MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Logan Kilgore threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Tavarres Jefferson as time expired to give Middle Tennessee a 51-49 victory over Marshall on Thursday night.

Kilgore was 22 of 40 for 277 yards and four touchdowns for the Blue Raiders (4-4, 2-2 Conference USA). Jefferson had seven catches for 91 yards, and Jordan Parker ran for 127 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

Rakeem Cato was 19 of 35 for 235 yards and three touchdowns for the Thundering Herd (4-3, 2-1). Essray Taliaferro ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.

Marshall scored two late touchdowns to take the lead. Kevin Grooms scored on a 1-yard run with 8:17 to go, and Essray Taliaferro put the Thundering Herd up 49-45 with a 2-yard run with 2:29 left.

Kilgore then drove the Blue Raiders 79 yards for the winning score, also completing passes of 24, 14, 5 and 18 yards to Jefferson on the 13-play march.

Kilgore threw two 16-yard touchdown passes in the first half, connecting with Kyle Griswould in the first quarter and teaming with Christian Collis to tie it at 21 with 27 seconds left in the second. Kilgore had a 1-yard scoring run in the third quarter and threw a 6-yard TD pass to Corey Carmichael early in the fourth.

Blue Raiders safety Chris Brown also blocked Tyler Williams' punt and scored in the first quarter.

Cato threw two touchdown passes in the first half, a 39-yarder to Jazz King and a 6-yarder to Gator Hoskins, and added a 6-yard scoring strike to Tommy Shuler in the third quarter.