2004 Fort Worth Bowl

2004 PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl
Marshall Thundering Herd Cincinnati Bearcats (6–5) (6–5) MAC C-USA 14 32 Head coach:  Bob Pruett Head coach:  Mark Dantonio
1 2 3 4 Total Marshall 14 0 0 0 14 Cincinnati 10 14 0 8 32
Date	December 23, 2004
Season	2004
Stadium	Amon G. Carter Stadium
Location	Fort Worth, Texas
MVP	Gino Guidugli (QB, Cincinnati) & Josh Davis (WR, Marshall)[1]
Referee	Steve Usechek (Big XII)
Attendance	27,902
Payout	US$750,000[2]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Sean McDonough (Play-by-Play) Craig James (Analyst) Jimmy Dykes (Sidelines)
Fort Worth Bowl  < 2003  2005 >

The 2004 edition to the Fort Worth Bowl, the second edition, featured the Marshall Thundering Herd, and the Cincinnati Bearcats. It had a title sponsor of PlainsCapital Bank. The game was particularly notable because it featured an incoming school (Marshall) to and outgoing school (Cincinnati) from Conference USA.

Cincinnati scored first, when Antauwn Gibbons recovered a blocked punt, and rushed it in 9 yards for a touchdown, giving Cincinnati an early 7–0 lead. Kevin Lovell added a 23-yard field goal to give Cincinnati a 10–0 lead. Marshall got on the scoreboard following a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Stan Hill to wide receiver Josh Davis making it 10–7. They later took the lead when cornerback Willie Smith intercepted a pass, and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown, putting Marshall on top 14–10.

The second quarter belonged to Cincinnati. Quarterback Gino Guidugli fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brent Celek to put Cincinnati back on top 17–14. He later threw another touchdown pass to Earnest Jackson increasing Cincinnati's lead to 24–14. That score stood up at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Cincinnati scored two field goals and recorded a safety to make the final margin 32–14.