HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall took out its frustrations from three straight losses by scoring the first 41 points in a 44-14 victory against Ohio in the Battle of the Bell on Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

Rakeem Cato completed 17-of-29 passes for 425 yards and four touchdowns and the Thundering Herd finished with 705 yards of offense against an Ohio defense that in its first two games had stood tough.

Steward Butler rushed for 119 yards on 19 attempts and Devon Johnson had 91 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries for Marshall (3-0).

Derrius Vick went 18-of-29 for 200 yards with a touchdown and an interception and 51 yards rushing, but did not lead the Bobcats (1-2) to points until his the final possession he played.

Ohio blew a chance at an early lead, and there was no room for missed opportunities.

Chase Cochran made a 53-yard catch in the game’s first play from scrimmage, and the Bobcats moved to the 3-yard line. On third-and-goal, Vick’s completion to Landon Smith was good for only 1 yard, and coach Frank Solich elected to have Josiah Yazdani try a 19-yard field goal. It was shanked, and instead, the Thundering Herd went the other way for the game’s first points on a 36-yard Justin Haig field goal.

Cato threw touchdown passes of 25 yards and 6 yards to Davonte Allen before the end of the first quarter for a 17-0 lead, and Marshall added a 37-yard Haig field goal and a 19-yard Cato touchdown pass to Tommy Shuler before the end of the first half for a 27-0 lead.

Devon Johnson had a 30-yard touchdown run and Cato hooked up with Angelo Jean-Louis for a 66-yard score for a 44-0 lead.

Vick finally got Ohio on the board with 6:33 left in the third quarter with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Sebastian Smith, and JD Sprague threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Ian Dixon with 10 minutes remaining.

Haig closed out scoring with a 34-yard field goal with 3:25 left.

Jean-Louis had four catches for 158 yards, Allen caught five passes for 137 yards and Shuler had four grabs for 76 yards.

Smith led the Bobcats with five receptions for 56 yards. Daz’mond Patterson managed only 36 yards on 10 carries, while A.J. Ouellette had 37 yards on four carries late in the game. On a couple of late possessions, Sprague was 4-of-8 passing for 36 yards.

Marshall racked up 31 first downs and averaged 8.9 yards per play.

Blair Brown made seven tackles and Nathan Carpenter had an interception for Ohio’s first forced turnover of the season. The Bobcats were on the wrong end of the turnover battle for the third time with a lost fumble and an interception.

Darryl Roberts and Tiquan Lang had 11 and 10 tackles, respectively, to lead Marshall.

After three road games to begin the season, Ohio has its home opener against Idaho at 7 p.m. Saturday at Peden Stadium.