The Thundering Herd defeated the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs 26-23 in a game in which the Herd trailed until the final minutes.

Marshall head coach Doc Holliday said he was proud of how the team overcame adversity and kept fighting throughout the game, which allowed it to be in a position to win at the end.

“How great does that sound? Conference USA champions,” Holliday said. “I can’t say enough about how proud I am of my coaching staff, how proud I am of this football team. We overcame an awful lot out there.”

The Bulldogs arrived in Huntington for the C-USA championship facing some adversity of its own, having lost six players (five starters), due to being ruled academically ineligible. Despite, losing starters along its offensive line and the middle of its defense, LA Tech jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. 

It took just one play for LA Tech to get its first touchdown. Bulldogs running back Kenneth Dixon scored from 33 yards out on a handoff, one play after a botched exchange between Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato and running back Steward Butler gave LA Tech the ball. Dixon would finish with 156 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Other than Dixon, the Herd defense shut down the Bulldogs’ offense. While LA Tech leaned on Dixon and the running game, quarterback Cody Sokol was held to just 72 yards passing on 20 attempts.

Turnovers were the problem for the Herd. Three of Marshall’s four turnovers led to a short field for LA Tech, and the Bulldogs capitalized with Dixon finding the end zone each time. 

Offensively, the Herd struggled to find consistency, thanks in part to a Bulldogs defense that kept the pressure on Cato. The senior quarterback, who finished with 308 passing yards and two touchdowns, would find wide receiver Deon-Tay McManus for a six yard touchdown pass to start the second quarter. 

With the Herd offense struggling to put points on the board throughout the game, kicker Justin Haig stepped up. Nailing a C-USA championship record four field goals, three of which were from 40-plus yards, Haig claimed the MVP trophy. 

The senior kicker said he was happy head coach Doc Holliday’s promise of playing for championships has come true and the Herd was able to win one after losing to Rice University last season.

“When Doc came here, he said ‘we’re going to be playing for championships,’ and the past two years we’ve done that,” Haig said. “I’m very happy we came away with the win today.”

When Haig lined up for a 40-yard field goal with the Herd trailing 17-7 in the second quarter, it was the first time he’d attempted a kick from that distance in a game. Of course, he made it. Haig set a new career-long record with a 46-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, making the score 17-13.

In the second half, the Marshall defense continued the momentum it built in the first, stopping the Bulldogs on their first drive. The Herd offense, with a brief appearance from an injured Devon Johnson, drove down to the 23 yard line where Haig would make his third field goal.

Even though Johnson was only able to play for that lone drive, his teammates were aware of what it meant to have him on the field playing with his usual bruising style, despite a shoulder injury. Linebacker Neville Hewitt said he saw firsthand how physically limited Johnson was.

“I was in treatment with him, and he couldn’t even lift his arm up,” Hewitt said. “To go out there and try to make something happen, my hat’s off to that man.”

Late in the third quarter, a blocked punt by LA Tech set up Dixon for his third touchdown of the game. The Bulldogs would miss the extra point, leaving the Herd within seven at 23-16. That would be the last time LA Tech would score, as the Herd defense clamped down in the fourth quarter, allowing Marshall to rally late.

With 5:01 left in the game, Bulldogs head coach Skip Holtz elected to attempt a 49-yard field goal instead of pinning the Herd deep in the shadow of its own end zone. LA Tech kicker Kyle Fischer missed the kick, setting up the Herd with the ball at its own 32 and putting the game on the line.

Cato and the Herd offense would only need 3:11 to score the game-winning touchdown. The senior quarterback led an 11-play, 68-yard drive, carving up a LA Tech defense that had given him fits all day and sealed it with a five-yard touchdown pass to McManus with 1:50 left. 

After the ensuing kickoff, Hewitt, wearing number 31 in honor of injured linebacker Evan McKelvey, intercepted Sokol to seal the win for the Herd and deliver Huntington its first C–USA championship. 

For Cato, the win secures his spot with the rest of the Marshall greats. Holliday said he told his senior quarterback that exact thing after the win.

“I told him after the game, he’s got all of these records and he’s got everything that’s happened here, but the one thing that was not on his résumé was a championship,” Holliday said. “Now, with him winning that championship, you can talk about him in the same breath as you do Chad [Pennington] and Byron [Leftwich] because they did that. They got that done here, and now he’s got that done.”

Cato, as he’s done all season, sidestepped the personal praise and said winning the football game was the most important thing. 

“I just wanted to win a championship,” Cato said. “I think our team deserved it, I think Coach Holliday deserved it, I think Marshall University deserved it. It’s been awhile since 2002.”

With the win, the Herd moves to 12-1 and will travel to Boca Raton, FL to take on the 11-2 (7-1) Northern Illinois University Huskies in the Boca Raton Bowl Dec. 23 at 6 p.m. 

Shannon Stowers can be contacted at [email protected].