Marshall to honor victims of tragic plane crash with special throwback helmets

When the Marshall Thundering Herd (2-7) football team hosts the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (6-3) on Saturday, the players will be wearing specially-designed helmets honoring the victims of a plane crash on November 14, 1970 in which all 75 persons aboard were killed.

Southern Airways Flight 932 was carrying 37 member of Marshall's football team as well as nine coaches, 25 boosters and four flight crew members when it clipped treetops and crashed short of the runway on the return home to West Virginia.

The "75" on the backs of the helmets represents the number of lives lost.

In order to field a complete team for the 1971 season, the program requested and was granted a waiver to allow freshman to compete on the varsity team, which the NCAA had previously forbidden.