Marshall survives Dixon’s big effort
MARSHALL 26, LA. TECH 23
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Rakeem Cato passed 5 yards to Deon-Tay McManus with 1:50 remaining to lift Marshall over Louisiana Tech 26-23 on Saturday for the Thundering Herd’s first Conference-USA championship.
Cato rolled out to his right and hit McManus in the back corner of the end zone to give Marshall its first lead of the game. On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Neville Hewitt intercepted Cody Sokol and Marshall ran out the clock.
McManus also caught Cato’s other touchdown pass in the second quarter and Justin Haig kicked four field goals for Marshall (12-1), which lost to Rice 41-24 in last year’s title game.
Cato completed 25 of 46 passes for 308 yards with an interception.
A 67-66 overtime loss to Western Kentucky last week knocked Marshall out of the Top 25 rankings, but they bounced back to claim their first C-USA title.
“How great does that sound? Conference USA Champions,” Marshall Coach Doc Holliday said. “I can’t say enough how proud I am of that team.
“The culture has changed here. These kids come to play, and they work hard. They sure deserve what they got today.”
Kenneth Dixon (Strong) ran for 156 yards on 20 carries and 2 touchdowns for the Bulldogs (8-5). Dixon’s three touchdowns gave him the school record for career touchdowns with 59, passing Troy Edwards.
Louisiana Tech had six players declared academically ineligible for the game. Five of them were starters, including right tackle Mitchell Bell, left guard Tre Carter, defensive tackle Aaron Brown and linebackers Tony Johnson and Terrell Pinson.