Boca Raton Bowl | |
---|---|
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl | |
Stadium | FAU Stadium |
Location | Boca Raton, Florida |
Operated | 2014–present |
Conference tie-ins | C-USA, The American, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt |
Payout | US$900,000 (2019) [1] |
Sponsors | |
Former names | |
Boca Raton Bowl (2014, 2016) Marmot Boca Raton Bowl (2015) Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl (2017) Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl (2018–2019) | |
2022 matchup | |
Liberty vs. Toledo ( Toledo 21–19) | |
2023 matchup | |
Syracuse vs. South Florida ( South Florida 45–0) |
The Boca Raton Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Boca Raton, Florida, since December 2014 on the campus of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) at FAU Stadium. Winners of the game received the Howard Schnellenberger championship trophy, named for the football head coach at FAU from 2001 to 2011.
Since 2020, the bowl has been sponsored by RoofClaim.com and officially known as the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. [2] Previous sponsors include Cheribundi (2017–2019) and Marmot (2015).
The bowl was founded on October 10, 2013, [3] and was first played in December 2014 as one of the 2014–15 bowl games. [4]
The bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events, in partnership with Good Karma Brands (owner of the local ESPN Radio affiliate WUUB). [4] [5] On October 6, 2015, Marmot, an outdoor clothing and sporting goods company, was announced as the title sponsor of the game. [6] On December 1, 2017, Cheribundi, a New York–based beverage company, was announced as the new title sponsor. [7] [8]
The bowl had a tie-in with the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for 2014 and 2015, to face opponents from Conference USA (C-USA) in the first year and the American Athletic Conference (The American) in the second. [9]
In 2014, Northern Illinois, winner of the 2014 MAC Championship Game, was sent as the conference's representative, while C-USA also sent its champion, Marshall. The MAC and C-USA did not have automatic bowl bids for their champions entering 2014; C-USA had lost its contract with the Liberty Bowl, while the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which usually took the MAC champion, was discontinued after its 2013 playing and the GoDaddy Bowl, which takes a MAC team and has the option to take the conference champion if it desires, did not invite Marshall. In 2015, the MAC sent Toledo and The American sent Temple.
In 2016 and 2017, C-USA and The American had primary tie-ins with the bowl. [10] In 2016, C-USA sent Western Kentucky and The American sent Memphis. In 2017, C-USA sent Florida Atlantic while their opponent, Akron, came from the MAC. A C-USA vs. MAC matchup was again featured in 2018. The "affiliated conferences" for the 2019 game were The American, C-USA and MAC. [11]
All rankings in AP Poll.
Date | Winning team | Losing team | Attendance | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
December 23, 2014 | Marshall | 52 | Northern Illinois | 23 | 29,419 | notes |
December 22, 2015 | Toledo | 32 | 24 Temple | 17 | 25,908 | notes |
December 20, 2016 | Western Kentucky | 51 | Memphis | 31 | 24,726 | notes |
December 19, 2017 | Florida Atlantic | 50 | Akron | 3 | 25,912 | notes |
December 18, 2018 | UAB | 37 | Northern Illinois | 13 | 22,614 | notes |
December 21, 2019 | Florida Atlantic | 52 | SMU | 28 | 23,187 | notes |
December 22, 2020 | 13 BYU | 49 | UCF | 23 | 6,000 | notes |
December 18, 2021 | Western Kentucky | 59 | Appalachian State | 38 | 15,429 | notes |
December 20, 2022 | Toledo | 21 | Liberty | 19 | 20,622 | notes |
December 21, 2023 | South Florida | 45 | Syracuse | 0 | 20,711 | notes |
Source: [12]
The number of players honored as MVPs has varied.
Year | Offense | Defense | Special Teams | Ref. | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Pos. | Team | Player | Pos. | Team | Player | Pos. | Team | ||
2014 | Rakeem Cato | QB | Marshall | [13] | ||||||
2015 | Phillip Ely | QB | Toledo | Ju'Wan Woodley | LB | Toledo | [14] | |||
2016 | Anthony Wales | RB | Western Kentucky | Keith Brown | LB | Western Kentucky | [15] | |||
2017 | Jason Driskel | QB | Florida Atlantic | Azeez Al-Shaair | LB | Florida Atlantic | [16] | |||
2018 | Xavier Ubosi | WR | UAB | Anthony Rush | NT | UAB | [17] | |||
2019 | Chris Robison | QB | Florida Atlantic | Rashad Smith | LB | Florida Atlantic | Matt Hayball | P | Florida Atlantic | [18] |
2020 | Zach Wilson | QB | BYU | Keenan Pili | LB | BYU | Caleb Christensen | KR | BYU | [19] |
2021 | Bailey Zappe | QB | Western Kentucky | Antwon Kincade | DB | Western Kentucky | John Haggerty III | P | Western Kentucky | [20] |
2022 | Dequan Finn | QB | Toledo | Nate Givhan | LB | Toledo | Thomas Cluckey | K | Toledo | [21] |
2023 | Byrum Brown | QB | South Florida | Daquan Evans | DB | South Florida | Aamaris Brown | DB | South Florida | [22] |
Updated through the December 2023 edition (10 games, 20 total appearances).
Team | Appearances | Record | Win pct. |
---|---|---|---|
Florida Atlantic | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
Western Kentucky | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
Toledo | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
Northern Illinois | 2 | 0–2 | 0.000 |
Won (4):
BYU,
Marshall,
South Florida,
UAB
Lost (8):
Akron,
Appalachian State,
Liberty,
Memphis,
SMU,
Syracuse,
Temple,
UCF
Updated through the December 2023 edition (10 games, 20 total appearances).
Conference | Record | Appearances by season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost | |
C-USA | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 | |
MAC | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 2015, 2022 | 2014, 2017, 2018 |
The American | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | 2023 | 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 |
Independents | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2020 | 2022 |
Sun Belt | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2021 | |
ACC | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2023 |
Independent appearances: BYU (2020), Liberty (2022)
[ when?]
Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
---|---|---|
Most points scored (one team) | 59, Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State | 2021 |
Most points scored (losing team) | 38, Appalachian State vs. Western Kentucky | 2021 |
Most points scored (both teams) | 97, Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State | 2021 |
Fewest points allowed | 0, South Florida vs. Syracuse | 2023 |
Largest margin of victory | 47, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron | 2017 |
Total yards | 655, BYU vs. UCF | 2020 |
Rushing yards | 312, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron | 2017 |
Passing yards | 441, BYU vs. UCF | 2020 |
First downs | 34, BYU vs. UCF | 2020 |
Fewest yards allowed | 146, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron | 2017 |
Fewest rushing yards allowed | 20, South Florida vs. Syracuse | 2023 |
Fewest passing yards allowed | 77, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron | 2017 |
Individual | Record, Player, Team | Year |
All-purpose yards | 329, Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky) | 2016 |
Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 3, most recent: Jerreth Sterns (Western Kentucky) | 2021 |
Rushing yards | 245, Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky) | 2016 |
Rushing touchdowns | 3, shared by: Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky) Devin Singletary (Florida Atlantic) |
2016 2017 |
Passing yards | 425, Zach Wilson (BYU) | 2020 |
Passing touchdowns | 6, Bailey Zappe (Western Kentucky) | 2021 |
Receptions | 26, Devin Singletary (Florida Atlantic) | 2017 |
Receiving yards | 227, Xavier Ubosi (UAB) [23] | 2018 |
Receiving touchdowns | 3, shared by Anthony Miller (Memphis) Xavier Ubosi (UAB) Jerreth Sterns (Western Kentucky) |
2016 2018 2021 |
Tackles | 16, Mike Smith Jr (Liberty) | 2022 |
Sacks | 3.0, shared by: Arthur Maulet (Memphis) Nick Dawson (Western Kentucky) |
2016 |
Interceptions | 1, most recent: Miguel Edwards (Western Kentucky) Michael Pitts (Western Kentucky) |
2021 |
Long Plays | Record, Player, Team | Year |
Touchdown run | 86 yds., Noah Whittington (Western Kentucky) | 2021 |
Touchdown pass | 80 yds., Cody Thompson (Toledo) | 2015 |
Kickoff return | 93 yds., Deandre Reaves (Marshall) | 2014 |
Punt return | 24 yds., Jalen Young (Florida Atlantic) | 2017 |
Interception return | 22 yds., Rashad Smith (Florida Atlantic) | 2019 |
Fumble return | 64 yds., Aamaris Brown (South Florida) | 2023 |
Punt | 71 yds., Alex Starzyk (Temple) | 2015 |
Field goal | 42 yds., Nick Vogel (UAB) [24] | 2018 |
TV and radio coverage includes play-by-play announcers, color commentators, and sideline reporters.
Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentary | Sideline reporter |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | ESPN | Dave LaMont | Desmond Howard | Quint Kessenich |
2015 | Allen Bestwick | Dan Hawkins | Tiffany Greene | |
2016 | Dave LaMont | Desmond Howard | Quint Kessenich | |
2017 | Clay Matvick | Kirk Morrison | Cole Cubelic | |
2018 | Dave LaMont | Desmond Howard and Jonathan Vilma | Alyssa Lang | |
2019 | ABC | Tom Hart | Joey Galloway | Pat McAfee |
2020 | ESPN | Dave Neal | D. J. Shockley | Lericia Harris |
2021 | Clay Matvick | Rocky Boiman | Tiffany Blackmon | |
2022 | Anish Shroff | Tim Hasselbeck | Marilyn Payne | |
2023 | Matt Barrie | Dan Mullen | Harry Lyles Jr. |
Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentary | Sideline reporter |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | ESPN Radio | Marc Kestecher | John Congemi | Ian Fitzsimmons |
2015 | Dave LaMont | Brett McMurphy | ||
2016 | Marc Kestecher | |||
2017 | Steve Levy | Desmond Howard | Paul Carcaterra | |
2018 | Bill Rosinski | David Norrie | Ian Fitzsimmons | |
2019 | Dave LaMont | Rene Ingoglia | Lericia Harris | |
2020 | Chris Carlin | Craig Haubert | ||
2021 | EJ Manuel | Taylor Davis | ||
2022 | Rene Ingoglia | |||
2023 | Harry Douglas |
Each December, the bowl recognizes one person associated with football in the state of Florida with the Palm Beach County Football Legends Award.[ needs update]
Year | Honoree | Role | Florida team | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Howard Schnellenberger | College & NFL head coach | Florida Atlantic Owls | [25] |
2015 | Reidel Anthony | College & NFL wide receiver | Florida Gators | [26] |
2016 | John Carney | College & NFL placekicker | Cardinal Newman High School | [27] |
2017 | Steve Walsh | College & NFL quarterback; High School & CFL coach | Miami Hurricanes | [28] |
2018 | Brad Banks | College & CFL quarterback; 2002 Heisman Trophy runner-up | Glades Central High School | [29] |