Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Football Postgame Notes
9/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes
Marshall game captains, as chosen by Coach Doc Holliday and his staff, are running back Devon Johnson, tight end Eric Frohnapfel, defensive end Arnold Blackmon and defensive tackle James Rouse (replacing injured safety A.J. Leggett). Rouse was a captain last week. The other three are first-time captains dating back through last season.
With 120 yards in the first half, Devon Johnson became the leading rusher in Herd history in the first two games of a season dating to at least 1941. Johnson has 290 yards in two games at Miami and against Rhode Island. In 1941, College FB Hall of Famer Jackie Hunt had 220 yards in his opener against Omaha. Statistics for Hunt's second game, against Illinois Wesleyan in a lopsided Herd win, are not available.
With a 36-yard catch late in the first half,wide receiverTommy Shuler became the ninth Herd receiver with 2,500 career receiving yards (Barber, Watts, Davis, Moss, Martin, Poole, Brown, Slate).
Wide receiver Tommy Shuler's first-half catch extends his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 29 (streak started in 2011 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl).
Quarterback Rakeem Cato's streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass was extended to 34, which leads active FBS quarterbacks. The NCAA record belongs to Russell Wilson (N.C. State and Wisconsin), with 38 from 2009-11. Oregon's Marcus Mariota is second among current FBS quarterbacks, with 28 games after tonight's second-quarter pass for a touchdown against Michigan State.
Wide receiver Angelo Jean-Louis' touchdown catch (with 10:00 remaining in the third quarter) was the first touchdown catch of his career and he becomes the 16th Herd player to catch a touchdown pass from Cato in the quarterback's career.
Quarterback Rakeem Cato's 3-yard touchdown pass to Angelo Jean-Louis in the third quarter gave Cato 62 red zone touchdown passes in his career, with only one interception (in win at Tulsa, 2013).
With running back Stew Butler's 39-yard touchdown run (with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter), Marshall had compiled 301 rushing yards, the 17th time in history a Herd team has run for 300 or more in a game. Marshall finished the night with 432 rushing yards.
Wide receiver Davonte Allen racked up 115 yards on four catches for his first career 100-yard receiving game.
Quarterback Rakeem Cato set a new single-game rushing high with nine carries for 143 yards - topping 59 yards on nine carries in season-opening win in 2013 over Miami (Ohio).
The 432 rushing yards for Marshall is the No. 2 single-game rushing performance in school history, trailing only 576 yards vs. Detroit Tech in 1940.
Quarterback Rakeem Cato's 143 yards rushing is the No. 3 rushing game for a quarterback in Herd history, trailing 179 by Danny Wright vs. Kent State (1978) and 151 by Bernard Morris vs. Hofstra (2006).
The 143 rushing yards by quarterback Rakeem Cato and 137 by running back Devon Johnson mark the first time Marshall has had two rushers with 130 or more yards in a game since Sept. 9, 2006, when running back Ahmad Bradshaw had 152 and quarterback Bernard Morris 151 in a home victory over Hofstra.
Marshall's rushing average of 9.4 per play ranks third in Herd single-game history, behind two 2013 games - 11.9 per rush vs. UAB and 11.3 vs. Southern Miss.
724 yards of total offense ranks fourth in school history, behind 789 vs. VMI (1991), 733 vs. Buffalo (2002) and 726 vs. Akron (2001).
Since returning to major college football from the NCAADivision I-AA ranks in 1997, Marshall is 14-1 versus FCS (former I-AA) competition with the Saturday victory over Rhode Island. The loss came on Sept. 15, 1997, to New Hampshire, 48-35, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Johnson's two consecutive games of 100-plus rushing yards are the first time a Herd back has done that since Darius Marshall in Weeks 3 and 4 of the 2009 season - 186 yards on 21 carries against Bowling Green and 203 yards in 25 carries at Memphis.
