Florida International Golden Panthers vs Marshall Thundering Herd Box Score on Dec 20, 2011

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 20, 2011

Rakeem Cato threw two touchdown passes to Aaron Dobson and Tyler Warner kicked a 39-yard field goal with 5:16 remaining to break a tie as Marshall scored the final 10 points en route to a 20-10 victory over Florida International in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl on Tuesday.

Cato's 35-yard touchdown pass to Dobson on fourth-and-5 with 30 seconds left capped a game in which both offenses struggled mightily. The two teams combined for 16 punts.

Marshall looked like it had taken the lead after blocking a punt and recovering it in the end zone with 7:35 to go, but the Thundering Herd were called for an illegal forward pass when Billy Mitchell tried to hand off the ball as he was being tackled inside the 5-yard line. A personal foul call on Marshall’s Tyrone Carper at the end of the play pushed the Thundering Herd back to the 23-yard line.

Florida International (8-5) held firm before Warner banked his field goal off the right upright to give Marshall a 13-10 advantage.

On the ensuing possession, Marshall’s Omar Brown stripped the ball from FIU receiver T.Y. Hilton and Rashad Jackson recovered to give Marshall possession at its own 39 with 4:24 to go.

Marshall ran the clock down to 38 seconds before Cato surprised Florida International and found an open Dobson for the game-sealing touchdown.

Down 10-3, Marshall rallied to tie the game before intermission. Cato found Dobson for a 31-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left before halftime to cap a six-play, 55-yard drive.

Cato finished 27-for-39 for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Dobson finished with seven receptions for 81 yards.