December 26, 2020 BOWL SEASON NOTES The 2020-21 Bowl Season enters its sixth day, with seven games played so far… Friday saw one game played – a Buffalo 17-10 win over Marshall in the Camellia Bowl… the game marked the first Christmas-day bowl game to be played since the 2003 Hawaii Bowl… the win was the Bulls’ sixth victory of the season (6-1)… Today’s schedule features three matchups, as Louisiana and UTSA sQuare off in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (3:30 p.m. EST on ABC), Western Kentucky takes on Georgia State in the LendingTree Bowl (3:30 p.m. EST on ESPN), and Liberty faces Coastal Carolina in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl (7:30 p.m. EST on ESPN)… Three other bowls (Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl) originally scheduled for today were all canceled earlier… Bowl Season will culminate with the College Football Playoff National Championship, played in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on January 11. SANTA & BOWLS Yesterday’s matchup in the Camellia Bowl marked the first bowl game played on Christmas Day since the 2003 Hawaii Bowl when Hawaii held off Houston 54-48… it marked the 32nd bowl game played on Christmas Day – and first ever to be played east of the Mississippi. STREAKS STALLED Louisiana Tech’s loss Wednesday ended their six-game bowl win streak. Only 10 of 130 FBS teams have won six or more consecutive bowl games entering Bowl Season this year. LA Tech and App State held the only active win streaks of six or more with App State extending its streak to seven-straight wins on Monday… Memphis’ win over Florida Atlantic snapped a five-game bowl losing streak. Their last Bowl Season victory was a 55-48 win over BYU in the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl. TOP CELEBRATION SO FAR… During the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl redshirt senior OL Drew Wilson from Bamburg, South Carolina was spotted on the sidelines by the ESPN cameras showing off some serious guitar shredding skills as his Eagle teammates rolled to a 38-3 victory over Louisiana Tech. Check out the video here. THREE-FOR-THREE The first three games of Bowl Season each featured one player responsible for five touchdowns, rushing and/or passing… Nevada QB Carson Strong threw 5 TDs Tuesday in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, BYU QB Zach Wilson tossed for 3 scores and ran for 2 more in the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl, and App State RB Camerun Peoples ran for 5 TDs on Monday in the Myrtle Beach Bowl (more on Peoples’ performance below). NO ORDINARY PEOPLES App State running back Camerun Peoples set an all-time Bowl Season record, rushing for 319 yards on Dec. 21 in the Mountaineers’ 56-28 win over North Texas in the inaugural Myrtle Beach Bowl… Peoples accomplished the feat on 23 carries, scoring 5 touchdowns along the way… Peoples broke the rushing mark of 307 yards set by Georgia Tech’s PJ Daniels in the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl… the 5 TDs makes Peoples just the seventh player to rack up that many rushing scores in a bowl game. THE BOWL CHALLENGE CUP The Bowl Challenge Cup is awarded annually to the conference with the best win-loss record in Bowl Season. Last season, the SEC took home the cup with an 8-2 record in Bowl Season. All- time, the Mountain West (2004-05, 2007-08, 2009-10, 2010-11) and Conference USA (tied with Mid-American in 2011-2012, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2018-19) have won the cup the most, claiming it four times. Of the Power Five Conferences, the SEC has won the cup three times (2013-14, 2015-16, 2019-20). Here's how this year’s race is shaping up: • Mountain West: 2-0 • Sunbelt: 2-0 • FBS Independents: 1-0 • MAC: 1-0 • American Athletic: 1-3 • Conference USA: 0-4 TODAY’S MATCHUPS SERVPRO First ResponDer Bowl – 3:30 p.m. EST #19 Louisiana vs. UTSA Gerald J. Ford Stadium - Dallas - ABC Louisiana (9-1, 7-1 in Sun Belt Conference) • Louisiana is looking for its second consecutive bowl victory • Their 9-1 record is its best through 10 games in program history • After the Sun Belt Conference Championship was canceled due to COVID-19, Louisiana was declared Sun Belt Co-Champions UTSA (7-4, 5-2 in Conference USA) • Finished the regular season with a three-game winning streak • UTSA is one win shy of matching the program record for wins (8, 2012) • This will mark the second bowl game in UTSA’s 10-year history (New Mexico Bowl, 2016, a 23-20 loss to New Mexico) OdDs anD EnDs • This will mark the first meeting between UTSA and Louisiana • Today’s game on ABC will be UTSA’s first on national network television LendingTree Bowl – 3:30 p.m. EST Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State Ladd-Peebles Stadium – Mobile, AL - ESPN Western Kentucky (5-6, 4-3 in Conference USA) • WKU is 8-4 all-time in bowl games, including winning four of their last five in the postseason • The Hilltopper defense ranks eighth in FBS with only 170.1 passing yards allowed per game (that figure ranks fourth among FBS teams that have played more than six games) • Tyson Helton is wrapping up his first campaign as head coach of WKU, now looking for his first bowl win as a head coach Georgia State (5-4, 4-4 in the Sun Belt Conference) • Georgia State is entering its fourth bowl game in the last six years • The Panthers are playing in a bowl game for the third time in four seasons under head coach Shawn Elliott • Georgia State leads the Sun Belt and ranks No. 7 in FBS with 32 sacks, a GSU record OdDs anD EnDs • WKU and Georgia State have played twice before, all-time, splitting the games • One of the meetings also came in a bowl game - the 2017 AutoNation Cure Bowl (27-17, Georgia State) FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl – 7:30 p.m. EST Liberty vs. #12 Coastal Carolina Camping World Stadium – Orlando, Fla. - ESPN Liberty (9-1, FBS Independent) • Liberty is looking to defend its FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl title, having won the bowl last year, 23-16, over Georgia Southern • A win would give the Flames a 10-win season for the second time in program history (also 2008) • Liberty has never beaten an FBS Top 25 opponent Coastal Carolina (11-0, 8-0 in the Sun Belt Conference) • The Chanticleers are looking for their first-ever bowl win • A win would also give Coastal Carolina its most wins in a season at 12 since joining the FBS in 2017 • A 12-0 record would also mark the best record in Sun Belt history OdDs anD EnDs • The two teams are former conference rivals from the Big South Conference • This is their 15th meeting overall (first since 2016). The series is tied at 7-7 2020-21 BOWL SEASON TOP PERFORMERS PASSING 1. Zach Wilson, BYU – 425 yards RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl 2. Brady White, Memphis – 284 yards Montgomery Bowl 3. Carson Strong, Nevada – 271 yards Famous Idaho Potato Bowl 4. Jason Bean, UNT – 251 yards Myrtle Beach Bowl 5. Dillon Gabriel, UCF – 217 yards RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl RUSHING 1. Camerun Peoples, App State – 317 yards Myrtle Beach Bowl 2. Tyler Allgeier, BYU – 173 yards RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl 3. Kevin Marks Jr., Buffalo – 138 yards Camellia Bowl 4. Israel Tucker, Louisiana Tech – 123 yards R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl 5. Cameron Carroll, Tulane – 120 yards Famous Idaho Potato Bowl 5. Tre Siggers, UNT – 120 yards Myrtle Beach Bowl RECEIVING 1. Austin Ogunmakin, UNT – 131 yards Myrtle Beach Bowl 2. Javon Ivory, Memphis – 126 yards Montgomery Bowl 3. Nathaniel Dell, Houston – 112 yards New Mexico Bowl 4. Tahj Washington, Memphis – 105 yards Montgomery Bowl 5. Isaac Rex, BYU – 96 yards RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl NEXT UP… • Cure Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 26/noon EST) o Liberty vs. Coastal Carolina – ESPN • SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 26/3:30 p.m. EST) o Louisiana vs. UTSA – ABC • Lending Tree Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 26/3:30 p.m. EST) o Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State – ESPN • Cheez-It Bowl (Tuesday, Dec. 29/5:30 p.m. EST) o Oklahoma State vs. Miami – ESPN • Valero Alamo Bowl (Tuesday, Dec. 29/9 p.m. EST) o Texas vs. Colorado – ESPN .