Marshall Thundering Herd vs Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles Box Score on Oct 20, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 20, 2012

Marshall 59, Southern Miss 24: Sophomore quarterback Rakeem Cato threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and freshman Kevin Grooms rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns as the visiting Thundering Herd cruised past the winless Golden Eagles.

Cato, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in completions and passing yards, completed 31 of 42 attempts before leaving early in the fourth quarter as Marshall improved to 3-4, 2-1 Conference USA. Cato was also intercepted by freshman defensive back Kalan Reed, who returned it 19 yards for a touchdown.

Southern Miss (0-7, 0-3 C-USA) stayed close early thanks to a career-long 51-yard field goal by Corey Acosta, which landed in the middle of the crossbar and bounced through to tie the game 3-3.

The Golden Eagles later cut the Herd lead to 24-17 on Desmond Johnson's 22-yard run up the middle with 5:13 remaining in the second quarter. But Marshall responded by scoring 35 unanswered points, including touchdown passes of 25 and 1 yards from Cato to sophomore wide receiver Tommy Shuler, increasing its lead to 59-17 midway through the fourth quarter.

Shuler finished with a game-high 11 receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Marshall finished with 629 total yards and 32 first downs.