Marshall University was given special permission by the NCAA to play incoming freshmen at the varsity level for the 1971 season. This team was dubbed the Young Thundering Herd and led by the few upperclassmen who didn't make the trip. Several players from other Marshall sports programs rounded out the team's roster. In the preseason "Green and White Game" versus the Marshall alumni (coached by new athletics director Joe McMullen), the Young Thundering Herd defeated the alums 26-0.
The Thundering Herd would lose more games during the 1970s than any other school. However, they had their first winning season in twenty years in 1984. That was the beginning of an era of success which saw them win more games in the 1990s — 125 — than any other NCAA Division I school, and win NCAA Division I-AA championships in 1992 and 1996, the latter with an unbeaten season.