1998 Motor City Bowl

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The 1998 Motor City Bowl matched the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Louisville Cardinals.

Background

Marshall was the only Division I-A or I-AA school to record 100 victories in the 1990s, and they had been in both Divisions for the decade. After twenty years of dominating Division I-AA and winning two championships, they moved to I-A starting with the 1997 season, joining the Mid-American Conference. In their first season, they won the MAC title and played in the 1997 Motor City Bowl, which they lost. Marshall, led by Chad Pennington at quarterback, was looking for their first ever bowl victory, having lost their first two.

This was Louisville's first bowl game since the 1993 Liberty Bowl. John L. Smith took over a program that had gone 1-10 the previous year, leading Louisville to 3rd place in Conference USA.

Game summary

The game went 12 minutes and 56 seconds before the first score, but when

Marshall would go to a bowl game for four consecutive years, including two more Motor City Bowls. In 2009, they returned to play in what was now renamed the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

This began Louisville's streak of nine consecutive bowl-eligible seasons, which ended after Louisville's Orange Bowl win in 2007. The two teams would meet again in the 2002 GMAC Bowl.

Statistics

References

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