Marshall Beats Northern Illinois, 52-23
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Rakeem Cato capped a record-setting career by tying an NCAA mark for touchdown passes and throwing for three scores to help Marshall beat Northern Illinois 52-23 Tuesday night in the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl.
Cato extended his streak of throwing at least one touchdown pass to 46 consecutive games. That tied the NCAA all-division record set by Central Washington's Mike Reilly.
As usual, Cato's favorite target was fellow senior Tommy Shuler, who made 18 receptions for 185 yards and a score. Shuler broke the Conference USA record for career receptions with 322.
Cato increased his season total to a school-record 40 touchdown passes. He threw for scores of 6 yards to Shuler, 11 yards to Angelo Jean-Louis and 27 yards to Deon-Tay McManus.
All of those touchdowns came in the second half.
Cato completed 25 of 37 passes for 281 yards and ran 5 yards for a score.
Marshall finished 13-1, with its lone loss to Western Kentucky, 67-66 in overtime. Northern Illinois finished 11-3. The game drew a crowd of less than 15,000 in Florida Atlantic's 30,000-seat stadium.
Cato and Shuler were high school teammates in nearby Miami, and they played their final college game before a large throng of family and friends. All seven of Cato's completions in the first half went to Shuler.
Cato wore No. 31 instead of his familiar No. 12 to honor teammate Evan McKelvey, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in October.
Deandre Reaves scored Marshall's first touchdown on a 93-yard kickoff return. Devon Johnson ran for 131 yards and a score for the Thundering Herd, who totaled 505 yards
The Huskies' Drew Hare threw for 225 yards and a score, and they added 200 on the ground. They outgained Marshall in the first half but trailed 24-13 because they settled for field goal tries three times and missed one.
Northern Illinois pulled off a successful onside kick to start the second half but lost the ball four plays later when Arnold Blackmon stopped Cameron Stingily for no gain on fourth and 1 at midfield.
The Thundering Herd mounted touchdown drives of 56, 68 and 70 yards on consecutive possessions in the second half to lead 38-20.
The win gave the Thundering Herd bowl victories in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2001-02.
(© 2014by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)