SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 11, 2014
Marshall 49, Middle Tennessee 24: Devon Johnson rushed for 134 yards and three touchdowns and Rakeem Cato added three passing TDs and a rushing score to power the Thundering Herd past the visiting Blue Raiders.
Cato finished 17-of-33 for 337 yards and tied Russell Wilson's FBS record by throwing a TD pass in a 38th consecutive game. Craig Wilkins hauled in five passes for 77 yards and a pair of TDs for Marshall (6-0, 2-0 Conference USA), which has scored 40 or more points in every game this season.
Austin Grammer was 25-of-37 for 201 yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception for Middle Tennessee (4-3, 3-1). Jordan Parker rushed for 100 yards and caught a touchdown pass for the Blue Raiders.
Johnson put the Thundering Herd up 14-0 with scoring runs of 13 yards and 1 yard in the first quarter before Grammer and Parker hooked up for a 6-yard score to cut the margin in half. Cato's TD passes to Wilkins (26 yards) and Deon-Tay McManus (29 yards) sandwiched a Cody Clark field goal for a 28-10 lead, but Grammer found Shane Tucker for a 4-yard score with 25 seconds left in the half to get Middle Tennessee within 11.
Cato capped Marshall's opening possession of the second half with a 4-yard TD run, and Johnson finished off a 66-yard drive with a 2-yard plunge to make it 42-17 with 3:14 left in the third. Cato and Wilkins hooked up again for a 6-yard TD on the first play of the fourth quarter to extend the lead before Jeremiah Bryson's 1-yard TD run capped the scoring for the Blue Raiders.