Marshall Thundering Herd vs Old Dominion Monarchs Match Player Stats On Oct 04, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 4, 2014

Marshall 56, Old Dominion 14: Devon Johnson rushed for a career-high 198 yards and three touchdowns as the Thundering Herd remained unbeaten by trampling the host Monarchs in their Conference-USA opener.

Rakeem Cato threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns and Remi Watson added 102 yards and two TDs on the ground for Marshall (5-0, 1-0 C-USA), which outgained Old Dominion 591-286. The Herd, who entered the game as one of 15 FBS unbeatens and the only one outside of Notre Dame and the “Power Five” conferences, has not trailed this season and has outscored its five opponents by an average of 31.8 points.

Freshman Ray Lawry rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown for Old Dominion (3-3, 1-2), which fell to 3-7 against FBS foes since reinstating its football program in 2009. Quarterback Taylor Heinicke came into the game averaging 321.2 yards of total offense per game but finished 10-of-25 for 85 yards, a touchdown and an interception while being sacked five times.

Marshall marched 58 yards on six plays to score on its first possession and added three more TDs in the next 6:29, including Brandon Byrd’s recovery of a blocked punt in the end zone, to give the Herd a quick 28-0 edge. Old Dominion turned a Cato interception into a 21-yard Heinicke-to-Zach Pascal TD pass with 36 seconds remaining in the first quarter, but Marshall bounced back from three straight turnovers with a pair of Cato TD tosses to take a 42-7 lead into halftime.

The Herd opened the third quarter with touchdown drives of 75 and 73 yards -- capped by scoring runs by Johnson and Watson, respectively – to increase their lead to 56-7. Lawry scampered 27 yards for a touchdown with 7:06 to play for the final margin.