Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1984
- Class:
- 1973
Rarely is there a sports accomplishment that cannot be argued, but there’s no doubt that quarterback Reggie Oliver threw the most important pass in Marshall University history. On Sept. 25, 1971, with the final seconds winding off the clock and Coach Jack Lengyel’s Young Thundering Herd trailing Xavier 13-9, Oliver threw a 13-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to running back Terry Gardner as time expired to give Marshall a 15-13 win in its first home game after the 1970 plane crash. A product of Druid High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Oliver had not gone on the trip to East Carolina the previous November because freshmen were at that time ineligible for varsity competition, according to NCAA rules.
Oliver served as Marshall’s starting quarterback for the next three seasons, setting several school passing records along the way. After graduating from Marshall, he played for the Jacksonville Sharks in the World Football League in 1974, then took a job teaching and coaching at Huntington High School. Oliver later became an assistant coach at Marshall under Sonny Randle and eventually became the head coach at Alabama A&M University and later at Eastmoor Academy in Columbus, Ohio. Oliver was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.
