| Game Name: | Conference USA Football Championship Game |
| Subheader: | Conference Championship |
| Date Game Played: | December 6 |
| Year Game Played: | 2014 |
| Football Season: | 2014 |
| Stadium: | Joan C. Edwards Stadium |
| City: | Huntington, WV |
| Visitor School: | Louisiana Tech University |
| Visitor Name Short: | Louisiana Tech |
| Visitor Nickname: | Bulldogs |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Coach: | Skip Holtz |
| Visitor 1Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home School: | Marshall University |
| Home Name Short: | Marshall |
| Home Nickname: | Thundering Herd |
| Home Record: | 11–1 |
| Home Coach: | John "Doc" Holliday |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 13 |
| Home 3Q: | 3 |
| Home 4Q: | 10 |
| Mvp: | K Justin Haig (Marshall) |
| Odds: | Marshall by 9 |
| Attendance: | 23,711 |
| Us Network: | ESPN2 |
| Us Announcers: | Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway, and Paul Carcaterra |
The 2014 Conference USA Football Championship Game, held on December 6 of that year at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia, determined the 2014 football champion of Conference USA (C-USA), on December 6. The game featured the Marshall Thundering Herd, winners of the conference's East Division, hosting the West Division champion Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
Under C-USA rules, the championship game would be played at the home stadium of the team with the best record in conference play.
In the 2013 Championship Game Rice defeated Marshall, 41–24 in Houston, Texas.[1]
After the 2014 Conference USA realignment, C-USA added two new members[2] for the 2014 season after losing three members, including East Carolina, to the American Athletic Conference.[3] [4]
After the 2014 season, this was the tenth C-USA championship game, and was played in West Virginia for the first time.
See main article: 2014 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team. Louisiana Tech entered the championship game with a record of 8–4 and went 6–0 in conference play until November 22, 2014, against newcomers Old Dominion Monarchs. The loss to the Monarchs brought Rice back to compete for the division title. Louisiana Tech defeated Rice in their last regular season game, which brought the Bulldogs to their first conference championship game in program history.
See main article: 2014 Marshall Thundering Herd football team. Marshall entered the championship game with a record of 11–1 after winning all non-conference games and all of their conference games except for conference foe Western Kentucky. Marshall trailed Middle Tennessee in the East Division standings, until they faced on October 15, 2014. Marshall defeated the Blue Raiders 49–24, moving the Thundering Herd to the top of the division. Marshall continued to storm through the rest of their schedule and was crowned East Division Champs after defeating defending champions, Rice on November 15, 2014, in Huntington.
This was Marshall's second appearance in the Conference USA Championship series in back–to–back years. Marshall hosted the championship game in Huntington, WV on December 6, 2014, marking the first time the Conference USA Championship was played in Huntington.
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Team | Scoring Information[5] | Score | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length | Time | LaTech | Marshall | |||||
| 1 | 7:54 | 11 plays, 58 yards | 5:29 | LaTech | Jonathan Barnes 26–yard kick good | 3 | 0 | |
| 1 | 2:53 | 1 play, 33 yards | 0:07 | LaTech | Kenneth Dixon 33–yard rush, Jonathan Barnes kick good | 10 | 0 | |
| 2 | 14:57 | 7 plays, 75 yards | 2:56 | Marshall | Deon-Tay McManus 6–yard reception from Rakeem Cato, Justin Haig kick good | 10 | 7 | |
| 2 | 7:41 | 4 plays, 40 yards | 0:52 | LaTech | Kenneth Dixon 30–yard rush, Jonathan Barnes kick good | 17 | 7 | |
| 2 | 3:52 | 5 plays, 11 yards | 0:35 | Marshall | Justin Haig 40–yard kick good | 17 | 10 | |
| 2 | 0:00 | 3 plays, 40 yards | 0:19 | Marshall | Justin Haig 46–yard kick good | 17 | 13 | |
| 3 | 10:26 | 10 plays, 42 yards | 2:58 | Marshall | Justin Haig 40–yard kick good | 17 | 16 | |
| 3 | 0:18 | 1 play, 19 yards | 0:09 | LaTech | Kenneth Dixon 19–yard rush, Jonathan Barnes kick failed | 23 | 16 | |
| 4 | 8:34 | 5 plays, 25 yards | 1:34 | Marshall | Justin Haig 24–yard kick good | 23 | 19 | |
| 4 | 1:50 | 11 plays, 68 yards | 3:11 | Marshall | Deon-Tay McManus 5–yard reception from Rakeem Cato, Justin Haig kick good | 23 | 26 | |
| Final Score | 23 | 26 | ||||||