On November 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932, which was chartered by the school to fly the 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team and fans to Greenville, North Carolina for a game against the East Carolina Pirates and back to Huntington, West Virginia, crashed on approach to Tri-State Airport after clipping trees just west of the runway and impacting nose-first into a hollow.
[4] Dawson, an assistant coach, had gone on a recruiting trip instead of flying back with the team after the ECU game in 1970, and Lengyel convinced him to stay around for the 1971 season, providing some continuity.
Marshall requested and was granted a waiver to allow freshmen to compete so that they could field a complete team.
Due to the age of the players on the team coach Lengyel nicknamed them the Young Thundering Herd.
[6] In addition to the true freshmen who were allowed to play the roster featured three players from the previous year's varsity team.
Despite losing 29–6, the Herd managed to score late in the game with Reggie Oliver's touchdown pass to Tom Smyth, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd.