HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Rakeem Cato threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Marshall beat Rhode Island 48-7 on Saturday.

Cato was 15 of 29 and 267 yards passing. He also led his team on the ground with 143 yards on nine carries.

Devon Johnson opened the scoring for the Thundering Herd (2-0) with a 12-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. He finished with 137 yards on 14 carries.

Leading 17-0 at the break, Marshall wasted no time extending its third-quarter advantage to 38 on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Cato to Angelo Jean-Lewis, followed by two Steward Butler rushing touchdowns.

The Rams (0-1) finally scored early in the fourth on a 3-yard pass from Mack Lowrie to Charlie McKeeman.

But the Thundering Herd followed with a 63-yard touchdown run by Cato on the team’s next possession and a field goal by Justin Haig with 4 minutes to play.

 

MARSHALL 48, RHODE ISLAND 7

Rhode Island 0 0 0 7 — 7

Marshall 7 10 21 10 — 48

First Quarter

Mar—D.Johnson 12 run (Haig kick), 12:51.

Second Quarter

Mar—FG Haig 25, 2:22.

Mar—Shuler 27 pass from Cato (Haig kick), :36.

Third Quarter

Mar—Jean-Louis 3 pass from Cato (Haig kick), 10:00.

Mar—Butler 39 run (Haig kick), 6:42.

Mar—Butler 1 run (Haig kick), 1:57.

Fourth Quarter

URI—McKeeman 3 pass from Lowrie (Smith kick), 12:03.

Mar—Cato 63 run (Haig kick), 10:12.

Mar—FG Haig 22, 4:01.

A—25,106.

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URI Mar

First downs 11 29

Rushes-yards 39-64 46-432

Passing 111 292

Comp-Att-Int 17-28-1 18-35-0

Return Yards (-1) 39

Punts-Avg. 11-41.3 2-44.0

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 5-3

Penalties-Yards 6-38 8-64

Time of Possession 33:18 26:42

 

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Rhode Island, McCombs 17-39, Clarke 7-19, Lowrie 13-11, Team 1-(minus 1), Cooper 1-(minus 4). Marshall, Cato 9-143, D.Johnson 14-137, Butler 10-68, Watson 5-66, Byrd 6-17, Holcombe 2-1.

PASSING—Rhode Island, Lowrie 17-28-1-111. Marshall, Cato 15-29-0-267, Holcombe 3-6-0-25.

RECEIVING—Rhode Island, White 5-53, Jackson 4-8, McCombs 3-31, Cooper 2-5, E.Holmes 1-6, Favreau 1-5, McKeeman 1-3. Marshall, D.Allen 5-115, Shuler 3-68, Wilkins 3-36, Evans 2-25, Jean-Louis 2-23, Hunt 1-12, Knight 1-7, Yurachek 1-6.