2014 Boca Raton Bowl results: Marshall caps 13-1 season

Let’s look at the key numbers from Tuesday’s bowl action.

Marshall beat Northern Illinois, 52-23, in the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl. The Herd were up by double digits for 40 of the last 42 minutes. After some back-and-forth scoring early on, they were in complete control.

Schnelly is in the house for the Boca Raton Bowl! Or on his way to the house, more accurately. Very slowly on his way to that dang ol’ house.

Man, it’s been like 40 seconds and no one’s set this to “Ridin’ Dirty” yet, huh? Shameful. HERE:

Does late-season NIU show up?

In the F/+ rankings, Northern Illinois -- the school with five consecutive 11-win seasons -- doesn’t make the mid-major top 20. The 11-2 Huskies come in 72nd overall, 21st among non-power schools and behind eight schools who have combined for a 49-47 record. They’re 10 spots behind FBS newbie Georgia Southern.

However, things came crashing down in their regular-season finale against Western Kentucky, as they dropped a 67-66 overtime loss at home to the Hilltoppers. That knocked Marshall out of the top 25 and effectively eliminated them from contention for one of the premier bowls.

Date and time: Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014, 6 p.m. ET

The BYU Cougars and Memphis Tigers meet in the Miami Beach Bowl at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 22. Allowing only 17.1 points per game on defense this season, Memphis finished the year ranked fifth behind only Ole Miss, Stanford, LSU and Alabama in scoring defense.

BYU is 4-1 straight up and against the spread in its last five bowl games, while Memphis will be making its first bowl appearance since 2008. The Tigers are a 2-point favorite.