Rakeem Cato threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns and Tyler Warner kicked a pair of field goals, helping Marshall beat Florida International 20-10 in college football's Beef ‘O'Brady's Bowl Tuesday. Cato threw TD passes of 31 and 35 yards to Aaron Dobson, the latter putting the game away in the closing seconds. Warner's 39-yard field goal, set up by a blocked punt, snapped a 10-10 tie with 5:16 remaining. Marshall (7-6) overcame a slow start to win five of its last seven games and avoid a losing record in its second season under coach Doc Holliday. FIU (8-5) was denied a school-record ninth victory and there was speculation that coach Mario Cristobal may be a leading candidate to fill a job opening at Pittsburgh. Cato, who is one of 28 players on West Virginia-based Marshall's roster recruited from the state of Florida, completed 27 of 39 passes and was intercepted once. Dobson had seven receptions for 81 yards, including a TD catch that wiped out a 10-3 FIU lead just before halftime. T.Y. Hilton scored on a 2-yard run for FIU, which also got a 46-yard field goal from Jack Griffin. Hilton had eight catches for 88 yards, ran for 22 yards on three carries and returned two kickoffs for 36 yards, but quarterback Wesley Carroll had difficulty getting the ball to him in open space in the second half. Marshall struggled with a tough early schedule this season, losing three games in September before regrouping late tp win four of six, becoming bowl eligible and finishing second behind Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA East Division. FIU is a relative newcomer to the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Panthers only launched their football program in 2002, joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2005 and has made steady progress in five seasons under Cristobal, who led the school to its first Sun Belt championship a year ago.
