The game marked the first ever meeting of the two universities' football programs.[3] NC State led 17-6 at halftime, but crumbled in the second half after losing starting quarterback Russell Wilson to a knee injury. Rutgers won, 29-23.
This was also the first edition of the bowl game not to feature any current or former members of Conference USA. The selection of NC State did have a connection to past bowl games in Birmingham as the Wolfpack had competed in the last All-American Bowl, which was also held at Legion Field in 1990.
Scoring summary
Scoring Play
Score
1st Quarter
Rutgers - Rob Cervini 6-yard TD run (kick blocked), 11:47
Rutgers 6-0
NCSU - Owen Spencer 44-yard TD pass from Russell Wilson (Josh Czajkowski kick), 7:54
NCSU 7-6
NCSU - Czajkowski 32-yard FG, 1:00
NCSU 10-6
2nd Quarter
NCSU - Andre Brown 5-yard TD run (Czajkowski kick), :38
There was a Birmingham Bowl in January and December of 2015, and none in 2009 or 2019. The game in January 2021 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
