College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Marshall 63, Southern Mississippi 17
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 8, 2014
Where: M.M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Temperature: 52°
Head Official: Ken Antee
Attendance: 22949

No. 23 Marshall 63, Southern Miss 17: Rakeem Cato threw for a pair of scores and ran for another as the Thundering Herd stayed unbeaten with an easy victory over the host Golden Eagles.

Cato was 13-of-19 for 186 yards while also rushing for 92 yards for Marshall (9-0, 5-0 Conference USA), which racked up 521 yards of total offense. Steward Butler rushed five times for 118 yards and two scores, Remi Watson ran for three touchdowns and Tommy Shuler had five catches for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Ito Smith rushed 27 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns for Southern Miss (3-7, 1-5), which turned the ball over three times. Cole Weeks finished 11-of-19 for 114 yards and an interception, completing passes to nine different receivers.

Southern Miss started the game well, going 75 yards in 13 plays on the opening drive - capped by a 2-yard Smith touchdown run - and executing an onside kick and driving for another Smith touchdown run for a 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the contest. From then on, though, it was all Marshall as the Thundering Herd scored 21 straight points, with Watson catching a touchdown pass and running 7 yards for a score.

After Corey Acosta kicked a 35-yard field goal for the Golden Eagles, Cato found Shuler from 2 yards out midway through the second and ran for a 10-yard score midway through the third to push the lead to 18 points. Watson scored from 7 yards out late in the third quarter before Butler scampered 83 yards for a touchdown in the first minute of the fourth quarter and the rout was on.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Butler's 83-yard touchdown run was the longest of his career. … Marshall is the only team in the nation to score at least 35 points in every game this season. … The 63 points allowed is the most by the Golden Eagles since giving up 63 to Brigham Young in 1976.



Top Game Performances
Rushing
Marshall   Southern Mississippi
Steward Butler Player Ito Smith
5 Attempts 27
118 Yards 141
23.6 Avg Yards 5.2
2 Touchdowns 2
0 Long 0
Receiving
Marshall   Southern Mississippi
Tommy Shuler Player Markese Triplett
5 Receptions 2
80 Yards 22
16.0 Avg Yards 11.0
1 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Marshall 521 335 186 9 0 1 6.0 3
Southern Mississippi 300 186 114 2 1 0 1.0 0