MIAMI, Fla—Marshall had a point to prove in the second half against Florida International University. Leading just 14-7 at halftime, Marshall outscored FIU 31-6 in the final two quarters and improved to 7-0 with a 45-13 victory.
Marshall’s offense struggled early, facing the conferences top ranked defense but in the second half the Herd adjusted and pulled away, remaining the only team in the country to score 40+ points in all seven games this year.
“We faced some adversity there in the first half and that’s a good thing,” said Coach Doc Holliday.
Rakeem Cato threw four touchdowns and broke Russell Wilson’s mark of 38 consecutive games with a touchdown pass. His four scoring tosses also gave him 110 for his career, just five shy of Marshall’s all-time mark set by Chad Pennington.
“Coming into this game we knew we’d be faced with some adversity and we overcame that,” said Cato. “Going in at halftime at 14-7, there wasn’t anybody panicking, I just told the guys we’ve been here before, we know how to get out of this.”
Marshall led 17-7 with 9:05 to go in the third quarter, but that all changed in the span of 4:46. Marshall scored three times on two Devon Johnson touchdown catches of 46 and 27 yards and a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown by Corey Tindal. Suddenly it went from a tight battle to Marshall blowout.
“He was a little sick prior to the game, I was worried about him a little bit,” Holliday said about Johnson.
Steward Butler tacked on Marshall’s final score with a 61-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, continuing the Herd’s streak of 40+ point performances.
Johnson finished the day with 117 yards on just nine carries and 79-yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns. Johnson has now rushed for 100+ yards in six games this season. Ahmad Bradshaw and Darius Marshall hold Marshall’s FBS all-time mark with seven 100-yard games in 2006 and 2008.
Marshall trailed for the first time all season when FIU scored on an Alex McGough quarterback sneak with 2:00 to go in the first quarter. That would be the only time the Panthers would find the endzone until the final minutes of the game.
Marshall answered four plays later with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Cato to tight end Ryan Yuracheck less than two minutes later. The pass broke Wilson’s record.
Cato found paydirt with 5:32 to go in the first half when he hit Angelo Jean-Louis for a 13-yard touchdown pass.
FIU’s Alex Gardner rushed for 104 yards on 25 carries. FIU finished the day with 177 yards rushing, but that came on 53 carries. The Panthers averaged just 3.3 yards per carry.
Marshall finished with 457 yards of total offense, 243 on the ground and 214 through the air.
FIU converted a season best 10 of 19 third down opportunities against Marshall.
Marshall returns to Joan C. Edwards Stadium next Saturday to face Florida Atlantic University.