2001 GMAC Bowl The 2001 GMAC Bowl , a college football bowl game held on December 19 at Ladd - Peebles Stadium in Mobile , Alabama , pitted the Marshall Thundering Herd , then of the Mid - American Conference , against the East Carolina Pirates from Conference USA . This game featured what was then the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I - A ( now Division I FBS ) bowl history , as Marshall came back from a 38 - 8 halftime deficit to force overtime and eventually win 64 - 61 in double overtime . It was also the highest - scoring bowl game in history , breaking the previous record set when Texas Tech defeated Air Force 55 - 41 in the 1995 Copper Bowl . Although the record for greatest bowl comeback was broken by Texas Tech when it returned to the Copper Bowl , by then renamed the Insight Bowl , in 2006 , the 2001 GMAC Bowl remains the highest - scoring bowl game ever . The game , with an official attendance of 40 , 139 , was telecast on ESPN2 . It was a rematch of one of Marshall ' s most historically significant games . On November 14 , 1970 , the two teams met at East Carolina , with the Pirates winning 17 - 14 . That night , the plane carrying the Herd back to Huntington , West Virginia crashed just before landing , killing all 75 on board . The two teams had only met one time since the crash , a 45 - 0 East Carolina win in 1978 . Today , they meet every season , as Marshall joined C - USA in 2005 ( the 35th anniversary of the crash ) and is grouped with ECU in the conference ' s East Division . The buildup . This game was expected to be a high - scoring affair , as both teams featured " high - flying quarterback s " who would go on to become teammates on the Jacksonville Jaguars — senior David Garrard for East Carolina , who would join the Jags in 2002 , and junior Byron Leftwich for Marshall , who joined the team a year later . The two remained teammates until 2007 , when Garrard beat out Leftwich for the team ' s starting position in the preseason and Leftwich was released , soon signing with the Atlanta Falcons . ( As of the 2012 NFL season , Garrard is a free agent , while Leftwich is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers . ) First quarter . The start of the game could not have been much better for East Carolina or worse for Marshall . On the second play from scrimmage , Leftwich threw a screen pass deep in his own territory that bounced off the arms of intended receiver Denero Marriott into the hands of Ty Hunt , who returned the interception 12 yards for the game ' s first touchdown . On Marshall ' s second possession , a snap out of the shotgun went over Leftwich ' s right shoulder , and Jerome Stewart picked up the ball and ran it back 43 yards for another Pirates touchdown . Marshall appeared to be finding its rhythm on its third drive , with Leftwich completing five consecutive passes . However , that drive also ended in a turnover , with Leftwich throwing an interception to Stewart in the end zone . The quarter would end with the Pirates up 21 - 0 , with Garrard scoring on a 9 - yard run . Second quarter . After the Pirates ' Kevin Miller kicked a field goal , the Herd finally got on the board when Leftwich connected on a 35 - yard touchdown pass to Darius Watts . The ensuing two - point conversion made the score 24 - 8 . However , the Pirates ' domination continued , with Leonard Henry scoring the first of his three rushing touchdowns on the night and Garrard scoring on another short run after Marshall fumbled on an attempted punt return . The half ended with East Carolina up 38 - 8 , and several thousand fans left the game then . Third quarter . Marshall dominated the third quarter much as East Carolina had controlled the first quarter . The comeback started early , with Ralph Street returning a Garrard interception for a touchdown . Leftwich then ran for another touchdown ; after the Pirates added another Miller field goal , the Herd ' s Terence Tarpley returned another Garrard interception for a touchdown , a play that was seen as the game ' s turning point . Marshall added another touchdown on a Franklin Wallace run before the end of the quarter , making the score 41 - 36 . Fourth quarter . This quarter was a back - and - forth affair . A Miller field goal , increasing the Pirates ' lead to 44 - 36 , was followed by a Marshall drive ending with a Leftwich touchdown pass to Marriott , giving the Herd the chance to tie the game with a two - point conversion , which failed . Henry then ran for a second touchdown . With 1 minute 53 seconds left , Curtis Head kicked a field goal for Marshall to cut the lead to 51 - 45 . Marshall then tried an onside kick which East Carolina recovered . The Pirates were unable to move the ball on three downs and punted . The kick went for a touchback , giving the Herd the ball on their own 20 with 50 seconds and no timeouts left . Leftwich then led the Herd on a furious last - minute drive , connecting with three passes of 20 yards or more before finding Watts in the end zone for a touchdown with 7 seconds left . All Marshall needed to cap a historic comeback was for Head to kick the extra point — but for the seventh time that season , he missed , leaving the game tied at 51 - 51 . The game was already the highest - scoring in bowl history even before going to overtime , with the two teams combining for 102 points , breaking the previous record of 96 . Overtime . Both teams scored rushing touchdowns in the first overtime period , with Wallace ' s second score of the night matched by Henry ' s third . In the second overtime , the Herd defense was able to hold the Pirates to a Miller field goal . When Marshall got the ball , Leftwich connected with Marriott on a pass that put them first - and - goal at the Pirates ' 4 - yard line . Two running plays lost a total of 4 yards . On third - and - goal , Leftwich connected with Josh Davis on what appeared to be an 8 - yard touchdown pass . The drama was not over , as a penalty was called on the play . The call turned out to be against the Pirates , and the touchdown stood , capping an improbable comeback . This was the last of five games that the Pirates lost by seven points or fewer over the course of that season . Records . Leftwich ' s 576 passing yards for the game tied the bowl - game record set by Ty Detmer of BYU in the 1989 Holiday Bowl ( however , Detmer ' s record was set in regulation ) . This record still stands as of 2007 . East Carolina earned the dubious honor of scoring the most points ever by a losing team in a bowl game . The two teams combined for 16 touchdowns and 125 points , also bowl game records . Until 2011 this game remained the highest - scoring bowl game at the end of regulation time , with the total 102 points scored in regulation . The only other bowl game , at that time , to see 102 total points scored was the 2003 Hawaii Bowl , in which Hawaii defeated Houston 54 - 48 in three overtimes . These games edged out the 101 points scored in California ' s 52 - 49 win over Virginia Tech in the 2003 Insight Bowl . The University of Washington and Baylor University broke the record for most points in regulation in the 2011 Alamo Bowl scoring 123 combined points with Baylor winning 67 - 56 .