EDITORƵS NOTE: The 2014 Conference USA Championship was played on a miserable day weather-wise in Huntington, West Virginia.
For the Thundering Herd, however, everything appeared sunny at gameƵs end after a late comeback helped Marshall knock off Louisiana Tech, 26-23, for the programƵs lone football title since joining the league in 2005.
Marshall quarterback Rakeem CatoƵs final two passes at Joan C. Edwards Stadium were memorable as he hit Deon-Tay McManus for a 6-yard touchdown that gave the Herd the lead before securing the win with a 9-yard pass to Ryan Yurachek for a first down following a Neville Hewitt interception.
The 2014 Conference USA Championship victory landed at No. 8 in the Marshall football Top 50.
Here is the original story from that game.
HUNTINGTON Ƶ Ƶ the seconds ticked off of the clock on Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, Marshall personnel had a bit of trouble trying to get the South end zone goal posts to fold down.
Forgive them, it has been a while since theyƵve had to bring the goal posts down.
12 years, to be exact.
At approximately 4 p.m., the field flooded with fans and the goal posts were turned over to the throng of Herd supporters as Marshall celebrated its first conference championship as a member of Conference USA with a 26-23 comeback win over Louisiana Tech in front of 23,711 soaked, but smiling fans in Huntington.
ƵHow great does that sound? Conference USA Champions,Ƶ Marshall football coach Doc Holliday said.
ƵThe whole Huntington, W.Va., (community) deserves it,Ƶ Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato said. ƵI think our players really wanted whole Huntington, W.Va., to really have it on this day.Ƶ
With the win, Marshall moves to 12-1 on the season and awaits its bowl destination, which will be announced on Sunday afternoon at around 3 p.m.
For more than three quarters on Saturday, the only thing gloomier than the skies surrounding Joan C. Edwards Stadium were the looks of the fans in the seats as the Herd struggled with its own miscues and found itself trailing throughout the contest.
ThatƵs when Cato cemented his stance as an all-time Herd great at quarterback. Cato led an 11-play, 68-yard drive, capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass to Deon-Tay McManus with 1:50 left, to give the Herd its first lead and the game-winning score.
ƵThe play was a quick slant, so he was supposed to find me on the inside, but the defense played their part,Ƶ McManus said. ƵI just never gave up on the play. I saw Cato scrambling out to the right and I was just trying to get open and he saw me for the touchdown.Ƶ
The victory was then solidified when Neville Hewitt Ƶ wearing No. 31 in honor of injured teammate Evan McKelvey Ƶ secured an interception from Louisiana Tech quarterback Cody Sokol on the first play of the subsequent drive.
ƵI was supposed to read the quarterback and he just threw it right to me,Ƶ Hewitt said.
On the game-winning drive, Cato was 6-of-7 for 53 yards while showing great poise against a Louisiana Tech defense that had frustrated him early in the game.
ƵYou know, heƵs got all these records and heƵs got all these things that happened here, but the one thing that was not on his resume was a championship,Ƶ Marshall head coach Doc Holliday said. ƵNow, with him winning that championship, you can talk about him in the same breath as you do Chad (Pennington) and Byron (Leftwich) because they did that and they got that done here and heƵs got that done.
ƵThat kid has meant so much to this program and heƵll be the quarterback thatƵs got it back to where it belongs and where it needs to be. I told him after the game that if thereƵs one person that I want the ball in his hands in that situation, guess what? ThatƵs you. He found a way to get it done.Ƶ
Cato finished the contest 25-of-46 for 308 yards with two touchdown passes Ƶ both to McManus Ƶ and an interception.
The Herd had to overcome much of its own self-inflicted woes to earn the victory on Saturday against a Louisiana Tech defense that forced four turnovers and blocked a punt to set up a score as well.
The Bulldogs turned those turnovers and the blocked punt into three touchdowns on the afternoon which helped make up for a tough day offensively.
Late in the third quarter, a blocked punt by Paul Turner set Louisiana Tech up at MarshallƵs 19-yard line and Kenneth Dixon took the next handoff 19 yards for a touchdown Ƶ his third of the day Ƶ to give the Bulldogs a 23-16 lead following a missed extra point.
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to Marshall as the Herd outgained Louisiana Tech 146-46 to overcome the deficit.
Prior to the game-winning drive, Justin Haig connected on a 24-yard field goal with 8:34 left to cut the deficit to 23-19 and set the Conference USA record for field goals in a game with four Ƶ a mark which earned him Most Valuable Player honors for the Conference USA Championship.
Louisiana Tech (8-5) led 17-7 early, but in blustery, rainy conditions, Haig connected on field goals of 40, 46 and 40 yards to pull the Herd back within one point prior to the blocked punt.
The Bulldogs jumped out to the lead by capitalizing on Marshall miscues. One play after a Marshall fumble, Dixon raced 33 yards into the end zone to give Louisiana Tech an early 10-0 lead.
After Cato hit McManus for a 6-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, the Bulldogs used a Marshall fumble to set up their next score as well.
MarshallƵs defense had forced a fourth-and-5, but jumped offsides on a hard count to give Louisiana Tech a first down. Dixon went untouched on a 30-yard score on the next play to push the advantage back to 10 before Haig connected on a pair of long-range field goals, including a 46-yarder as time expired to cut the deficit to 17-13 at the break.
Haig actually pulled the first attempt from 46 yards, but Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz had called timeout prior to the kick. Haig then hit the next kick true to give the Herd a bit of momentum heading to the locker room.
ƵI personally donƵt understand the concept (of icing a kicker) because kickers, snappers, holders, we all like to take a practice rep thatƵs out there in the game,Ƶ Haig said.
Dixon finished with 156 yards on three touchdowns Ƶ all of which came on counter plays in which Louisiana Tech caught MarshallƵs defense out of position.
ƵFrom a schematic standpoint, we didnƵt feel like they had a run support player over the weak side,Ƶ Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz said. ƵThatƵs why we were formationally giving them one thing and we felt like there wasnƵt a run-support player over there. ThatƵs why we were attacking it.Ƶ
The Herd defense made the adjustment in the second half and limited DixonƵs big plays while shutting down Sokol in the passing game as well.
Sokol was 7-of-20 for 72 yards in the contest and the Bulldogs amassed just 90 yards of total offense in the second half.
In addition to the game-clinching interception, Hewitt finished with 14 tackles and 1.5 for loss while Taj Letman added 10 tackles. Perhaps the biggest defensive performance came from freshman Raheim Huskey, who played in place of injured middle linebacker Jermaine Holmes.
Huskey finished with eight tackles, which included 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks while forcing a fumble for the Herd.
Louisiana Tech had five starters Ƶ left guard Tre Carter, right tackle Mitchell Bell, defensive tackle Aaron Brown and linebackers Tony Johnson and Terrell Pinson Ƶ miss the game after being ruled academically ineligible earlier in the week.
