SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 27, 2013
Marshall 31, Maryland 20: Rakeem Cato passed for 337 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Thundering Herd past the Terrapins in the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman in Annapolis, Md.
Gator Hoskins caught six passes for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Tommy Shuler added nine grabs and a score to lead the receiving corps. Essray Taliaferro ran for 81 yards and a touchdown for Marshall (10-4), which picked up the eighth bowl win in school history.
C.J. Brown went 14-of-24 for 197 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for Maryland (7-6), which ended the season with five losses in its last seven games. Brandon Ross ran for 116 yards and Levern Jacobs caught seven passes for 100 yards and a score for the Terrapins.
Marshall got on the board with Cato’s 1-yard TD pass to Shuler and took a 14-7 lead when Cato found Hoskins for an 8-yard score with 34 seconds left in the first quarter. A series of field goals sent the Thundering Herd into the break with a 17-13 edge.
Maryland took its first lead when Brown capped a 17-play, 99-yard drive with a 2-yard, play-action TD pass to Dave Stinebaugh on the opening play of the fourth quarter. Marshall responded on the ensuing drive, taking the lead back when Taliaferro cut to the middle and dove into the end zone for a 7-yard score and a 24-20 lead, and closed it out on Cato’s 8-yard TD to Hoskins with 3:42 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: AJ Leggett intercepted Brown with 2:58 left to seal the game. … Cato (91) moved past Byron Leftwich (89), who attended the game, and into second place on Marshall’s all-time list for TD passes behind Chad Pennington (115). … Maryland’s 99-play drive was the longest in Military Bowl history.