HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — It was an average morning around Marshall’s athletics department Wednesday until it received a call from ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi requesting quarterback Rakeem Cato appear as a guest on “College Gameday” in Morgantown.
“It was not something that we had approached them about,” explained Marshall Associate Athletic Director Aaron Goebbel on the Supertalk Sportsline on Metronews affiliate WRVC.
“We’re looking forward to it as we make this push to get in the conversation,” continued Goebbel. “Any publicity or national attention we can get is very, very important and I don’t think there’s any better show to talk college football than College Gameday itself.”
Cato was the subject of a “Gameday” feature earlier this year chronicling his upbringing in Liberty City and how he ended up at Marshall and developed into one of the top quarterbacks in the country.
“As far as the conversation and interview, they’ll talk about his story,” said Goebbel. “The nation got to see his story a month ago. They’re going to revisit that a little bit and get to know him as a person.”
Cato’s appearance on “Gameday” comes just days after the release of first College Football Playoff committee rankings that left Marshall out of the top 25, despite being 8-0 on the season and dominating opponents by an average of 30 points a game.
“Rakeem will share the message that we control what we control and what we control is going out and showing the country what we can do as a football team and an athletic program,” said Goebbel.
Marshall has received its fair share of national publicity recently. Just this week, Marshall was the subject of an All-Access episode on ESPNU and Cato was a guest on the Jim Rome Show on CBS Sports Network.
Of course the news that Marshall’s quarterback would be in Morgantown upset some WVU fans, but Goebbel said he doesn’t have any reservations about making the three-hour trip north.
“You can’t replace this type of publicity. WVU is a great institution and have a great athletic department. They’re a proud group up there and we feel very calm about taking Rakeem up there,” insisted Goebbel. “There’ll be some rowdiness, but that’s what makes college football what it is.”