Marshall Football: Cato, Dobson and Shuler Not Enough, Running Back Needed

Ohio U  27  Marshall   24

Rakeem Cato, Aaron Dobson and Tommy Shuler almost pulled it off. Should have pulled it off. But they didn't. Without turnovers, they win—even with Cato as the leading rusher.

Ridiculous. Rakeem put on another passing exhibition. He was 44-of-65 for 432 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. The completions were a Marshall record.

But the next stat is the most telling: Cato was the Herd's leading rusher with 32 yards on six attempts. Travon Van was next with 15 yards on 13 attempts!

Some writers and pundits say Cato should have handed off more instead of passing so much. I say he almost won the game!

If your primary running back is averaging 1.2 yards per carry, would you keep giving him the ball?

Grant Taylor of the Herald-Dispatch.com quoted coach Holliday after the game:

“As long as we continue to move the ball, I don’t really care if we throw it or run it, but at some point, you have to be able to do both.”

The defense is still a little soft against the rush, giving up 3.8 yards per carry. Ohio also had 200 yards passing. Nice, but certainly not great.

With Cato's passing, Marshall actually out-gained the Bobcats by almost 100 yards.

It was a game against a good team that the Herd could have won. In the end it came down to a final interception. Cato blames himself. He's wrong.

The game was lost when Cato handed the ball off and runners got nowhere. Cato averaged 5.3 yards per rush. Remi Watson gained 10 yards on two carries. Is he the answer?

I don't think so. The 5'11" 202-pound freshman got nowhere against WVU.

Wanted: One running back. Speed, quickness and power required. Current players eligible to apply. Hurry.

Marshall begins Conference USA play on the road Saturday at Rice. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. I hope somebody can run the ball.

Comments welcome!