HUNTINGTON, W.Va.– Everyone knows Rakeem Cato can throw the ball but Saturday night he showed off he can run with it too. Cato was Marshall’s leading rusher with 143 yards including a 63-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“Don’t blow his head up,” receiver Tommy Shuler joked after Marshall’s 48-7 win over Rhode Island. “Just let him stay back there in the gun.”
Cato performance ranks third all-time for Marshall quarterbacks, trailing 179 yards rushing by Danny Wright in 1978 against Kent State and Bernard Morris’ 151 yards rushing in 2006 versus Hofstra.
“We just took what the defense gave us,” said Cato. “We knew the end was knifing all night on the inside read and I had to pull it.”
Cato stunned the crowd when he broke free for a 63-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, a career long scamper for the fourth-year starter.
“I had no choice but to keep the ball and try to make a play. I saw daylight and as I kept going their angles were kind of bad and then I heard the crowd and they gave me momentum. I realized I was still on my feet, I was still going.”
Asked if he was going to stop by running backs coach Chris Barclay’s meeting room on Monday, Cato quipped he may stop by to see if they could draw up some more plays for him.
And when told that his childhood friend Tommy Shuler said about Cato’s running ability, Cato was quick to respond.
“He’s just mad because he knows I’m faster than him.”