A thundering storm

Sporting News, The, Dec 30, 1996 by Mike Huguenin

Talented and ready for a new challenge, Marshall will make the jump to Division I-A with championship momentum

It's fitting that Eric Kresser and Randy Moss led Marshall to the Division I-AA title last Saturday.

For one thing, Marshall has been the dominant I-AA team in the '90s, playing for the title four times and winning twice. And it was the Thundering Herd's last game in I-AA, before it moves to the Mid-American Conference and Division I-A next season.

For another, Marshall leaves I-AA with arguably the division's best team ever. The Herd finished 15-0--just the second team in I-AA history to do that--and blitzed four play-off foes by an average score of 48-14. Tubby Raymond longtime coach of first-round opponent Delaware, suggested Marshall didn't even belong at the I-AA level this season because of the talent already amassed at the Huntington, W.Va.,. school. Marshall beat Montana. 49-29, in a playoff final that wasn't as close as the score indicated. Montana had captured last year's I-AA championship, won 21 games in a row and hammered Troy State, 70-7, in a semifinal the week before.

And the title somewhat vindicated the decisions of Kresser and Moss to transfer to Marshall (TSN, September 16). It seems fitting that their previous schools--Florida in Kresser's case, Florida State in Moss'--will play for the I-A title in the Sugar Bowl.

Quarterback Kresser finished 18-of-28 for 324 yards and four touchdowns, all to wide receiver Moss, who made nine catches for 220 yards. Marshall set the tone early, with Kresser throwing deep to Moss on the first play of the game. Montana cornerback Billy Ivey--six inches shorter than the 6-4 Moss--had no choice but to interfere. Seven plays later, Moss made the first of his four touchdown catches and the rout was on.

And make no mistake, this was a rout. The Herd led, 23-6, at halftime, then removed all doubt when, on the second play of the second half, Kresser hit Moss on a short pass that Moss turned into a 54-yard touchdown.

Montana coach Mick Dennehy says Moss "is the finest I've seen in 24 years of coaching." And Grizzlies linebacker Jason Crebo--himself a first-team All-American--says he was left "speechless" by Moss and his teammates: "We've not faced people like that all year."

The title game put an exclamation point on a mind-boggling redshirt freshman season for Moss, who has had well-chronicled off-field problems, including being booted off the FSU team in May after testing positive for marijuana use while he was on probation for an earlier assault charge. Moss finished with 78 catches for 1,709 yards and 28 touchdowns, tying the Southern Conference career record for touchdown receptions.

Moss is a phenomenal athlete (39-inch vertical leap, former West Virginia prep high jump champion) who may be the best wide receiver in college football. He has said he will return next season, but there seems little doubt he is ready for the next level--and, no, we don't mean Division I-A.

For his part, Moss was subdued after the game: "I thank God for my ability and a chance to get on the gridiron again."

Kresser, meanwhile, spent three seasons on the bench behind Danny Wuerffel before deciding to play his senior season at Marshall. He followed former Florida defensive coordinator Bobby Pruett to the school after he took the Herd coaching job when Jim Donnan left for Georgia.

The Herd had an established quarterback in Chad Pennington, who was the freshman of the year in the Southern Conference last season. But Kresser quickly gained the starting job, and Pennington took a redshirt season. Kresser made the move pay off. He finished with 3,407 yards and 35 touchdown passes (against 11 interceptions)--the kind of numbers he says he could have put up at Florida had he gotten the chance--and the national title. "I never thought it would feel this good," Kresser says.

The victory made the whole program feel good. The Herd has taken some grief for losing four times in the I-AA title game (in 1988, '91, '93 and last season, on a last-second Montana field goal). Pruett says his players were of a single mindset: "They felt they let an opportunity slip away a year ago. They weren't going to let it happen today"

And the Herd's future looks bright, despite the move up in classification. Some dominating players, such as Kresser, guard Aaron Ferguson, defensive tackle Billy Lyon and cornerback Melvin Cunningham, are leaving. But a number of solid players return, including Pennington, defensive end B.J. Cohen, linebacker Larry McCloud and running back Doug Chapman. Oh, yeah--and Moss.

"Nobody during the season had an answer for Moss," Dennehy says. Trust us, coach--nobody will have an answer for him next season, either.

Mike Huguenin is an assistant managing editor of The Sporting News. Material from other sources was used in compiling this report.