Florida Atlantic Owls vs Marshall Thundering Herd Match Player Stats On Oct 25, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 25, 2014

No. 22 Marshall 35, Florida Atlantic 16: Devon Johnson rushed for a school-record 272 yards and four touchdowns as the Thundering Herd’s dreams of an undefeated season remained intact after beating the visiting Owls.

Johnson, a converted tight end, scored on runs of 58, 62, 66 and 7 yards, and broke Marshall’s single-game rushing record set by Ron Darby in 1988. Rakeem Cato extended his NCAA record for touchdowns in consecutive games to 40 while completing 13-of-24 passes for 218 yards for Marshall (8-0, 4-0 Conference USA).

Florida Atlantic's Lucky Whitehead finished with 11 receptions for 102 yards and Greg Howell ran for 92 yards. Jaquez Johnson went 19-of-37 for 179 yards and a touchdown for the Owls (3-5, 2-2), who led 16-14 at the half.

Three plays after stopping Florida Atlantic on fourth-and-goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, Johnson scored on a 66-yard run to give Marshall a 28-16 advantage. The Thundering Herd had taken the lead for good with 3:09 remaining in the third on Tommy Shuler’s 21-yard touchdown reception.

Marshall led 7-3 early in second quarter when the Owls scored on Alex Deleon's 16-yard touchdown catch and tacked on a 40-yard field goal by Greg Joseph to go up 13-7. The Thundering Herd answered two plays later on Johnson’s 62-yard TD run before the Owls took a two-point halftime lead on Joseph’s 24-yard field goal.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Johnson’s 16 touchdowns this season are the most for a Thundering Herd player since Ahmad Bradshaw of the Indianapolis Colts had 21 in 2006. … Shuler has a reception in 35 consecutive games, which is tied for the ninth-longest streak in FBS. … Marshall’s 16-14 halftime deficit marked the first time it trailed at the break this season.