Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Marshall Thundering Herd Box Score on Nov 28, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 28, 2014

Western Kentucky 67, No. 20 Marshall 66 (OT): Brandon Doughty capped his record-eight touchdown performance with a 25-yard score and a two-point conversion in overtime as the visiting Hilltoppers stunned the Thundering Herd.

Doughty set school and Conference USA records with his eight touchdowns and totaled 491 yards on 34-of-50 for Western Kentucky (7-5, 4-4 C-USA), which knocked off a ranked opponent for the first time since moving to FBS. Jared Dangerfield hauled in his second TD catch on the back line of the end zone in overtime after Marshall had scored and the Hilltoppers elected to go for two points and the win, with Doughty finding Willie McNeal on the right side for the conversion.

Rakeem Cato threw for 417 yards and seven TDs but was intercepted four times while Steward Butler took over for an injured Devon Johnson and ran for 233 yards and a pair of scores for the Thundering Herd (11-1, 7-1). Davonte Allen (141 yards, two TDs), Tommy Shuler (132, one) and Hyleck Foster (71, two) led the receiving corps for Marshall, which lost its perfect season and likely watched its chance at a New Year’s Six bowl fall away.

After combining for 91 points in the first half, neither team got on the board in the third until Butler broke for a 22-yard TD to knot it up at 49 with 58 seconds left in the period. The Hilltoppers marched right back down for a go-ahead field goal and Cato’s fourth interception set up Doughty’s 35-yard TD to Dangerfield that made it a 10-point edge, but the Thundering Herd came back with a 17-yard field goal before Cato’s 5-yard TD pass to Eric Frohnapfel with 39 seconds left sent it to overtime.

Doughty found Tyler Higbee (99 yards, three TDs) for an 11-yard TD on the game’s opening drive and turned Cato’s first interception into a 17-yard scoring pass 35 seconds later before another one-play drive was a 75-yard catch-and-run TD to Taywan Taylor (122, one) for a 21-7 lead. Cato and Doughty alternated passing scores in the first quarter until Leon Allen (237 rushing yards, 51 receiving, two total TDs) broke through on the ground to start the scoring in the second, and Doughty’s 9-yard TD to Joel German made it 42-21 before Marshall fought back and cut it to 49-42 at the break on Cato’s 33-yard scoring pass to Davonte Allen.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Doughty set the school record for TD passes in a game when he found Higbee for his sixth with 2:12 remaining in the first half. … The 91 combined points at the half marked the most in the FBS this season, passing the 77 scored by New Mexico State and Boise State on Nov. 11, and was three shy of tying the all-time mark set by Navy and North Texas in 2007. … Davonte Allen was ejected with 1:41 left in the third quarter after drawing his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting. … Cato and Doughty’s combined 15 TD passes set an FBS record.