HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - Rakeem Cato threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and Kevin Grooms added a pair of scores on the ground as Marshall eased past winless Southern Mississippi 59-24 Saturday night.
Cato completed 22 of 31 first-half attempts as the Thundering Herd (3-4, 2-1 Conference USA) built a 31-17 halftime lead on 374 yards of total offense.
The first passing touchdown came early in the second quarter. Cato connected with Antavious Wilson on a wide receiver screen for a 14-yard touchdown, giving Marshall a 17-3 lead.
Southern Mississippi (0-7, 0-3) responded with Kalan Reed's 19-yard interception return for a score, but Grooms answered three plays later with a 64-yard TD to put the Thundering Herd up 24-10.
Cato connected with Tommy Shuler for touchdown passes on consecutive possessions in the second half, and Grooms scored from 11 yards out, extending Marshall's lead to 45-17 at the end of the third quarter.
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| Scoring Summary |
| MRSHL | Justin Haig 44 yd FG |
| USM | Corey Acosta 51 yd FG |
| MRSHL | Remi Watson 3 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Antavious Wilson 14 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| USM | Kalan Reed 19 yd interception return (Corey Acosta kick) |
| MRSHL | Kevin Grooms 64 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| USM | Desmond Johnson 22 yd run (Corey Acosta kick) |
| MRSHL | Tommy Shuler 25 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Tommy Shuler 1 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Kevin Grooms 11 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Steward Butler 54 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Essray Taliaferro 1 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| USM | Arsenio Favor 12 yd run (Corey Acosta kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| MRSHL | USM | |
| First Downs | 32 | 25 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 5-11 | 5-15 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 85-629 | 77-331 |
| Rushes-Yds | 42-275 | 44-216 |
| Passing Yds | 354 | 115 |
| Kick Return Yds | 71 | 153 |
| Punt Return Yds | 15 | 0 |
| Passes | 32-43-1 | 17-33-1 |
| Punts | 3-124 | 7-322 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Penalties-Yds | 9-102 | 5-50 |
| Time of Poss. | 29:37 | 30:23 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| MRSHL: Kevin Grooms 12-119, Steward Butler 7-71, Remi Watson 10-56, Essray Taliaferro 6-26, Blake Frohnapfel 2-7, Rakeem Cato 1-3, Team 4--7 |
| USM: Kendrick Hardy 8-50, Desmond Johnson 4-39, Jeremy Hester 6-31, Arsenio Favor 4-25, Ricky Lloyd 3-25, Jalen Richard 7-20, Tyre Bracken 2-14, Anthony Alford 10-12 |
| PASSING |
| MRSHL: Rakeem Cato 31-42-340-1, Blake Frohnapfel 1-1-14-0 |
| USM: Anthony Alford 9-21-65-0, Ricky Lloyd 4-7-37-1, Arsenio Favor 4-5-13-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| MRSHL: Tommy Shuler 11-111, Antavious Wilson 6-96, Aaron Dobson 5-63, Demetrius Evans 2-21, Jermaine Kelson 2-18, Gator Hoskins 2-15, Jazz King 1-14, Davonte Allen 1-11, Remi Watson 1-4, Devon Johnson 1-1 |
| USM: Francisco Llanos 5-25, Justin Burdette 4-17, Quentin Pierce 2-39, Tracy Lampley 2-13, Justin Sims 1-11, Dominique Sullivan 1-6, D.J. Thompson 1-6, Jalen Richard 1--2 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Marshall | 3rd Conference USA East | 4-4 | 5-7 |
| Southern Mississippi | 6th Conference USA East | 0-8 | 0-12 |
