HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Rakeem Cato threw three touchdowns and ran for another and Marshall held off Houston's furious fourth quarter rally to beat the Cougars 44-41 Saturday in a Conference-USA game.
Cato completed 32 of 50 passes for 377 yards.
Marshall (5-6, 4-3) led 31-10 at halftime behind Cato's three touchdown passes and a 69-yard rushing touchdown from Kevin Grooms.
Cato's 5-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter extended Marshall's lead to 38-17, but Crawford Jones threw three touchdowns - all within a seven minute span - to tie the game, 38-38, with 10:47 left to play.
Houston's (4-7, 3-4) Matt Hogan converted a 28-yarder to tie the game 41-all with 1:18 left to play but Justin Haig capped off an 8-play, 37-yard drive with his third field goal of the day, this time a 45-yarder, to create the final margin with seven seconds showing.
Jermaine Holmes had 16 tackles for Marshall.
College Football Schedule T-Shirts
Get the gear Shop now
| Scoring Summary |
| MRSHL | Antavious Wilson 19 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Justin Haig 23 yd FG |
| MRSHL | Tommy Shuler 5 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| HOU | Shane Ros 3 yd pass from Crawford Jones (Matt Hogan kick) |
| MRSHL | Davonte Allen 46 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| HOU | Matt Hogan 32 yd FG |
| MRSHL | Kevin Grooms 69 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| HOU | Xavier Maxwell 4 yd pass from Crawford Jones (Matt Hogan kick) |
| MRSHL | Rakeem Cato 5 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| HOU | Shane Ros 19 yd pass from Crawford Jones (Matt Hogan kick) |
| HOU | Xavier Maxwell 58 yd pass from Crawford Jones (Matt Hogan kick) |
| HOU | Deontay Greenberry 7 yd pass from Crawford Jones (Matt Hogan kick) |
| MRSHL | Justin Haig 26 yd FG |
| HOU | Matt Hogan 28 yd FG |
| MRSHL | Justin Haig 45 yd FG |
| Team Stats | ||
| HOU | MRSHL | |
| First Downs | 23 | 37 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 5-17 | 13-22 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 4-4 | 1-1 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 78-430 | 106-665 |
| Rushes-Yds | 32-105 | 56-288 |
| Passing Yds | 325 | 377 |
| Kick Return Yds | 209 | 80 |
| Punt Return Yds | 6 | 10 |
| Passes | 32-46-0 | 32-50-2 |
| Punts | 6-268 | 4-158 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-Yds | 5-30 | 7-58 |
| Time of Poss. | 27:5 | 32:55 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| HOU: Kenneth Farrow 14-78, Ryan Jackson 4-20, Shane Ros 2-3, Charles Sims 3-2, DeWayne Peace 1-2, Larry McDuffey 1-1, Crawford Jones 7--1 |
| MRSHL: Kevin Grooms 21-155, Essray Taliaferro 18-66, Remi Watson 8-35, Rakeem Cato 9-32 |
| PASSING |
| HOU: Crawford Jones 31-44-316-0, Shane Ros 1-2-9-0 |
| MRSHL: Rakeem Cato 32-50-377-2 |
| RECEIVING |
| HOU: Deontay Greenberry 6-60, Shane Ros 5-52, DeWayne Peace 5-44, Ronnie Williams 4-35, Larry McDuffey 4-23, Kenneth Farrow 3-25, Xavier Maxwell 2-62, Charles Sims 2-26, Ryan Jackson 1-6, Crawford Jones 0--8 |
| MRSHL: Tommy Shuler 9-105, Antavious Wilson 7-72, Demetrius Evans 5-44, Craig Wilkins 5-29, Davonte Allen 2-55, Gator Hoskins 1-27, Remi Watson 1-19, Jazz King 1-15, Devon Johnson 1-11 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Houston | 3rd Conference USA West | 4-4 | 5-7 |
| Marshall | 3rd Conference USA East | 4-4 | 5-7 |
