Birmingham Bowl

The PapaJohns.com Bowl (provisionally called the Birmingham Bowl) is a post-season college football bowl game approved by the NCAA in 2006. The game is played at Legion Field, and matches a Big East Conference team against a representative of the Southeastern Conference.

For its first two years, the bowl matched a team from the Big East or Mid-American Conference with a team from Conference USA. With the NCAA's approval of the bowl's affiliation with the SEC, the league gained a ninth automatic bowl slot for its 12 member institutions.

Provisional logo

The game is owned and organized by ESPN Regional TV. ESPN named Mark Meadows as executive director, Bo Kerr as manager of sales and marketing and Robbie Robertson as chairman of the executive board for the bowl committee. In September the bowl committee made a $25,000 donation to the Monday Morning Quarterback Club's fundraising efforts on behalf of the Crippled Children's Foundation. PapaJohns.com was announced as title sponsor on November 16, 2006. The company renewed its sponsorship contract in 2008, agreeing to keep its name on the 2008 and 2009 bowl games.

2009/2010

The 4th PapaJohns.com Bowl is scheduled for Saturday, January 2, 2010 with the 7-5 South Carolina Gamecocks of the SEC facing the 7-5 Connecticut Huskies of the Big East Conference.

The Golden Flake Legend of Birmingham Award was presented to Alabama Crimson Tide football great and Birmingham Steeldogs coach Bobby Humphrey during the Wednesday team luncheon at the Sheraton Birmingham. 1992 Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta delivered the keynote address.

The teams arrived in Birmingham on December 30. The Huskies practiced at Hoover High School and the Gamecocks at Birmingham-Southern College. Both teams visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and made visits to Children's Hospital and the Birmingham VA Medical Center. A bowling and barbecue was held on Thursday evening at the Vestavia Bowl. On Friday afternoon, Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter made an appearance at the chain's 1429 11th Avenue South location. A pep rally and street festival took place at Five Points South on Friday evening and the game kicked off at 1:00 Saturday at Legion Field.

The Huskies defeated South Carolina 20-7, led by Andre Dixon's 126 yards rushing on 33 carries in Connecticut's ball-control offense. He was named the game's most valuable player. The Gamecocks' quarterback Stephen Garcia was held to 129 yards passing on 16 of 38 attempts with four sacks.

2008

The third PapaJohns.com Bowl was held Monday, December 29, 2008. Ticket prices increased to $40 for the matchup between the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. North Carolina State, an Atlantic Coast Conference team, received an at-large bid because no eligible Southeastern Conference teams were available.

A pre-game pep rally and street festival was held at Five Points South with music by the Martini Shakers and Just a Few Cats featuring Ruben Studdard. Mayor Larry Langford had the 5 Points circle painted red for the occasion.

Rutgers came from behind to defeat the Wolfpack 29-23. Quarterback Mike Teel led the Scarlet Knights with 319 passing yards, including 2 touchdowns. Teel was named the game's MVP, and Rutgers finished the season 8-5. North Carolina State fell to 6-7. Attendance for the game was 36,387.

2007

In preparation for the second PapaJohns.com Bowl, a parade and street festival, sponsored by merchants, ESPN, and Operation New Birmingham, were held in Five Points South Friday afternoon and evening. The parade marched from Powell Avenue to Five Points up 20th Street South. Other entertainment included live bands at 11th Avenue South and 20th Street and a kids' zone. A pre-game party was held at Legion Field on Saturday morning, attracting roughly 2,000 people.

The game was played at noon on Saturday December 22, 2007 before a crowd of 32,595. The University of Cincinnati defeated Southern Miss by a score of 31-21. Early in the second half the Golden Eagles' punter Britt Barefoot failed to convert a fake punt on 4th and 1. Bearcats receiver Earnest Jackson scored a 29-yard touchdown from a Ben Mauk pass on the next play after the turnover to go ahead 21-7. Southern Miss, which had 205 all-purpose yards from rusher Damion Fletcher, failed to secure an onside kick with 9:37 left, giving Cincinnati a chance to control the clock. 52 of the Bearcats' 78 plays from scrimmage were pass plays. Mauk finished the day 30 for 52 for 334 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions and was named the game's most valuable player.

The game was Jeff Bower's last as coach of the USM Golden Eagles. His overall record at Legion Field is 6-6 with 5 wins over UAB, and 1 over the Alabama Crimson Tide. His first game as head coach at Southern Miss was the 1990 All-American Bowl in which his Brett Favre-led Golden Eagles fell to North Carolina State 31-27.

The Legend of Birmingham Award was presented to Alabama Crimson Tide football great Johnny Musso during the Friday team luncheon at the Sheraton Birmingham. Former Notre Dame and South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz delivered the keynote address.

2006

The first Papa Johns.com Bowl was played at noon on Saturday December 23, 2006. Head coach Jim Leavitt's South Florida Bulls (9-4, 4-3 Big East) defeated Skip Holtz' East Carolina Pirates (7-6, 5-3 C-USA) in the inaugural PapaJohns.com Bowl. South Florida's Benjamin Williams scored twice in the first quarter, leading the Bills to a 24-7 half-time lead and earning MVP honors. The second half was scoreless as USF defended the end zone perfectly after three ECU drives inside the 20. Both starting quarterbacks left the game with mild injuries.

The bowl paid $300,000 to each affiliated conference. Tickets were $30 (or $20 each when buying 4 or more). Early purchasers will be able to renew the same seats for future games. In all, around 41,000 tickets were sold, and the attendance was reported as 28,527. Jim Smither of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated 6,000 out of town visitors and a $4.1 million economic impact for the event.

Players from the opposing teams made visits to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and 16th Street Baptist Church, enjoyed a night of bowling at Vestavia Bowl and a show at the Comedy Club Stardome in Hoover. Team captains, mascots and cheerleaders visited Children's Hospital while the coaches' families made trips to the McWane Science Center and the Renaissance Ross Bridge Resort & Spa. The Friday team luncheon at the Sheraton Birmingham featured keynote speaker Archie Manning and the presentation of the Legend of Birmingham Award to new Samford head coach Pat Sullivan.

14 people were arrested for disorderly conduct by Birmingham Police at Dave's Pub in Five Points South the night before the game. According to Sergeant Joel Brown most of those arrested were visiting from North Carolina.

Selected records

• Most points: 31 by Cincinnati (2007)
• Most yards rushing: 217 by Southern Miss (2007)
• Most yards passing: 334 by Cincinnati (2007)
• Most offensive yards: 437 by Rutgers (2008)
• Highest combined score: 52 (twice, 2007 & 2008)
• Longest completed pass: 48 yards, ECU's James Pinkney to Bobby Good (2006)
• Longest rush from scrimmage: 40 yards by USM's Damion Fletcher (2007)
• Most all-purpose yards: 205 by USM's Damion Fletcher (2007)
• Longest kickoff return: 51 yards by NCSU's T. J. Graham (2008)
• Longest field goal: 44 yards by Connecticut's Dave Teggart (2010)
• Longest punt: 60 yards by ECU's Ryan Dougherty (2006)

References

• Melick, Ray. (April 28, 2006). "NCAA approves The Birmingham Bowl." The Birmingham News.
• Solomon, Jon. (November 15, 2006). "Papa John’s signs on as sponsor of Birmingham Bowl." The Birmingham News.
• Solomon, Jon. (December 4, 2006). "Inaugural game dodges inviting .500 team." The Birmingham News.
• Solomon, Jon. (December 22, 2006). "Game could be top 10 in area for economic impact." The Birmingham News.
• Segrest, Doug and Jon Solomon. (December 22, 2006). "Papajohns.com Bowl notes." The Birmingham News.
• Coman, Victoria L. (December 20, 2007). "Parade and street party in works for bowl." The Birmingham News.
• Velasco, Eric. (December 23, 2007). "And the Papajohns.com winner is: Birmingham." The Birmingham News.
• Solomon, Jon (December 24, 2006). "Cheers for Papajohns.com Bowl." The Birmingham News.
• "Some ECU fans arrested." (December 24, 2006). The (Raleigh) News & Observer
• Solomon, Jon (May 1, 2008) "Papajohns.com Bowl plans to serve up SEC-Big East match on Dec. 29." Birmingham News

External links

• PapaJohns.com Bowl website