Marshall 31, Maryland 20
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Quarterback Rakeem Cato threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns, and Marshall rallied for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter for a 31-20 victory over Maryland in the Military Bowl before 30,163 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Friday.
Cato completed 28-of-44 passes and did not throw an interception. He finished the season with 39 touchdowns and just nine interceptions.
Marshall ended the season with a 10-4 record, having won six of its final seven games. Maryland finished at 7-6, and this was its final game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terrapins move to the Big Ten next year.
The Terrapins had taken the lead for the first time when quarterback C.J. Brown threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dave Stinebaugh on the first play of the final period. That gave Maryland a 20-17 lead with 14:56 left and capped a 17-play, 99-yard drive.
But Marshall answered quickly, scoring on its next drive when Essray Taliaferro ran for the 7-yard touchdown with 12:05 left for a 24-20 lead.
Cato led the Thundering Herd on another scoring drive later in the quarter, which he capped off by throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Gator Hoskins (six catches, 104 yards) with 3:42 left to put Marshall up, 31-20.
The Herd also got help from punter Tyler Williams. Four of his punts pinned Maryland inside its own 10-yard line. The Terrapins twice started drives on their 1-yard line and also began on the 5- and 8-yard lines.
Cato moved Marshall up and down the field in the first half, throwing two touchdown passes as the Thundering Herd held a 17-13 lead at the break.
Both of those touchdowns came in the first quarter. Cato threw a 1-yard scoring pass to Tommy Shuler (nine catches, 68 yards) followed by an 8-yard touchdown pass to Hoskins on the following possession.
The Hoskins touchdown gave Marshall a 14-7 lead with 34 seconds left in the first quarter. Brad Craddock cut the lead to 14-10 with his 25-yard field goal for Maryland before Marshall's Justin Haig answered with his 27-yard kick.
Craddock added his second field goal of the game with 1:20 left in the half, a 33-yard kick that cut the lead to 17-13 at halftime.
NOTES: QB Rakeem Cato has thrown touchdown passes in 32 consecutive games with Marshall. Earlier this week, Cato was named Conference USA's Offensive Player of the Year...Marshall WR Tommy Shuler's nine catches gave him 106 for the season. He reached the century mark early in the second quarter and had seven in the first half alone...This was Maryland's first trip to a bowl game under coach Randy Edsall, now in his third season...The Terrapins' 17-play, 99-yard drive that gave them a brief lead set Military Bowl records in both categories.
