2015 Birmingham Bowl (January)

2015 Birmingham Bowl
9th Birmingham Bowl
East Carolina Pirates Florida Gators
(8–4) (6–5)
The American SEC
20 28
Head coach: 
Ruffin McNeill		 Head coach: 
D. J. Durkin (interim)
1234 Total
East Carolina 70103 20
Florida 71470 28
DateJanuary 3, 2015
Season2014
StadiumLegion Field
LocationBirmingham, Alabama
MVPFlorida RB Adam Lane[1]
FavoriteFlorida by 7[2]
RefereeDan Romeo (Mtn. West)[3]
Attendance30,083[3]
PayoutUS$1,100,000 (Florida)
900,000 (East Carolina)
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN/ESPN Radio
AnnouncersDave Neal, Andre Ware, & Laura Rutledge (ESPN)
Clay Matvick, Greg McElroy, & Cara Capuano (ESPN Radio)
Birmingham Bowl
 < 2014 2015 (Dec) > 

The 2015 Birmingham Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 3, 2015 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States. The ninth annual Birmingham Bowl saw the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference defeat the East Carolina Pirates of the American Athletic Conference by a score of 28–20.[4] The game started at 11:00 a.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season.

Teams

This was the second overall meeting between these two teams. The last time these two teams met was in 1983, a game Florida won by a score of 24–17. The teams would meet again on September 12, 2015 at Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, a game Florida won 31-24.

East Carolina Pirates

See also: 2014 East Carolina Pirates football team

After finishing their regular season with an 8–4 record, the Pirates accepted their invitation to play in the game.[5]

This was East Carolina's second Birmingham Bowl. They previously played in the 2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl (the inaugural version of that game), losing to the South Florida Bulls by a score of 24–7.

Florida Gators

See also: 2014 Florida Gators football team

After finishing their regular season with a 6–5 record, the Gators accepted their invitation to play in the game.[6]

Florida was led by interim head coach D. J. Durkin. Durkin was the Gators defensive coordinator until former head coach Will Muschamp was released at the conclusion of the 2014 regular season. Muschamp's replacement is former Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain.

This was Florida's first Birmingham Bowl.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP ECU UF
1 7:06 12 78 3:50 ECU Justin Hardy 3-yard touchdown reception from Shane Carden, Warren Harvey kick good 7 0
1 3:09 – – – UF Interception returned 29 yards for touchdown by Brian Poole, Austin Hardin kick good 7 7
2 14:56 4 68 0:54 UF Adam Lane 2-yard touchdown run, Austin Hardin kick good 7 14
2 6:23 13 80 6:23 UF Brandon Powell 13-yard touchdown reception from Treon Harris, Austin Hardin kick good 7 21
3 12:51 4 70 0:42 ECU Cam Worthy 4-yard touchdown reception from Shane Carden, Warren Harvey kick good 14 21
3 11:20 3 91 1:31 UF Ahmad Fulwood 86-yard touchdown reception from Treon Harris, Austin Hardin kick good 14 28
3 6:10 7 44 1:26 ECU 24-yard field goal by Warren Harvey 17 28
4 11:55 10 54 2:59 ECU 24-yard field goal by Warren Harvey 20 28
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 20 28

Source: [3]

Statistics

Statistics[3] ECU UF
First downs 32 14
Plays–yards 536 345
Rushes–yards 33–109 42–174
Passing yards 427 171
Passing: Comp–Att–Int 34–68–2 13–28–1
Time of possession 32:23 27:37

References

  1. ^ Robbie Andreu, "UF notebook: Lane MVP outing Archived 2015-02-09 at the Wayback Machine," The Gainesville Sun (January 3, 2015). Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  2. ^ "College Football Lines, NCAA College Football Lines At Bovada Online Sportsbook". Bovada. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d "2015 Birmingham Bowl Official Game Stats". Stat Broadcast.
  4. ^ Birmingham Bowl pits Florida against East Carolina
  5. ^ "East Carolina To Play Florida In The Birmingham Bowl". ECUPirates.com. East Carolina Pirates. December 7, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  6. ^ "Gators to Face East Carolina in 2015 Birmingham Bowl; Ticket Info Available". GatorZone.com. Florida Gators. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on December 14, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.