2020 C-USA Bowl Games Thread
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2020 C-USA BOWL SCHEDULE
MYRTLE BEACH BOWL
Monday, December 21st
North Texas 28 App State 56
NEW ORLEANS BOWL
Wednesday, December 23rd
La Tech 3 Georgia Southern 38
MONTGOMERY BOWL
Wednesday, December 23rd
FAU 10 Memphis 25
CAMELLIA BOWL
Friday, December 25th
Marshall 10 Buffalo 17
GASPARILLA BOWL - CANCELLED
Saturday, December 26th
UAB vs. South Carolina (ABC) 12:30 PM
LENDING TREE BOWL
Saturday, December 26th
WKU 21 Georgia State 39
FIRST RESPONDER BOWL (Dallas, TX)
Saturday, December 26th
UTSA 24 Louisiana Lafayette 31
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UTSA’s first-ever meeting with the Mustangs will mark its first bowl appearance since the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 17, 2016, in Albuquerque. The Roadrunners, who matched an NCAA modern startup program record by playing in a bowl game in just their sixth season, dropped a 23-20 decision to New Mexico in their inaugural bowl appearance four years ago.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Jeff Traylor, who was SMU’s associate head coach and running backs coach in 2017, the Roadrunners have posted a 7-4 overall record in 2020. UTSA finished second in Conference USA’s West Division with a 5-2 mark (.714), percentage points behind UAB, which beat Rice 21-16 on Saturday to close out a 3-1 (.750) league ledger. The Roadrunners’ five conference wins are the most by any C-USA team this fall and their seven overall victories are tied for the most in the league along with East Division champion Marshall (7-1).
UTSA has posted its most wins and best conference record since the 2013 team went 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the league. The Roadrunners are riding a three-game winning streak, including a 49-17 home triumph over North Texas in their last outing on Nov. 28, and they are one victory shy of matching the program standard for wins set by the 2012 squad that went 8-4.
SMU finished the regular season with a 7-3 record and placed fifth in the American Athletic Conference with a 4-3 mark. The Mustangs, who are coached by Sonny Dykes, were ranked as high as No. 16 in both major top 25 polls. This will mark SMU’s second appearance in the Frisco Bowl (2017) and its third bowl game in the last four years.
“We are excited to have two outstanding teams participate in the 2020 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl, the SMU Mustangs and the UTSA Roadrunners” said Sean Johnson, Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl Executive Director. “We are looking forward to kicking off the Bowl Season with this great matchup and to welcoming the teams and their fans to Frisco, Texas. The Frisco Bowl is known for having exciting games with lots of professional talent – over the last six years, the bowl is the third highest scoring bowl game, and 24 Frisco Bowl alumni were drafted or signed free agent pro football contracts in 2020.”
This will be the second time that Conference USA has participated in the Frisco Bowl. Louisiana Tech defeated SMU in the inaugural Frisco Bowl in 2017, 51-10.
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Florida Atlantic will enter the game with a stingy defense, led by senior LB Leighton McCarthy (league-high 9.0 sacks) and senior CB and Montgomery native Zyon Gilbert (39 tackles, 4 PBUs). Under first year head coach Willie Taggart, the Owls rank second in C-USA and ninth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 16.5 points per game. A total of six Owls originally hail from the state of Alabama.
Previous Bowl appearances: 2007 New Orleans Bowl (FAU 44, Memphis 27), 2008 Motor City Bowl (FAU 24, Central Michigan 21), 2017 Boca Raton Bowl (FAU 50, Akron 3), 2019 Boca Raton (FAU 52, SMU 28)
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This marks the fourth time in five seasons that head coach Seth Littrell has guided the Mean Green to a bowl game. North Texas concluded the regular season with one of the top offenses in the nation, ranking seventh in total offense (515.0 yards per game) and 24th in scoring (35.1 points per game). Senior WR Jaelon Darden concluded the regular season as the FBS leader in touchdown receptions (19). An All-America candidate and Biletnikoff Award semifinalist, Darden hauled in 74 catches for 1,190 yards and those 19 scores across UNT’s nine games, while setting new program records for career receptions (230), receiving yards (2,782) and receiving touchdowns (38) across his 48 games in Denton.
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The Hilltoppers defense is led by senior DE DeAngelo Malone, the 2019 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year. He ranks No. 1 in C-USA and No. 2 in the FBS with 65 total tackles as a defensive lineman, is second in C-USA with 11.0 TFL’s and third in the league with 6.0 sacks. WKU’s defense leads C-USA and ranks ninth nationally in passing defense, allowing 170.1 yards through the air per game. The Hilltoppers have allowed only 12 passing touchdowns in 11 games.
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GeorgiaOwl said
HOW in the heck are CUSA teams with LOSING RECORDS going to Bowls?????? HUGE surprise to me!Posted On: Dec 14th 2020, 9:41 AM #398999
Because APR is the driver this year - not wins.
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GeorgiaOwl said
That is cool but when did they decide on that? All I knew was NCAA took having a winning record (or 6-6) off the table this year. My fear was that would open the Bowls to take even losing records from P5 over winning teams from G5.Posted On: Dec 14th 2020, 1:05 PM #399004
I believe at the beginning of the season…
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The Bulldogs (5-4, 4-2 C-USA) have posted six straight bowl victories, including a 47-28 victory over Arkansas State in the 2015 New Orleans Bowl. There have been only 10 out of 130 FBS teams that have won six or more consecutive bowl games, and LA Tech has the only active streak.
“We are very excited about the opportunity for our student-athletes to compete in the New Orleans Bowl,” Louisiana Tech VP and Director of Athletics Eric Wood said. “This is a reward for their hard work during what has been a historically challenging year across college football. This marks the seven straight year that our program has earned a postseason bowl berth, and I commend Skip Holtz, the entire coaching staff and support staff for their perseverance and dedication to our student-athletes this year.”
While the Bulldogs will look for their seventh straight bowl victory, head coach Skip Holtz will also be looking for his 150th career win as a collegiate head coach as he has accumulated a 149-111 overall career record. Holtz is in his eighth season at the helm of LA Tech football where he has collected a 61-40 overall record.
Louisiana Tech started its 2020 season off 4-3 before the Bulldogs were unable to compete during the month of November after having four games either postponed or canceled due to COVID-19-related issues. After a 33-day hiatus, LA Tech bounced right back with a 42-31 win at North Texas on Dec. 3. LA Tech ended the regular season with a loss at TCU on Dec. 12.
Georgia Southern finished the 2020 regular season with a 7-5 overall record. Chad Lunsford is in his third year at the helm of the Eagles program where he has collected a 26-18 overall record. This is Georgia Southern’s third consecutive bowl appearance.
Conference USA has placed a team in the New Orleans Bowl 15 times in the bowl’s first 19 years, including each of the last six.
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