The Thundering Herd finished the regular season with a 9–4 record (7–1 C-USA), champions of the Conference USA East Division.
After their 41–24 defeat at the hands of the Rice Owls, bowl director Steve Beck extended an invitation to the Herd to play in the game.
They are making their first bowl appearance since they played in the 2010 edition of this game where they faced another Conference USA opponent in East Carolina.
At season's end, bowl director Steve Beck extended an invitation to the Terps to play in the game.
On 2nd and Goal from the Maryland Terrapins 1 yard line, Marshall Thundering Herd quarterback Rakeem Cato threw a touchdown pass to Tommy Shuler.
The last scoring play of the first quarter occurred when Cato had another touchdown pass, this time to Gator Hoskins.
Quarterback Rakeem Cato completed the pass to Essray Taliaferro, but they were not able to score nor were they able to get another play off in time.