It was part of the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season and was the fifth edition of the bowl game.
It was played in December 2002 and featured the Louisville Cardinals, and the Marshall Thundering Herd.
Marshall started the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Byron Leftwich to wide receiver Denero Marriott for a 7–0 lead.
Leftwich later tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Demetrius Doss for a 17–0 lead.
With 13 seconds left in the game, quarterback Dave Ragone found Tiger Jones in the end zone for a Louisville touchdown.