1981 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

1981 Southern Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

1981 Marshall Thundering Herd football
1981 Marshall Thundering Herd football
Conference	Southern Conference
1981 record	2–9 (1–5 SoCon)
Head coach	Sonny Randle (3rd season);
Home stadium	Fairfield Stadium
	Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Marshall Thundering Herd football team was an American football team that represented Marshall University in the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its third season under head coach Sonny Randle, the team compiled a 2–9 record (1–5 against conference opponents) and was outscored by a total of 284 to 94.^[1]^[2] The team played its home games at Fairfield Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia.

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
September 12	Morehead State*	Fairfield Stadium Huntington, WV	W 20–17
September 19	at Western Michigan*	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI	L 3–14
September 26	East Tennessee State	Fairfield Stadium Huntington, WV	L 0–14
October 3	at Louisville*	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	L 0–36
October 10	at Chattanooga	Chamberlain Field Chattanooga, TN	L 0–20
October 17	at William & Mary*	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	L 7–38
October 24	VMI	Fairfield Stadium Huntington, WV	L 16–20
October 31	at Furman	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	L 3–35	^[3]
November 7	at Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	W 17–10	^[4]
November 14	Western Carolina	Fairfield Stadium Huntington, WV	L 28–38
November 21	Indiana State*	Fairfield Stadium Huntington, WV	L 0–42
*Non-conference game Homecoming

1981 Marshall Thundering Herd football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`42`	Terry Echols	So
S	`1`	Carl Lee	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

^ "2008 Marshall Football Guide" (PDF). Marshall University. 2018. p. 186. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
^ "1981 Marshall Thundering Herd Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
^ "Furman zeros in on title". The Greenville News. November 1, 1981. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Herd edges Mounties, wins first league game". The State. November 8, 1981. Retrieved December 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

v t Marshall Thundering Herd football
Venues	Central Field (1895–1927) Fairfield Stadium (1928–1990) Joan C. Edwards Stadium (1991–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games East Carolina Ohio: Battle for the Bell West Virginia: Friends of Coal Bowl
Culture & lore	Marco the Bison "Sons of Marshall" Marching Thunder Southern Airways Flight 932 Marshall University: Ashes to Glory We Are Marshall
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
National championship seasons in bold

1981 Southern Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Furman $	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
VMI	3	–	1	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
East Tennessee State	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Chattanooga	3	–	2	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
The Citadel	3	–	2	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Western Carolina	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Appalachian State	1	–	5	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Marshall	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll