Staff Report

 

MURFREESBORO, TN — Logan Kilgore hit Tavarrres Jefferson with an 9-yard touchdown pass as time expired as the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders outscored the Marshall Thundering Herd 51-49 Thursday in a Conference USA game.

The Herd rallied from a 45-35 deficit to take a 49-45 lead with 2:29 left on a 2-yard burst by Essray Taliaferro. Kevin Grooms had a 1-yard scoring run that got the Herd within 45-42 with 8:17 left.

But Kilgore marched MTSU 79 yards in 13 plays for the winning touchdown.

Middle Tennessee (4-4, 2-2) amassed 585 total yards. Kilgore was 22-of-40 for 277 yards and four touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

The Blue Raiders ran for 308 yards. Jordan Parker ran 21 times for 127 yards and a TD and Reggie Whatley had 104 yards on 16 attempts.

Marshall (4-3, 2-1) finished with 480 total yards. Rakeem Cato was 19-of-35 for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

The Herd ground game had 213 yards with Taliaferro running 24 times for 134 yards and two scores. Grooms added 51 yards on 17 tries with two TDs.

MTSU used a blocked punt by Chris Brown to take a 14-7 first quarter lead.

Marshall rallied to go up 21-14 on a 1-yard run by Taliaferro and a 6-yard scoring pass to Gator Hoskins with 34:57 left in the half.

Hoskins finished with seven catches for 88 yards. Tommy Shuler had six receptions for 61 yards and a 6-yard touchdown catch with 2:39 left in the third quarter that got the Herd within 38-35.

But the Blue Raiders tied the game at 21 on a 16-yard scoring pass from Kilgore to Christian Collis with 27 seconds on the clock.