College Football

Military Bowl 2013 final score: Marshall stomps Maryland, 31-20

Marshall picked up its 10th win of the season on Friday afternoon with an impressive showing against Maryland. Rakeem Cato had a huge game, throwing for 337 yards and three touchdowns.

By Scott Coleman@scottcoleman55 Dec 27, 2013, 6:08pm EST

Marshall won the 2013 Military Bowl on Friday afternoon at Navy Memorial Stadium by a score of 31-20 over Maryland. The victory gives the Thundering Herd their first 10-win season since 2002.

The game was close throughout. Behind a couple of early Rakeem Cato touchdown passes, Marshall took a 17-13 lead into halftime. The score held throughout the third quarter, and then a C.J. Brown touchdown pass to Dave Stinebaugh gave the Terrapins a 20-17 lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

With the momentum shifting to Maryland's side, Cato orchestrated a 63-yard drive that was capped off with a Essray Taliaferro touchdown run to give the Thundering Herd the lead once again. Cato then connected with Gator Hoskins in the back of the end zone with 3:42 remaining to make the score 31-20.

Maryland still had a chance to make a comeback, but an errant pass was intercepted by A.J. Leggett to put the nail in the Terps' coffin.

Box Score Hero:

Rakeem Cato: 28/44, 337 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT

Gator Hoskins: 6 receptions, 104 yards, 2 TD

Rankings Ramifications: Neither team came in ranked, and while it was a nice win by Marshall to close out the season, it likely won't be enough to move the Thundering Herd into the top 25 to close out the season.

But Did They Cover? Marshall came in as a three-point favorite on most betting sites and covered the spread. The two teams also came up short of the 65-point over/under line.

For More On This Game: For more on Terps football, visit Maryland community Testudo Times, plus Big Ten community Off Tackle Empire.