SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 15, 2014
No. 21 Marshall 41, Rice 14: Rakeem Cato threw for 297 yards and four touchdowns and set another school record as the Thundering Herd beat the visiting Owls.
Cato (117) broke Chad Pennington's school record for career touchdown passes (115) during the third quarter and finished the game 23-of-37. Devon Johnson ran for 199 yards - his eighth 100-yard game - and a touchdown for Marshall (10-0, 6-0 Conference USA) and Eric Frohnapfel had six catches for 107 yards and a score.
Driphus Jackson went 11-of-23 for 99 yards as Rice (6-4, 4-2) was outgained 581-180 and saw its six-game winning streak snapped. Jordan Taylor had nine catches for 88 yards while Jowan Davis ran for 76 yards and an early score.
Cato hit Ryan Yurachek and Hyleck Foster for touchdowns on consecutive second-quarter drives before Rice got on the board with Davis' 3-yard run with 2:04 left in the first half. Justin Haig's second field goal gave Marshall a 20-7 halftime lead and Cato broke the school record with a 30-yard strike to Frohnapfel with 9:29 left in the third.
Johnson's 2-yard run and Cato's fourth-quarter pass to Deon-Tay McManus extended the lead to 41-7. Rice's Darik Dillard added a 10-yard touchdown run with 5:16 left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Marshall improved to 11-0 at home against teams from Texas. ... Cato extended his NCAA record of consecutive games with a TD pass to 42. ... Tommy Shuler, who finished with eight catches for 79 yards, moved into second place on Marshall's career receptions list with 277.