Surprised this one hasn’t made the list. Willy Merrick, filling in for his suspended brother David Merrick, kicks his first ever collegiate field goal in the final seconds as Marshall wins its first I-AA Championship, 22 years after the crash. I was 9 years old and I will never, ever forget the emotion in that stadium. I did not fully understand it and honestly, TV did not fully capture it, either. People were crying, and no one wanted to leave.
Surprised this one hasn’t made the list. Willy Merrick, filling in for his suspended brother David Merrick, kicks his first ever collegiate field goal in the final seconds as Marshall wins its first I-AA Championship, 22 years after the crash. I was 9 years old and I will never, ever forget the emotion in that stadium. I did not fully understand it and honestly, TV did not fully capture it, either. People were crying, and no one wanted to leave.
RE: Most memorable play(s)/moments in your program's history. Provide footage if possible
(07-26-2020 12:13 AM)MinerInWisconsin Wrote:
(07-25-2020 08:50 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote: For those that do not know how to post a YouTube video it is just like posting a URL. See the TV icon on the top of the text box to the far right? Yes, you see it! Now click the down arrow and you'll see YouTube at the bottom of the drop down box. Just click it and paste you YouTube link and bam! Your video is posted.
Thanks Dragon. I'll give it a try next time. We will see if an old dog can learn a new trick and thanks for the reposts.
Surprised this one hasn’t made the list. Willy Merrick, filling in for his suspended brother David Merrick, kicks his first ever collegiate field goal in the final seconds as Marshall wins its first I-AA Championship, 22 years after the crash. I was 9 years old and I will never, ever forget the emotion in that stadium. I did not fully understand it and honestly, TV did not fully capture it, either. People were crying, and no one wanted to leave.
Surprised this one hasn’t made the list. Willy Merrick, filling in for his suspended brother David Merrick, kicks his first ever collegiate field goal in the final seconds as Marshall wins its first I-AA Championship, 22 years after the crash. I was 9 years old and I will never, ever forget the emotion in that stadium. I did not fully understand it and honestly, TV did not fully capture it, either. People were crying, and no one wanted to leave.
Wow. Was he like the back up kicker?
I believe that the MU game was the only football game either college or pro shown on national TV in that time slot. CBS had their " A" team to cover the game, Jim Nance and John Robinson. I remember seeing two CBS tractor trailers parked at the MU stadium to broadcast the game.
The game certainly gave Marshall a lot of national exposure. The U of Georgia hired the MU football coach, Jim Donnan, as their new head coach a week after the game.
(This post was last modified: 07-26-2020 01:38 PM by Flat Tire 2.)
Surprised this one hasn’t made the list. Willy Merrick, filling in for his suspended brother David Merrick, kicks his first ever collegiate field goal in the final seconds as Marshall wins its first I-AA Championship, 22 years after the crash. I was 9 years old and I will never, ever forget the emotion in that stadium. I did not fully understand it and honestly, TV did not fully capture it, either. People were crying, and no one wanted to leave.
Wow. Was he like the back up kicker?
He was a back up but he had also never kicked a football in HS or college. He was a walkon with his brother who was the scholarship kicker.
RE: Most memorable play(s)/moments in your program's history. Provide footage if possible
(07-24-2020 07:15 AM)HiddenDragon Wrote:
(07-24-2020 07:13 AM)HiddenDragon Wrote:
(07-23-2020 11:46 PM)BIG PINEAPPLE Wrote: The best single Southern Miss play I remember was by Damion Fletcher against Central Florida at home. He was hit and did a front flip to keep the play alive. https://youtu.be/IDGZxL9OWXE
You know I remember that play as well. Even more amazing is that he didn't hurt himself.
He must have twice the ligaments of the rest of us! He wasn't a blazingly fast guy, nor bull strong. He just wouldn't go down and always seemed to be in impossible positions to avoid the tacklers.
Surprised this one hasn’t made the list. Willy Merrick, filling in for his suspended brother David Merrick, kicks his first ever collegiate field goal in the final seconds as Marshall wins its first I-AA Championship, 22 years after the crash. I was 9 years old and I will never, ever forget the emotion in that stadium. I did not fully understand it and honestly, TV did not fully capture it, either. People were crying, and no one wanted to leave.
Wow. Was he like the back up kicker?
I believe that the MU game was the only football game either college or pro shown on national TV in that time slot. CBS had their " A" team to cover the game, Jim Nance and John Robinson. I remember seeing two CBS tractor trailers parked at the MU stadium to broadcast the game.
The game certainly gave Marshall a lot of national exposure. The U of Georgia hired the MU football coach, Jim Donnan, as their new head coach a week after the game.
You’re 3 years off. Donnan left after falling to Montana in the 1995 championship game when the Griz hit a late FG to win by 2.
The CBS part is spot on, though. They had their A team on the call, and you can actually hear John Robinson clapping after the game winning field goal. He understood the magnitude of the situation.
Marshall led that game 28-0 against Youngstown St., but star MLB William King got hurt, and had to be carted off the field. He was injured tackling Tamron Smith, the bull of a back for YSY. Smith’s leg hit King in the side of the helmet and knocked him out on the spot. YSU then scored 28 straight, their offense went from ineffective to making big play after big play in a hurry.
William King is the one you see in gray sweats. He was taken to the hospital but made it back to the stadium before the game ended.
Willy Merrick, as mentioned in an earlier post, was a walk-on who handled kickoffs for a large portion of the season. His younger brother was the kicker, thankfully left footed as well so the FG unit didn’t have to flip anything. David Merrick apparently missed a team meeting either the night before the game or the morning of the game, and was suspended. The rest, as they say, is history.