The 1992 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

game between the

Youngstown State Penguins The Youngstown State Penguins are the athletic teams of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. The university is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, and the Penguins compete in football as memb ...

and the

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are memb ...

. The game was played on December 19, 1992, at Marshall University Stadium in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

. The culminating game of the

1992 NCAA Division I-AA football season The 1992 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began on September 5, 1992, and concluded with the 1992 NCAA Divisi ...

, it was won by Marshall, 31–28. The game was a rematch of the prior season's championship game.

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1992 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team

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. The site of the title game, Marshall University Stadium, had been predetermined months earlier.

Youngstown State Penguins

Youngstown State finished their regular season with an 8–2–1 record. Unseeded in the tournament and ranked seventh in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll, the Penguins defeated Villanova, second-seed

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, and third-seed

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to reach the final. This was the second appearance, both consecutively and overall, for Youngstown State in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1991.

Marshall Thundering Herd

Marshall finished their regular season with an 8–3 record (5–2 in conference). Unseeded and ranked sixth in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll, the Thundering Herd defeated

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, fourth-seed

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

, and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

to reach the final. This was the third appearance overall, and second consecutively, for Marshall in a Division I-AA championship game, having lost in 1987 and 1991.

Game summary

After a scoreless first quarter, Marshall led 14–0 at halftime, and extended their lead to 28–0 with 5:46 left in the third quarter. Youngstown State then rallied, cutting the lead to 28–14 by the end of the third quarter, and tying the game with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter. Marshall then drove from their 19-yard-line to the Youngstown State 5-yard-line, and

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kicker Willy Merrick made a 22-yard-field goal with seven seconds left to play, providing the winning points for Marshall. It was Merrick's first collegiate field goal, as the team's usual kicker, Merrick's

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brother David, was suspended for the game due to missing a practice.

Scoring summary

Game statistics

References

External links

Marshall University's 1st 1-AA Win From 1992
via

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{{1992–93 NCAA Division I championships navbox

Championship Game A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

NCAA Division I Football Championship Games Marshall Thundering Herd football games Youngstown State Penguins football games American football competitions in West Virginia NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game Sports in Huntington, West Virginia