WHAT YOU NEED NOW - CONTENT UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY
June 28, 2005
MU COUNTDOWN
#2– Dec. 3, 1999: Pennington to Pinkerton Caps 23– Point Comeback
by Grant Traylor
Huntington News Network Sportswriter
As Marshall officially winds down the final ten days of being a member in the Mid– American Conference, the talk has certainly shifted to Marshall football in Conference USA.
But, before shutting the gates on the MAC career, HNN would like to take a chance to look back at some of the great moments in Marshall football.
The following is one part of a 10– day series of the greatest football games over Marshall's eight years in the Mid– American Conference…from ashes to glory and beyond.
Here's a look at our #2 classic: Marshall's 23– point comeback victory over Western Michigan in the 1999 MAC Championship.
Huntington, WV – It was a tale of two halves for the Thundering Herd who were only 30 minutes from seeing its undefeated season and possibly even their season come to an end at home.
Western Michigan stifled the Thundering Herd in the first half, jumping to a 20– 0 lead. Even midway through the third quarter, Marshall looked up at the scoreboard with a goose egg while the Broncos laughed on their way to a 23– 0 lead.
Midway through the third quarter, things started clicking quickly as quarterback Chad Pennington hit receiver Nate Poole from 38 yards out to get the Thundering Herd on the scoreboard.
After holding Western Michigan to three– and– out, Marshall's Doug Chapman ran 24 yards to pay dirt, bringing the score to 23– 14.
The Broncos monumental demise continued on the next drive as Western Michigan quarterback Tim Lester was intercepted by Marshall's Maurice Hines. Hines returned the interception 32 yards setting Marshall up deep in Bronco territory.
Pennington did not take long to put Marshall in the end zone. His 16– yard pass to James Williams brought Marshall within 23– 20 with plenty of time left.
After being shut out in the entire first half, Marshall scored 20 points in just 3:20 to pull within striking distance. Led by Pennington, Marshall used its big play capability to cut a 23 point Broncos lead to 3 in only nine offensive plays.
As the fourth quarter began, Western Michigan still held its 23– 20 lead, but Marshall had all the momentum and the ball.
Marshall was able to punch it in on a 2– yard plunge by Chapman to take its first lead of the game at 27– 23.
Faced with lots of adversity and a deficit for the first time in the contest, Lester showed why he was an all– MAC quarterback by leading Western Michigan back down the field to take the lead.
Lester figured the easiest way to keep Marshall off the scoreboard was to keep his offense on the field. He led the Broncos on a time– consuming 10 play, 75– yard drive that was culminated on his touchdown toss from 4 yards away to Jake Moreland.
After the Broncos score, Marshall was unable to get anything going offensively and they punted the ball back to the Broncos. With the season on the line, the Thundering Herd defense forced a punt that gave Pennington the ball back with 3:08 left.
The drive started out very shaky as the Broncos used the momentum provided by their last defensive stand to overpower the Thundering Herd.
A sack put Marshall on the ropes, but Pennington stood tall in the pocket and completed passes to Poole and Chapman to set up an intense fourth down play.
Pennington rolled out slightly to his left after facing pressure and hit James Williams to give the Thundering Herd a new set of downs at Marshall 39– yard line.
Struggling to find an open receiver on the next play, Pennington took off on his longest scramble of the year, a 33– yard romp down to the Broncos 28. A frustrated WMU defender hit Pennington out of bounds and drew a personal foul penalty, setting Marshall up with 1st and 10 at the Broncos 14.
On third down, Marshall moved the ball to the Broncos 1– yard line with under 45 seconds remaining.
Pennington threw an incomplete pass on first down and was stuffed trying to call his own number on second down before Marshall called its final timeout with seven seconds left.
The crowd sensed that Marshall's coaches were pondering whether to kick a game– tying field goal or go for the victory and so the chant "Go, Go, Go"
rose through the 30,000+ in attendance.
A roar erupted among the multitude as Pennington came back on the field, but that roar quickly turned into silence as Pennington stepped in to take the snap.
The Broncos showed an eight– man front and Pennington called the snap count. As the play started, running back Doug Chapman was buried behind the line of scrimmage, but Pennington rolled out to his right and threw to the corner of the end zone.
Western Michigan's linebackers had not picked up Eric Pinkerton, who had always been a run blocking tight end. However, Pennington's pass found Pinkerton in the front right corner of the end zone and the senior secured the ball with two hands for his first and only career touchdown catch.
Pinkerton's catch set off such a celebration that stadium officials had a tough time keeping the fans off the field so that the game could be finished.
Finally, order was restored and one of the greatest and most improbable comebacks in Marshall history was complete as the Thundering Herd improved its record to 12– 0 with a 34– 30 victory.
EDITOR'S NOTE: On a separate note, this game was very special to me as it marked the first game that I ever covered on the field. I was a high school senior taking pictures for a senior project on Journalism.
MAC assistant commissioner and former Marshall sports information director Gary Richter gave me the field pass and told me to have fun. Little did I know it would change my viewpoints on what I wanted to do for a career!
I stood as a high school senior with some of the more prominent media figures in the tri– state area and was right beside the ESPN crew as Pinkerton made the catch five feet in front of me. As he hit the ground, he rolled up on the side of my leg as flashbulbs (including my own) caught the once– in– a– lifetime moment. Not bad for my first day on the job, huh?
