In November, 1970, virtually the entire football team and coaches of Marshall University (Huntington, W.V.) die in a plane crash. That spring, led by Nate Ruffin, a player who was ill and missed the fatal flight, students rally to convince the board of governors to play the 1971 season. The college president, Don Dedman, must find a coach, who then must find players. They petition the NCAA to allow freshmen to play, and coach Jack Lengyel motivates and leads young players at the same time that he reexamines the Lombardi creed that winning is the only thing. The father and the fiancée of a player who died find strength to move on. Can Marshall win even one game in 1971?

The boardroom scene that shows the "We are Marshall" chant was filmed on two separate days. The boardroom scene was shot on one day and the chant was shot on a second day.

Jack Lengyel:
When I heard about what had happened, your situation, the only thing I could think about was the four of them. I thought about how much they mean to me, about how bad it would hurt if... well if I was to lose them. Then I thought about a team, and a school, and a town thats gotta be hurtin' real bad. And I thought, hell, maybe I could help.

Anachronisms: During shots of a conversation between Nate Ruffin and one of the other varsity players on the roof of a campus building, the new Library and Football Stadium (both built in the 1990s) appear in the background. The Stadium appears only once and is edited out of subsequent shots. However, the stadium is gone completely in the DVD version.

Written by Ozzy Osbourne (as John Osbourne), Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler (as Terence Butler) and Bill Ward (as William Ward)
Performed by Black Sabbath
Licensed courtesy of Downlane Limited and Sanctuary Records Group Limited