolinaW 52–⁠2488%
Sep 15vsOhioL 24–⁠2744%
Sep 22atRiceW 54–⁠5156%
Sep 29atPurdueL 41–⁠5137%
Oct 6vsTulsaL 38–⁠4543%
Oct 20atSouthern MissW 59–⁠2438%
Oct 27vsUCFL 17–⁠5449%
Nov 3vsMemphisW 38–⁠2883%
Nov 10atUABL 31–⁠3861%
Nov 17vsHoustonW 44–⁠4155%
Nov 23atEast CarolinaL 59–⁠6536%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to East Carolina 65–⁠59; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Conference USA.

In program history: The 26th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 83 on file).

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Conference USA
AP final
Unranked
Points
491–⁠517
Coach
Doc Holliday
Elo
1440 −55 this season
SP+ rating
-1.4 No. 71 of 124; offense No. 47, defense No. 88, special teams No. 43
SRS
−9.0 No. 93 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 78
Offensive coordinators
Bill Legg and Tony Petersen
Defensive coordinator
Chris Rippon
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense23rd of 124
  • Defense83rd of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted26th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted91st of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1144%0.9623rd of 124
Defense0.0944%0.9183rd of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.08 def		43% off
44% def		—26th off
91st def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 282% allowed
Defense-0.3own 312% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsRakeem Cato QB4,201 yds
Passing touchdownsRakeem Cato QB37 TD
Rushing yardsKevin Grooms RB737 yds
Rushing touchdownsKevin Grooms RB8 TD
Receiving yardsTommy Shuler WR1,138 yds
Receiving touchdownsAntavious Wilson WR9 TD
InterceptionsDominick LeGrande S2 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

A.J. Leggett CB★★★★No. 203
Josh Brown OT★★★No. 1066
Cameron Dees OC★★★No. 1268
Devon Johnson OLB★★★No. 1422
Tyler Combs OT★★★No. 1787

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers12.00.700
Offensive line52.60.787
Defensive line12.00.783
Linebackers52.40.775
Defensive backs14.00.922
Athletes and specialists12.00.783
Whole class142.50.786

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 2Aaron Dobson WRNew England Patriots

Roster 104

The 2012 roster

104 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

2012 Conference USA standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tulsa7–⁠111–⁠3
UCF7–⁠110–⁠4
East Carolina7–⁠18–⁠5
SMU5–⁠37–⁠6
Rice4–⁠47–⁠6
Houston4–⁠45–⁠7
Marshall4–⁠45–⁠7
Memphis4–⁠44–⁠8
UAB2–⁠63–⁠9
UTEP2–⁠63–⁠9
Tulane2–⁠62–⁠10
Southern Miss0–⁠80–⁠12

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