Marshall 52, W. Carolina 24

Sep 8, 2012, 11:37 pm

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Rakeem Cato threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns, helping Marshall build a sizable early lead in an easy 52-24 win over Western Carolina on Saturday night.

Cato was 32 of 42 passing for the Thundering Herd (1-1) before giving way to freshman backup Blake Frohnapfel, who was a perfect 4 of 4 passing for 53 yards with one touchdown.

Marshall's quarterback spread it around in the second quarter, throwing TD passes of 1 yard to Gator Hoskins, 2 yards to Aaron Dobson and 12 yards to Demetrius Evans for a 24-0 Marshall lead. Richard Sigmon's 40-yard field goal at the halftime whistle finally opened the scoring for the Catamounts (1-1).

Devin Arrington returned an interception 18 yards for a score to push the Thundering Herd's advantage to 45-10.

The Thundering Herd outgained the Catamounts 615-335, including a 430-191 yard margin through the air.