September 5th, 1987: Marshall entered the 1987 football season wondering just how good they actually were. The fans and media were building the team up as being capable of making a championship run, however the season was preparing to kick off and it would be time for reality to set in. Coach George Chaump thought he had the makings of a special team but refused to fully adopt the concept.

The Herd entered the season with very few question marks, however there was one glaring issue. Who would be the starting kicker? There were three guys vying for the job, all three of them had nicknames, Stump, Willie, and Root. John "Stump" Mitchell had suffered a knee injury causing him to miss his entire sophomore season. Brian "Root" Mitchell was the younger brother of Stump. The kicker in the drivers seat for the job was thought to be Kevin "Willie" Gault. Stump, however, would prevail and earn the starting kicking duties.

The only other real questions came on the offensive and defensive lines. The offensive line entered the season talented, but did lack depth and experience. The defensive line, on the other hand, entered with personnel issues. Junior College transfer Ken Pepe was ruled ineligible due to transcript issues from Westchester Junior College. The other transfer from Westchester was also a defensive tackle, Orlando O'Farrill. He too, was having transcript issues, but they were resolved shortly before the end of Morehead State game week.

Marshall would open the season against rival Morehead State. The "I-64 Classic" between the two teams located within an hour of one another on a stretch of Interstate 64, would be a chance for the Herd to get revenge for a stunning home defeat the previous year to the Eagles. Head Coach George Chaump knew his team was bigger, faster and better than the Eagles, but the 1986 game proved that anything could happen on the field. A crowd of over 17,000 was expected for the weekends game in which the Herd was a 6 point favorite. Season ticket sales had hit the 3,100 mark, which was over 600 ahead of the previous season. The Marshall ticket office expected a huge walk up crowd due to the weather expecting to be a calm, nice 80 degrees. The Herald Dispatch announced that tickets would go on sale outside of Fairfield at the old Caboose at 8 am on gameday. It would be the Thundering Herd's first ever game played on their new $550,000 OmniTurf.

Marshall stormed out of the gate offensively, gaining 220 yards of total offense in the first half. However, the Herd had difficulty holding onto the football at rain soaked Fairfield Stadium. Seems the nice weather predicted by the local weather services did not hold true to form. The announced attendance for the game fell short of the 17,000 which was predicted, but not by much, as 15,049 fans attended the contest. Marshall was only able to muster up two John Mitchell field goals, both coming in the second quarter, and held a 6 – 0 lead at the half. Brother Brian Mitchell would add an early second half field goal to boost the lead to 9 – 0.

The Herd regrouped and stormed out in the second half and put up an additional 299 total yards of offense, ending the afternoon with 519 total yards. Marshall scored on touchdown passes of 80 yards and 27 yards to Mike Barber and Keith Baxter respectively, and tacked on a late Jerome Hazard one yard TD run to beat the Eagles 29 – 0.

The Herd put up gaudy yardage statistics against the Eagles. They outgained Morehead State 519 to 225, 419 of those yards coming via the pass. The only dark spot for the Herd were the NINE turnovers they suffered, five lost fumbles and four Tony Peterson interceptions.

Final Statistics of Note:

Tony Peterson – Fifteen completions on 28 attempts for 335 yards, 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions

Ron Darby – 25 carries for 126 yards

Jerome Hazard – 6 carries for 6 yards and one touchdown

Mike Barber – 5 receptions for 170 yards, and one touchdown

Sean Doctor – 6 receptions for 97 yards

Keith Baxter – 2 receptions for 47 yards and one touchdown

Bruce Hammond – 2 receptions for 76 yards

The Herald Dispatch interviewed several Herd fans following the 29 – 0 blowout win. The fans seemed uninterested in the result and simply wanted to complain about Fairfield Stadium, complaining about everything from the aluminum bleachers, the bathrooms, and the distance in which the stadium was in relation to campus.

Marshall ventures to Athens, Ohio next week to take on the Bobcats of Ohio University.

In other Local News:

Tommy Zban, older brother of future Marshall quarterback Mark Zban, led his team to a victory over Man High School 28 to 14. Zban completed 11 pass attemps for 242 yards. Seven of those completions were hauled in by future Marshall tight end Curt Nethercutt, who ended the day with 124 yards and one touchdown.