| Game Name: | Boca Raton Bowl |
| Subheader: | 1st Boca Raton Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 23 |
| Year Game Played: | 2014 |
| Football Season: | 2014 |
| Stadium: | FAU Stadium |
| City: | Boca Raton, Florida |
| Visitor School: | Marshall University |
| Visitor Name Short: | Marshall |
| Visitor Nickname: | Thundering Herd |
| Visitor Record: | 12–1 |
| Visitor Conference: | C-USA |
| Visitor Coach: | John "Doc" Holliday |
| Visitor 1Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 14 |
| Home School: | Northern Illinois University |
| Home Name Short: | Northern Illinois |
| Home Nickname: | Huskies |
| Home Record: | 11–2 |
| Home Conference: | MAC |
| Home Coach: | Rod Carey |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 6 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 3 |
| Odds: | Marshall by 8.5[1] |
| Mvp: | Marshall QB Rakeem Cato[2] |
| Referee: | Rick Loumiet (Mtn. West) |
| Attendance: | 29,419[3] |
| Payout: | 400,000 |
| Us Network: | ESPN/ESPN Radio |
| Us Announcers: | Dave LaMont, Desmond Howard, & Quint Kessenich (ESPN) Marc Kestecher, John Congemi, & Ian Fitzsimmons (ESPN Radio) |
| Different Next: | 2015 |
| First Game Ever Played: | yes |
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.[4] 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.[5]
The 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.
See also: 2014 Marshall Thundering Herd football team. After 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.[6]
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.
See also: 2014 Northern Illinois Huskies football team. After 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.[7]
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.
Source: [8]
| Statistics | 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 |