HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Quarterback Grant Wells grew up knowing the story of Marshall football. The 1970 plane crash on a return from a road game. The university's decision to continue playing. The winning years that eventually would come.
And the importance of representing the school and honoring the fallen on the crash's silver anniversary.
The redshirt freshman threw a season-high five touchdown passes and No. 16 Marshall commemorated the 50th anniversary of the worst disaster in U.S. sports history with a 42-14 victory over Middle Tennessee on Saturday.
"We knew that this game was going to mean so much to this fan base and this community," Wells said "That's huge, no matter wherever we're playing or whoever we're playing. The fact that we could do this on the 50th anniversary is amazing."
Marshall (7-0, 4-0 Conference USA) turned three turnovers into scores on a day when the university remembered the 75 people killed on Nov. 14, 1970.
"A special day," Marshall coach Doc Holliday said.
Marshall wore special black uniforms and the No. 75 on its helmets to honor those who were lost, which included most of the Thundering Herd football team.
Wells played high school football 50 miles away in Charleston and learned about the tragedy starting as a young child.
