5 Best Marshall Thundering Herd Football Players, Ranked

After winning the Division I-AA (FCS) national title with a 15-0 record in 1996, the Marshall Thundering Herd transitioned to the FBS for the 1997 season, joining the Mid-American Conference. 

Today, they play in the Sun Belt Conference after a stint with Conference USA from 2005 to 2021. 

Football betting on their college football odds is available at the BetMGM online sportsbook.

Below, I’ll rank the top five Marshall players ever. 

5 Best Marshall Thundering Herd Football Players, Ranked

Marshall Thundering Herd All-Time Greatest Football Players

1. Randy Moss

Moss played wide receiver for just a short time at Marshall (1996-1997), but what he accomplished helped bring a national spotlight to the school. 

Over those two seasons, he caught 168 passes (tied for 10th in program history) for 3,467 yards (fifth) and 53 touchdowns (second). 

He holds the program’s top two single-season receiving touchdown records with 28 in 1996 and 25 in 1997.

No other Marshall player has surpassed 18. 

He was a member of the Division I-AA national title team. 

In 1997, he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award (most outstanding receiver), Paul Warfield Trophy (top wide receiver), was a unanimous All-American, the MAC MVP, and the MAC Offensive Player of the Year. 

He’s enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. 

2. Chad Pennington

Pennington was at Marshall from 1995 to 1999. 

He was there during the transition from FCS to FBS and threw for 13,143 yards (second) and 115 touchdowns (second). 

He was the quarterback on the Division I-AA title squad.

In 1999, he won the Sammy Baugh Trophy (top passer) and the William V. Campbell Trophy (top football player with the best combination of academics, leadership, and on-field performance). 

That same year, he was named the MAC MVP and MAC Offensive Player of the Year. 

3. Byron Leftwich

Leftwich was at Marshall from 1998 to 2002. He had just 24 attempts over his first two seasons. 

After those two seasons, with one of them being a redshirt year, Leftwich dominated at quarterback. 

He threw for 11,903 yards (third) and 89 touchdowns (third). 

His 4,268 passing yards in 2002 were the second-most in a single season. 

Leftwich also holds the single-game passing record with 576 yards in 2001 against East Carolina. 

He was the MAC MVP and MAC Offensive Player of the Year twice, both coming in 2001 and 2002. 

Leftwich also had one of the most gritty performances in college football history in 2002 during a game against Akron. 

He fractured his left tibia. It was expected he was out for the game, but in the fourth quarter, he came back out, and as the team advanced on their drives, his offensive linemen picked him up and helped carry him to the spot of the ball. 

4. Michael Payton

Payton was with Marshall from 1989 to 1992, and he was also a quarterback. 

He threw for 9,411 yards (fourth) and 69 touchdowns (fifth). 

He finished with 9,704 total yards (fourth).

He was a member of the 1992 Division I-AA national championship team. 

Payton won the Walter Payton Award (FCS equivalent to the Heisman Trophy). 

He was also a consensus I-AA All-American, a two-time SoCon Male Athlete of the Year, two-time SoCon Player of the Year, and two-time first-team All-SoCon. 

He’s enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. 

5. Rakeem Cato

Cato was with Marshall from 2011 to 2014 and played quarterback. 

He threw for 14,079 yards (first) and 131 touchdowns (first). His 40 touchdowns in 2014 are the most in a single Marshall campaign. 

Cato also holds the program records for most total yards (14,918) and total touchdowns (146). 

Cato led Marshall to a Conference USA title in 2014. 

Additionally, he was the Conference USA MVP, a two-time Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, two-time first-team All-Conference USA, second-team All-Conference USA, and was the Military Bowl and Boca Raton Bowl MVP.