Cato, Marshall’s senior quarterback, threw a late fourth quarter touchdown pass to freshman Deon-Tay McManus to give the Thundering Herd a come-from-behind 26-23 win over an undermanned Louisiana Tech team that played without five starters.
When McManus hauled in that game-winning catch with 1:50 left on the clock, it marked Marshall’s first lead of the game.
Despite playing at home, the Herd didn’t do much to help itself, turning the ball over four times and having a punt blocked late in the third quarter. Still, when a missed Tech field goal allowed Marshall to take over from its own 32-yard line down 23-19 with 5:01 to go, Cato, who finished with 308 yards passing, dinked and dunked his way down the field on an 11-play, 68-yard drive to win the game.
Playing at a rainy Joan C. Edwards Stadium, play favored the Bulldogs early on. Junior tailback Kenneth Dixon established his presence on the ground on La. Tech’s first drive, breaking off a few hard runs en route to a 26-yard field goal to open the scoring.
On the other side, Cato struggled to get anything going against a stout Bulldogs’ defense. The Herd came up empty on its first two drives, then on the third drive, an exchange between Cato and running back Steward Butler was fumbled and recovered by the Bulldogs. Dixon reeled off a 33-yard touchdown run on the very next play to give Tech a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Marshall responded on a Cato-to-McManus touchdown on the next drive, but later on in the half, Marshall made another mistake – this time on special teams. A bouncing Bulldogs’ punt deflected off of Marshall’s Michael Johnson and Tech recovered. Four plays later, Dixon scored again – this time from 30 yards – to extend the lead to 17-7.
Marshall’s defense was able to keep Cody Sokol and the Bulldogs in check for the rest of the half and senior kicker Justin Haig hit two field goals to keep the Herd within striking distance at half, 17-13.
Haig hit his third 40-plus yard field goal to open the second half to cut the lead to one, but another Marshall miscue – a blocked punt – gave Tech great field position again. Dixon (20 carries, 156 yards) made the Herd pay again, scoring his third touchdown of the game from 19 yards out to open up a 23-16 lead (the extra point failed) heading into the fourth quarter.
Marshall’s first drive of the final frame ended in a lost fumble deep in Tech territory, but Tech could not capitalize this time around. Marshall got the ball back soon after and Haig hit his fourth field goal of the game, a 24-yarder, to cut the lead to 23-19.
Tech took over with 8:34 to go with a chance to eat up some clock, but its drive stalled when Marshall stuffed a 3rd-and-2 play from the Herd 28-yard line for a loss of four yards. Kyle Fischer then missed from 49-yards out, setting up Marshall’s game-winning drive.
Though its undefeated season was spoiled by Western Kentucky last weekend, Marshall’s C-USA title still gives it a shot to represent the Group of Five in a New Years bowl game. Of course, No. 22 Boise State would need to lose in the Mountain West title game Saturday night, but the chance is still alive.
If Boise does win, the 12-1 Herd, as league champions, will get to choose which C-USA bowl game it wants to play in.
The loss drops Louisiana Tech’s record to 8-5 heading in to a bowl game.
For more Marshall news, visit HerdNation.com. For more Louisiana Tech news, visit BleedTechBlue.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Marshall comes from behind to beat La. Tech for C-USA title
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