St. Petersburg, Fla. ? Rakeem Cato threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns to help Marshall beat Florida International, 20-10, in the Beef ‘O’Brady’s Bowl on Tuesday night.

Tyler Warner kicked a pair of field goals and 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 amid speculation that coach Mario Cristobal may be a leading candidate to fill a job opening at Pittsburgh.