Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered DC-9, from Kinston, NC (ISO) to Huntington-Tri-State/Milton Airport (HTS) in Ceredo, West Virginia. The plane was carrying 37 team members, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, four flight crew, and one charter company employee. On November 14, 1970, at 7:35 PM, the plane crashed into a hill just short of Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 on board.
Because it was the team's only chartered flight of the season, many prominent citizens were on board, including a city councilman, a state legislator, and four of the city's six physicians. Seventy children lost one parent in the crash; an additional 18 were orphaned.
On October 2, 1970, six weeks before the Marshall plane crash, one of two chartered planes carrying the Wichita State University football team to a game in Logan, Utah crashed into the side of a mountain in Colorado. The plane carried the upperclassmen, the head coach, other team staff, university officials, and several boosters. Thirty-nine people died; about half of them were players. Nine people survived, including the co-pilot. The surviving team members, plus some freshman, played the remainder of the season.
The crowds in the large stadium scenes consist of hundreds of local extras, thousands of blow-up dummies, and thousands of CG Extras.
The film premiered in Huntington, West Virginia, on December 12, 2006, followed by a Hollywood premiere on December 14. Both used a green carpet, the Marshall University school color, instead of the traditional red. Stars in attendance included: Basil Iwanyk, director McG, writer Jamie Linden, Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie, Arlen Escarpeta, Kate Mara, and Dalton Polston. Real-life coaches Jack Lengyel and Red Dawson also attended.