2015 Cure Bowl

2015 AutoNation Cure Bowl
1st Cure Bowl
San Jose State Spartans Georgia State Panthers
(5–7) (6–6)
Mountain West Sun Belt
27 16
Head coach: 
Ron Caragher		 Head coach: 
Trent Miles
1234 Total
San Jose State 010314 27
Georgia State 0709 16
DateDecember 19, 2015
Season2015
StadiumOrlando Citrus Bowl
LocationOrlando, Florida
MVPSan Jose State QB Kenny Potter[1]
FavoriteSan Jose St. by 1[2]
National anthemGirl Scouts of Citrus[citation needed]
RefereeSteve LaMantia (C-USA)[3]
Attendance18,536[3]
PayoutUS$TBD
United States TV coverage
NetworkCBSSN/iHeartRadio
AnnouncersCarter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor, & Jenny Dell (CBSSN)
Paul Kennedy, Max Starks, & Jamie Seh (iHeartRadio)
Cure Bowl
  2016 > 

The 2015 Cure Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game played on December 19, 2015, at Orlando Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The first edition of the Cure Bowl featured the San Jose State Spartans of the Mountain West Conference against the Georgia State Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference. It began at 7:00 p.m. EST and aired on CBS Sports Network. It was the one of the 2015–16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season. Sponsored by automotive retailer AutoNation, the game was officially known as the AutoNation Cure Bowl.[4]

Teams

The game featured the San Jose State Spartans against the Georgia State Panthers. It was the first overall meeting between the two schools.[5]

San Jose State Spartans

See also: 2015 San Jose State Spartans football team

Because the Spartans finished 5–7 in their regular season, they would ordinarily be bowl-ineligible. However, only 77 teams finished at .500 or better on the season, leaving three bowl slots open to 5–7 teams based on their Academic Progress Rate (APR). The Spartans ranked fourth among such teams, after Nebraska and Missouri and together with Minnesota. However, since Missouri did not accept a bowl bid, the Spartans were invited to the Cure Bowl, which they accepted.[6]

This was the Spartans' tenth bowl game (with a 6–3 all-time record in bowl games) and their first since the 2012 Military Bowl, where they defeated Bowling Green by a score of 29–20.

Georgia State Panthers

See also: 2015 Georgia State Panthers football team

After finishing 6–6 in their regular season, bowl director Alan Gooch extended an invitation for the Panthers to play in the game, which they accepted.[7]

This was the first bowl game in school history for Georgia State, seven years after football was approved, five years after they kicked off, and two years after joining the Football Bowl Subdivision. This ties the record for a team going from conception to a bowl berth, set the season prior by South Alabama.

Game summary

Scoring Summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP SJ GSU
2 11:05 14 75 7:36 SJ 19-yard field goal by Austin Lopez 3 0
2 8:56 — — — SJ Tyler Ervin 85-yard punt return for a touchdown, Austin Lopez kick good 10 0
2 7:04 5 87 1:52 GSU Donovan Harden 38-yard touchdown reception from Nick Arbuckle, Wil Lutz kick good 10 7
3 0:02 8 33 3:20 SJ 19-yard field goal by Austin Lopez 13 7
4 12:44 4 −3 1:16 GSU Team safety 13 9
4 10:46 4 36 1:58 GSU Todd Boyd 19-yard touchdown reception from Nick Arbuckle, Wil Lutz kick good 13 16
4 9:15 3 66 1:31 SJ Kenny Potter 42-yard touchdown run, Austin Lopez kick good 20 16
4 2:40 11 49 5:10 SJ Josh Oliver 1-yard touchdown reception from Kenny Potter, Austin Lopez kick good 27 16
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 27 16

Source: [3]

Statistics

Statistics[3] SJSU GSU
First downs 20 11
Plays–yards 75–286 53–231
Rushes–yards 54–197 20–23
Passing yards 89 208
Passing: Comp–Att–Int 10–19–1 14–29–1
Time of possession 38:19 21:41
Team Category Player Statistics
SJSU Passing Kenny Potter 10/19, 89 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Tyler Ervin 30 car, 132 yds
Receiving Justin Holmes 3 rec, 48 yds
GSU Passing Nick Arbuckle 14/29, 208 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Glenn Smith 6 car, 22 yds
Receiving Ari Werts 3 rec, 63 yds

References

  1. ^ Hazel, Ricky (December 19, 2015). "Game Recap – Spartans Rally Past Georgia State 27-16 in Inaugural AutoNation Cure Bowl". curebowl.com. Orlando Sports Foundation, Inc. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  2. ^ Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2015
  3. ^ a b c d "2015 Cure Bowl: San Jose State vs. Georgia State Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  4. ^ "AutoNation Signs on as Title Sponsor of Cure Bowl to Air on CBS Network". Cure Bowl. October 23, 2014. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  5. ^ "Winsipedia - Georgia State Panthers vs. San Jose State Spartans football series history".
  6. ^ "San Jose State Heading To AutoNation Cure Bowl". SJSUSpartans.com. San Jose State University. December 6, 2015. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  7. ^ "First Bowl Game is AutoNation Cure Bowl vs. San Jose State". GeorgiaStateSports.com. Georgia State University. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.