| Year Game Played: | 1992 |
| Game Name: | NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship |
| Subheader: | I-AA National Championship Game |
| Visitor Name Short: | Youngstown State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Penguins |
| Home Nickname: | Thundering Herd |
| Visitor School: | Youngstown State University |
| Home Name Short: | Marshall |
| Football Season: | 1992 |
| Home School: | Marshall University |
| Visitor Record: | 11–2–1 |
| Home Record: | 11–3 |
| Visitor Conference: | Independent |
| Home Conference: | SoCon |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 14 |
| Home 2Q: | 14 |
| Home 3Q: | 14 |
| Home 4Q: | 3 |
| Visitor Coach: | Jim Tressel |
| Home Coach: | Jim Donnan |
| Visitor Rank Ncaa: | 7 |
| Visitor Seed: | — |
| Home Rank Ncaa: | 6 |
| Home Seed: | — |
| Date Game Played: | December 19 |
| Stadium: | Marshall University Stadium |
| City: | Huntington, West Virginia |
| Odds: | Marshall by 8.5[1] |
| Attendance: | 31,304 |
| Us Network: | CBS Sports |
| Us Announcers: | Jim Nantz (play-by-play), John Robinson (color)[2] |
| Different Previous: | 1991 |
| Different Next: | 1993 |
The 1992 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Youngstown State Penguins and the Marshall Thundering Herd. The game was played on December 19, 1992, at Marshall University Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia. The culminating game of the 1992 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Marshall, 31–28.[3] The game was a rematch of the prior season's championship game.
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1992 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.[4] The site of the title game, Marshall University Stadium, had been predetermined months earlier.[5]
See also: 1992 Youngstown State Penguins football team. Youngstown State finished their regular season with an 8–2–1 record.[6] Unseeded in the tournament and ranked seventh in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll,[7] the Penguins defeated Villanova, second-seed The Citadel, and third-seed Northern Iowa to reach the final. This was the second appearance, both consecutively and overall, for Youngstown State in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1991.
See main article: 1992 Marshall Thundering Herd football team. Marshall finished their regular season with an 8–3 record (5–2 in conference).[8] Unseeded and ranked sixth in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll,[7] the Thundering Herd defeated Eastern Kentucky, fourth-seed Middle Tennessee, and Delaware to reach the final. This was the third appearance overall, and second consecutively, for Marshall in a Division I-AA championship game, having lost in 1987 and 1991.
After a scoreless first quarter, Marshall led 14–0 at halftime, and extended their lead to 28–0 with 5:46 left in the third quarter. Youngstown State then rallied, cutting the lead to 28–14 by the end of the third quarter, and tying the game with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter. Marshall then drove from their 19-yard-line to the Youngstown State 5-yard-line, and senior kicker Willy Merrick made a 22-yard-field goal with seven seconds left to play, providing the winning points for Marshall.[9] It was Merrick's first collegiate field goal, as the team's usual kicker, Merrick's sophomore brother David, was suspended for the game due to missing a practice.[10]