HUNTINGTON - To a man, college football players will never forget their first game experience, good, bad, colorful, etc.
HUNTINGTON - To a man, college football players will never forget their first game experience, good, bad, colorful, etc.
For quarterback Rakeem Cato and a few of his Marshall teammates, that moment came last September at West Virginia. Cato may remember it better than most - he was a true freshman out of high school, starting in his first college game in a hostile environment.
Hailing from the streets of Miami, Cato wasn't shaken, yet he took notice.
"When I first came out for the warmup, I was hazed by a lot of fans," he said last week. "A lot of fans talking stuff to me. And [on] third down, that's probably the loudest place I've ever been."
Offensive coordinator Bill Legg, much more familiar with audiences at Mountaineer Field, was curious to see how Cato responded.
"The fact that he didn't pee down his leg, I thought that was a good, positive thing," Legg said. "The fact he went out there and he was excited about the opportunity to play. I thought for the most part, through all the delays and the thunderstorms and so forth, I thought he did a pretty good job."
It wasn't a great game for Cato, who finished 15 of 21 for 115 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He did drive the ball down to the WVU 8-yard line late in the first half to set up a field goal, but failed to get the Herd to the end zone after having a first-and-goal from the WVU 3 in the third quarter.
Tyler Warner's 21-yard field goal cut WVU's lead to 20-13, but that's not what the Herd had in mind for the drive of five-plus minutes. Cato's first-down play was a short pass to Gator Hoskins, who was thrown for a 1-yard loss, and then Travon Van was stopped for no gain on second down.
On third down, Cato tried to throw to Aaron Dobson on a fade route, a play doomed from the outside. With good coverage by Pat Miller, Cato might have fared better throwing elsewhere.
After Tavon Austin's 100-yard kickoff return and a three-hour thunderstorm delay, Cato threw an incompletion and was sacked in a three-and-out. With another storm and an early end to the game, Cato never saw the ball again.
As strange as that start was, Cato's season took several more twists. He threw three touchdowns in a win over Southern Mississippi and tossed two more in conquering Louisville.
But then he suffered a horrendous game at Central Florida, lost his composure on the sidelines and was benched. He was inserted into the Rice game twice, suffering two three-and-outs, and led the Herd on a touchdown drive in mop-up time at Houston. He also threw a touchdown pass late in the Herd's romp over Alabama-Birmingham, after A.J. Graham threw for five scores.
When Graham injured his shoulder in the Herd's debacle at Tulsa, Cato returned and became the undisputed starter when Eddie Sullivan quit the team. Cato's start against Memphis didn't go well, as his fumble was returned for a touchdown that gave the Tigers a 22-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
But the Herd rallied against the Tigers, beat East Carolina in overtime and downed Florida International in the bowl game. In those last two wins, he was 50 of 68 for 567 yards, four touchdowns and one interception - an excellent NCAA passer rating of 160.
HUNTINGTON - To a man, college football players will never forget their first game experience, good, bad, colorful, etc.
For quarterback Rakeem Cato and a few of his Marshall teammates, that moment came last September at West Virginia. Cato may remember it better than most - he was a true freshman out of high school, starting in his first college game in a hostile environment.
Hailing from the streets of Miami, Cato wasn't shaken, yet he took notice.
"When I first came out for the warmup, I was hazed by a lot of fans," he said last week. "A lot of fans talking stuff to me. And [on] third down, that's probably the loudest place I've ever been."
Offensive coordinator Bill Legg, much more familiar with audiences at Mountaineer Field, was curious to see how Cato responded.
"The fact that he didn't pee down his leg, I thought that was a good, positive thing," Legg said. "The fact he went out there and he was excited about the opportunity to play. I thought for the most part, through all the delays and the thunderstorms and so forth, I thought he did a pretty good job."
It wasn't a great game for Cato, who finished 15 of 21 for 115 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He did drive the ball down to the WVU 8-yard line late in the first half to set up a field goal, but failed to get the Herd to the end zone after having a first-and-goal from the WVU 3 in the third quarter.
Tyler Warner's 21-yard field goal cut WVU's lead to 20-13, but that's not what the Herd had in mind for the drive of five-plus minutes. Cato's first-down play was a short pass to Gator Hoskins, who was thrown for a 1-yard loss, and then Travon Van was stopped for no gain on second down.
On third down, Cato tried to throw to Aaron Dobson on a fade route, a play doomed from the outside. With good coverage by Pat Miller, Cato might have fared better throwing elsewhere.
After Tavon Austin's 100-yard kickoff return and a three-hour thunderstorm delay, Cato threw an incompletion and was sacked in a three-and-out. With another storm and an early end to the game, Cato never saw the ball again.
As strange as that start was, Cato's season took several more twists. He threw three touchdowns in a win over Southern Mississippi and tossed two more in conquering Louisville.
But then he suffered a horrendous game at Central Florida, lost his composure on the sidelines and was benched. He was inserted into the Rice game twice, suffering two three-and-outs, and led the Herd on a touchdown drive in mop-up time at Houston. He also threw a touchdown pass late in the Herd's romp over Alabama-Birmingham, after A.J. Graham threw for five scores.
When Graham injured his shoulder in the Herd's debacle at Tulsa, Cato returned and became the undisputed starter when Eddie Sullivan quit the team. Cato's start against Memphis didn't go well, as his fumble was returned for a touchdown that gave the Tigers a 22-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
But the Herd rallied against the Tigers, beat East Carolina in overtime and downed Florida International in the bowl game. In those last two wins, he was 50 of 68 for 567 yards, four touchdowns and one interception - an excellent NCAA passer rating of 160.
As Herd coach Doc Holliday is fond of pointing out, Cato returns with the most starting wins (five) of any returning quarterback in Conference USA. That speaks as much to the exodus of excellent passers such as Houston's Case Keenum and Southern Miss' Austin Davis, but also to the coaches' confidence in Cato.
The sophomore had a good offseason in the weight room, bulking up to 182 pounds on his 6-foot frame - almost enough to shake the "skinny" label. He had some throwing mechanics to fine-tune, and a lot to learn about reading defenses and making sound decisions.
From Legg's experience, Cato has come a long way from that debut at Mountaineer Field.
"I think that he is more physical than he was 12 months ago," Legg said. "He has a better grasp of what we're asking him to do now than he was 12 months ago. Twelve months ago, he had to, at times, think before he acted, and now that doesn't happen very often.
"So now, his ability, which we saw in him when we recruited him, which got reconfirmed in fall practice a year ago, is starting to come out. Things are on time, and the decisions are good and the accuracy is better because the game is starting to slow down for him - because, again, he doesn't have to think his way through a play.
"That helps everybody. You know, he was driving without a GPS last year and now, that GPS is in full swing and he understands. And it helps out the other 10 guys - and I think we're better, collectively, in the other 10 guys, and so that helps him."
And that will help Cato in his return to Mountaineer Field, with the kickoff at noon next Saturday. He's more comfortable in all aspects, including a larger playbook.
And he's ready for more "pleasantries" from the home crowd.
"I guess that's how the game goes, and I just want to take advantage of that this year," he said. "I've got a trick for them this year."
nnMarshall officially finished its preseason camp Saturday, simulating about every thinkable game situation, substitutions and all, against scout teams. As is usual at this time of year, coaches and players were eager to enter a game week.
"Our guys are tired of playing each other," Holliday said. "I thought we had a good day. We had some situations come up that need to come up. That's what you do what you do, with a dry run of game day, substitutions with different things. You want to do that today instead of next Saturday, so we've got a week to get some things corrected."
Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130, dougsm...@wvgazette.com or follow him at twitter.com/dougsmock.
Get Connected