The 2014 Boca Raton Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game that was played on December 23, 2014 at FAU Stadium on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. The first edition of the Boca Raton Bowl, it featured the Conference USA champion Marshall Thundering Herd against the Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois Huskies. The game began at 6:00 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN.[5] It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season. Marshall beat Northern Illinois by a score of 52–23.[6]
| 2014 Boca Raton Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Boca Raton Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Date | December 23, 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | FAU Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Boca Raton, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Marshall QB Rakeem Cato[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Marshall by 8.5[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Rick Loumiet[3] (Mtn. West) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 29,419[4] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$400,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN/ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dave LaMont, Desmond Howard, & Quint Kessenich (ESPN) Marc Kestecher, John Congemi, & Ian Fitzsimmons (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
Teams
editThe game featured the Conference USA champion Marshall Thundering Herd against the Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois Huskies.
This was the eighth overall meeting between these two teams, with Northern Illinois previously leading the series 4–3. The previous time these two teams met was in 2001.
Marshall Thundering Herd
editAfter finishing the regular season with a 12–1 record and winning their first Conference USA championship over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs by a score of 26–23, the Thundering Herd accepted their bid to the Boca Raton Bowl.[7]
This was Marshall's second Florida bowl game; they had previously won the 2011 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, defeating the FIU Panthers by a score of 20–10.
Northern Illinois Huskies
editAfter finishing the regular season with an 11–2 record and winning the MAC Championship Game over the Bowling Green Falcons by a score of 51–17, the Huskies accepted their bid to the Boca Raton Bowl.[8]
This was Northern Illinois' second bowl game in South Florida; in their most high-profile game to date, they had appeared in the 2013 Orange Bowl, losing to the Florida State Seminoles by a score of 31–10.
Game summary
editScoring summary
edit| Scoring summary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: [3]
Statistics
edit| Statistics[3] | MRSH | NIU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 28 | 25 |
| Plays–yards | 75–505 | 78–425 |
| Rushes–yards | 38–224 | 50–200 |
| Passing yards | 281 | 225 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 25–37–0 | 15–28–0 |
| Time of possession | 29:18 | 30:42 |
References
edit- ^ Burke, Peter (December 23, 2014). "Rakeem Cato caps record-setting career with win in Boca Raton Bowl". local10.com. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
- ^ Odds
- ^ a b c "Boca Raton Bowl Box Score". Stat Broadcast. December 23, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
- ^ "Marshall Thundering Herd vs. Northern Illinois Huskies". USA Today. December 23, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
- ^ "Announced: Marshall, Northern Illinois to Face Off in Inaugural Boca Raton Bowl". TheBocaRatonBowl.com. Boca Raton Bowl. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ^ "Locals Lead Marshall to Boca Raton Bowl Blowout", Reuters, December 23, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
- ^ "Conference USA Sends Marshall to Boca Raton Bowl". HerdZone.com. Marshall Thundering Herd. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ^ "NIU to Take On Marshall in First Boca Raton Bowl". NIUHuskies.com. Northern Illinois Huskies. December 7, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.