We Are Marshall

[vee4xu]

I just finished watching the movie on HBO. Would someone who was actually at X in 1971 please report on how the game actually unfolded? First of all, how the hell did X lose the game with only one minute left in the fourth quarter, Marshall had one time out and about 80 yards to go? Second, did that last play really happen that dramatically?

Maybe wkrq59 can give a full report on that game. Mr. N? muskieman? MOR?

Thanks!

[bluegrass]

Don't have any knowledge of what actually happened but if it's like Glory Road I'm sure the director took a lot of liberties with the facts of the game.

[finalfourorbust]

Don't have any knowledge of what actually happened but if it's like Glory Road I'm sure the director took a lot of liberties with the facts of the game.

All of the reviews that I have read of the movie by people that were involved indicated that the movie was accurate in its facts.

[SM#24]

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mar ... istory.pdf

This from the Marshall media guide (after the photo, several pages later, there is some account of the game).

It was a last second play.

[Masterofreality]

The game was at Marshall. The game was broadcast on WVXU with student play-by-play guys. Yep, XU used to have a pretty damn good communications program with broadcasting as a part of it. (Paul Keels, who now does Ohio State games went to Xavier.)

Because it was on the radio, we obviously couldn't see the game, but I remember sitting in the dorm room at Kuhlman on a rainy Saturday afternoon with a group pf guys playing hearts listening to it. Xavier had the lead and that year, we sucked, again in football. It looked like we were actually going to win a game against someone else other than Quantico Marines. All I know is that Marshall got the ball back was trailing 13-9 with the ball in their own territory with less than a minute to play. Apparently, Xavier's coach at the time, Dick "Alka" Selcer, so named because he gave us indigestion from such bad coaching, elected to go into the famous "prevent" defense which, of course, allowed Marshall to move down the field. On the last play, as I recall, Marshall was on about XU's 20 and the clock was running out since they had no time outs left. They barely got the snap off before time ran out and they ran some type of misdirection bootleg and passed the ball to an opposite side receiver. Again, apparently, Selcer didn't know enough to spread his defense out enough to cover a 20 yard space to the end zone with no time left. Marshall completed the pass, the reciever got by one XU defender and went all the way in. XU's radio guys were beside themselves, and we were too. Another game blown.

Selcer didn't last very long as coach- one year and out. They then hired Tom Checchini, who did a damn good job for two years. In Checchini's first year, 1972, XU shocked heavily favored UC 19-7 at Riverfront Stadium. Then in his second year, 1973, the last year of Xavier football before dunderhead Mulligan trashed the athletic department, Xavier went 5-5-1, winning their last football game ever on November 23, 1973, my wedding day, beating Toledo. Seeing as how my brother-in-law was a Toledo grad, I won some nice money from him that day, besides getting laid by his sister that night.

[Mr. Neutral]

Unlike MOR, I don't think I was listening to the game on the radio, but, even as lousy as our team was (and they were), it was unbelievable that we lost that game.

It's a shame that X dropped football just as Checchini seemed to have it back on the right track, but it worked out well in terms of upgrading b-ball (and other sports as well). But we saw some truly godawful football during my time at X. The basketball team was more competitive, which should tell you something, seeing as how we didn't have a winning record during any of my four years.

[Masterofreality]

The basketball team was more competitive, which should tell you something, seeing as how we didn't have a winning record during any of my four years.

Yeah, Moose. We were so competitive under George "Perimeter Offense" Krajack, that we went 5-21 in 1969-1970, and 9-17 in 1970-1971.

Those were 2 fantastic years of Xavier athletics.

By the way. The Golf Team had winning records those two years. We were proud to uplift the school.

[gundun]

A couple of months ago, Wiseowl, who was at the game, described all the events. There was also an extra halftime that took away some of our momentum.

I am sure that he will answer all the questions

[bjf123]

Seeing as how my brother-in-law was a Toledo grad, I won some nice money from him that day, besides getting laid by his sister that night.

[XU84]

If you do a search on the Marshall University plane crash you will find some sites that review the movie based on the actual events. The movie did take some liberties but its a very close account of what the school and town went through after the crash.

Don't forgte the same thing happened in 1977 to the Evansville basketball team. The plane crashed minutes after take-off.