HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—Rakeem Cato has flown under the radar for the past three seasons despite racking up some of the statistics in the country. That is not the case heading into his final seasons as The Herd’s starting quarterback. Cato was named to the Walter Camp Award Watch List for its 2014 National Player of the Year award.
It is the third award watch list Cato has been named to this preseason, not including his potential Heisman buzz. Cato’s preseason accolades include being added to the Davey O’Brien Award, Maxwell Award and College Football Performance Award watch lists.
Cato was also selected by coaches in Conference USA as the league’s preseason Offensive Player of the Year and preseason All-Conference this past week.
The Miami native has thrown a touchdown pass in 32 consecutive games, the high for an active FBS quarterback (FBS record is 38 by Russell Wilson, 2009-11 at N.C. State; 2011 at Wisconsin). Cato completed 298-of-499 passes for 3,916 yards and rushed for 294 yards and six touchdowns. With Cato at the helm, Marshall was seventh in the FBS in scoring offense (42.1 points per game).