Kickoff: Bowl Season Official Newsletter – January 2022

NEVER GETS OLD

Bowl Season Continues to be a Thrill for Everyone Involved

By KEVIN M c NAMARA

Don’t tell Bill Clark that the impact of Bowl Season is somehow waning.

Clark is the head coach at AlabamaBirmingham. Only an eyelash ago, UAB didn’t even play football. Yet after a reversal of fortune that followed a two-year hiatus and then a badlyneeded commitment to invest in the program, Clark’s Blazers emerged as one of the best stories of all in a Bowl Season that was chockful of feelgood moments.

“It’s one of the biggest (wins ever),” Clark said after UAB had defeated its highest ranked opponent in program history in a 31-28 shootout victory over No. 13 BYU in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl

The impact of the game in Shreveport on the Blazer program can’t be overstated. So much so that Clark and his assistant coaches found themselves laughing about what has been a Hollywood tale unfolding ever since the program came back on-line in 2017 and managed to win at least nine games in three of the last four seasons.

“We were talking about who's going to play me in the movie, you know?” Clark said. “It's going to be a movie because we came from nothing, I mean, we lost every player. We didn't have facilities. You know we built it all and those guys believed in us. They believed in our staff, they believed in Birmingham, they believe in UAB. It is special. It really is.”

“They believed in our staff, they believed in Birmingham, they believe in UAB .”

– BILL CLARK Alabama-Birmingham Head Coach

The impact of UAB’s success during Bowl Season is far from an outlier. That opportunity for a program-changing victory, a career-closing win, the emergence of next year’s new stars or just a great team experience in a new locale is integral to college football.

How about the Duke’s Mayo Bowl? Just a matchup of two good teams, right? Wrong.

This was a battle of the Carolinas with South Carolina running to a 38-21 win over North Carolina. Then, afterwards, Gamecock coach Shane Beamer happily welcomed 4.5 gallons of Duke’s Mayo poured on his head for charity.

The Mayo Bath became the talk of the country for a few days, as did other Bowl Season moments that unfolded well before Georgia and Alabama competed for the CFP National Championship

Did you see the excitement level on the Minnesota sideline when Daniel Faalele — all 6-foot-9, 380-pounds of him — ran in a touchdown from the 2-yard line at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl? It was

certainly a huge play in the Gophers’ 18-6 win over West Virginia.

How about the impact of Central Florida’s 29-17 win over Florida in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa? The victory marked UCF’s first-ever over the Gators, Florida State or Miami. Do you think Gus Malzahn might bring that up on the recruiting trail?

And how about the memories Oklahoma State fans will stash away from this year’s PlayStation Fiesta Bowl? After falling behind 28-7 and looking lost under a wave of Irish emotion, the Cowboys settled down and ripped off 30 unanswered points on the way to a thrilling 37-35 win.

As usual, fans around the country were watching. The TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl ratings jumped 51 percent from the last time the game was played in 2019. The Transperfect Music City Bowl (5.6 million viewers), the Cheez-It Bowl (4.9 million) and Valero Alamo Bowl (4.7 million) posted huge TV numbers on a Wednesday and Thursday night. The New Year’s Day bowls captivated the country, with the ultra-exciting shootout in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One Venture X attracting 16.6 million viewers.

From Dec. 27 to Jan. 1, nine of the 20 mostwatched television programs were bowl games, according to The Athletic

So, again, how healthy and important is Bowl Season? If you can earn a taste of the action, it can save a season and provide lasting impact.

“Every bit of this matters,” Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery exclaimed while being engulfed by his players after a win in the Myrtle Beach Bowl Presented by TaxAct. “We just finished up our season on a big win and we are now Myrtle Beach Bowl Presented by TaxAct champions and that means something.”

Montgomery spoke of the team’s season-ending four-game winning streak and how that energy will provide the bounce his players need into winter conditioning and spring ball with an eye towards even bigger conquests in 2022.

“Hopefully it’s going to carry us into next year and get us off to a better start and be able to propel us. We have big goals and big dreams ahead of us,” Montgomery said. “We want to be in that picture all the time. We want to win an (American Athletic) conference championship. We’ve been there and seen it and now we have to go back and win it. That will give us another chance to be in another big bowl game like this.”

“We just finished up our season on a big win and we are now Myrtle Beach Bowl Presented by TaxAct champions and that means something.”

– PHILLIP MONTGOMERY Tulsa Head Coach

Q&A with Bowl Season Executive Director Nick Carparelli

Nick Carparelli enjoys the greatness of college football’s Bowl Season unlike few others. This year Carparelli attended several bowl games across the country. While congratulating the Georgia Bulldogs on their first National Championship in 41 years, Carparelli also came away with some interesting observations from his trip around Bowl Season.

How did this year’s Bowl Season look, and feel, in person?

CARPARELLI: “I was fortunate enough to attend eight games in person and they were all tremendous experiences. If you lived in a vacuum and didn’t know what was happening in the world around you, it looked and felt like a bowl game from three years ago. The fans, the energy in the stadiums and the passion in the stands was a lot of fun to see.”

There were so many memorable moments and scenes through Bowl Season. What are a couple that stood out to you?

CARPARELLI: “The first bowl game I attended was the Cricket Celebration Bowl that matched the

champions of the SWAC and the MEAC, two HBCU institutions with great history in South Carolina State and Jackson State. The energy in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta caught me by surprise. It was a big party, and that spoke to the value of the bowl experience. You have two FCS institutions whose conferences have elected not to participate in the national playoffs but chose instead to come together to celebrate their history and the sport of college football. There were 48,000 people in that stadium and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and that bowl game experience.

The other game that stands out is the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. Two Florida schools that are bigger rivals off the field than on the field

because they rarely play one another. Central Florida vs. Florida, a sellout two days before Christmas at Raymond James Stadium. The passion and energy in the building was tremendous. Central Florida pulled out a 29-17 win with a big third quarter and I think the Knights will be celebrating until the 2022 kickoff next fall.”

Bowl Season enjoyed certain growth in your second year as executive director. One big addition was the first season of the Bowl Season Stories podcast. Were you happy with how the podcast launched and grew? And where would you like to take it?

CARPARELLI: “The Bowl Season Stories podcast was a great addition for Bowl Season and a lot of fun. We recorded 21 episodes, having high hopes entering into the project and the results clearly exceeded our expectations. We had many great guests, including some legends of the sport, media personalities and bowl game executive directors, that all told their college football bowl stories with great passion. Everyone has a treasured bowl experience, or a Bowl Season Story. We very quickly surpassed our goals and finished in the top five percent of all podcasts based on downloads and listenership. When we start up again in the fall we’re excited about building on the roster of

great guests and given the popularity of the podcast we have tremendous interest from some corporate partners to help support this storytelling effort moving forward.”

Another point of growth was the introduction of Bowl Season Radio. Eighteen games were featured on the inaugural slate this season. What were your impressions?

CARPARELLI: “We had a very successful first season of Bowl Season Radio with 18 games broadcast nationally on SiriusXM satellite radio. We were able to brand Bowl Season throughout these broadcasts and offer our corporate partners additional exposure. Our partners at First Team Ventures did a tremendous job showcasing live game action on radio throughout Bowl Season”

How about Bowl Season

Gameday Live?

CARPARELLI: “For the first time on BowlSeason. com our Gameday Live page allowed fans to click and access all games in progress. To be one click away from the television feed, a radio broadcast, as well as live statistics provided a seamless fan-friendly experience. We think that this one-stop location for all live Bowl Season information will become increasingly popular amongst fans each year.”

“ We recorded 21 episodes , having high hopes entering into the project and the results clearly exceeded our expectations.”

– NICK CARPARELLI Bowl Season Executive Director

There were some significant posts from studentathletes, coaches and teams on social media expressing their appreciation for their bowl trip experience. Despite some players opting out, what is the overall feedback you continue to get from teams about Bowl Season?

CARPARELLI: “The Bowl Season experience is so meaningful to so many players, coaches and fans that the vast majority of studentathletes certainly opt IN to playing these games. They’ll own memories they’ll cherish forever, really. I personally feel for the players who choose to opt out of bowl games. I’m very certain that years down the road they’re going to look back at that decision and say with conviction that they’d give

anything to play in just one more college football game with their teammates. I don’t know of anyone who has looked back and said ‘I wish I played in one less game.’

What are Bowl Season’s goals for 2022 and beyond?

Bowl Season is meaningful to thousands of student-athletes, coaches, staff, spirit squads and marching bands.

CARPARELLI: “We made great strides in what was effectively our first full Bowl Season this year. We’re really excited about continuing the initiatives that we started as well as introducing some new ones in 2022. Our corporate partner program shows great signs of growth and the promise of a full, pandemic-free college football season and Bowl Season remains eminently attractive for everyone in the sport.”

Nick Carparelli was on hand at the Capital One Orange Bowl to present the late Dan McNamara’s Bowl Season Leadership Hall of Fame plaque to Orange Bowl President & Chair Jack Seiler, former CEOs Steve Hatchell and Keith Tribble, and current CEO Eric Poms.

Bowl Season Viewership Strong

• The 31 non-NY6 bowl games across ESPN networks averaged 2.6M viewers, up 12% from last year’s 18 bowl games.

Notes

2.6M VIEWERS

• Of the 27 bowls with year-to-year comparison to 2019, 10 had their best audience since at least 2017, and seven of the games had their best since at least 2015.

• The average bowl game on ESPN drew 900K more viewers than the average regular season game on the network (2.6Mvs. 1.7M). Compared to other sports, the average bowl also brought in more than 1M viewers than regular season NBA or MLB Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.

• The top non-NY6 bowl game on ESPN this year (the Transperfect Music City Bowl) drew more viewers (5.594M) than any regular season CFB game on cable (LSU at Alabama).

• A lot of fans watched Bowl Season’s opening weekend (Dec. 17-20, 2021), with 1.8M avg. viewers over the first nine games, an increase of 31% over 2019’s opening weekend. Eight games registered 1M+ viewers on ABC/ESPN. The Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl on ABC was the high mark with 3.2M viewers.

Levi-Tatering in Boise

The Wyoming Cowboys rushed for 401 yards in their 52-38 win on Dec. 21 over Kent State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise. The Pokes were led by sophomore quarterback Levi Williams, who earned game MVP honors with a 200-yard rushing performance — fifth most in bowl history by a QB. Williams also rushed for four touchdowns while adding 127 passing yards. His night was capped by an 80-yard TD early in the fourth quarter.

Levi WILLIAMS

Bowl Season introduced Bowl Season Gameday Live this year — creating the best way for any college football fan to follow all the bowl games. A landing page at BowlSeason.com, Gameday Live gave fans a chance to access live coverage of each and every bowl game. The page included live tv broadcasts, radio and real-time stats for every game throughout Bowl Season.

Rose Bowl Records Shattered

Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud & Jaxon Smith-Njigba exploded in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One Venture X, a 48-45 victory over Utah. Stroud’s 573 passing yards and six touchdowns set a Rose Bowl record, while also becoming the first Ohio State quarterback to ever throw for 500 yards. Stroud finished three passing yards short of the most passing yards in any bowl game. Smith-Njigba set a record for the most catches and receiving yards for any FBS game with 347 yards on 15 receptions.

CJ STROUD

Jaxon SMITHNJIGBA

Sportradar is the trusted partner to more than 65 leagues and federations across the globe, including Bowl Season. Sportradar helps ensure the highest quality data at the fastest speeds, helping track stats in real time so that fans can learn of numbers like what was seen in Nashville:

The 2021 Transperfect Music City Bowl saw the offenses of Tennessee and Purdue combine for 1,293 total yards on 185 plays, which is the second-most combined yards in Bowl Season history. Purdue QB Aidan O’Connell threw for 534 yards and five TDs while Tennessee’s RB Jabari Small led the way on the ground with 180 yards. Small’s backfield mate QB Hendon Hooker tossed five TDs with 378 yards. Five Boilermaker RBs combined for 93 yards on the ground, led by Zander Horvath’s 58 on 17 carries.

Zappe, Boom, POW!

Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe passed for 422 yards and six touchdowns in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 18, leading the Hilltoppers to a 59-38 win over Appalachian State. His performance capped off a stellar season, as Zappe set two FBS single-season records with 5,967 yards and 62 touchdowns. The six touchdowns in the game were one short of the Bowl Season record.

Baily ZAPPE

Roll Tide

Alabama punched its ticket to the CFP National Championship with a 27-6 win over Cincinnati in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Dec. 31. Brian Robinson Jr. recorded a career-high 204 yards rushing in the game, setting an Alabama bowl record in the process. The 204 yards were also the second-most ever in a Playoff Semifinal. Tossing for three scores, Bryce Young set the school record for the most passing touchdowns in a season at 46. Young also broke the single season passing yards record for Bama in the game, finishing with 4,872.

Bowl Season and First Team Ventures joined together to form Bowl Season

Radio this year, which provided exclusive live national radio/audio play-by-play coverage for 18 college bowl games. Bowl Season Radio aired on terrestrial radio stations throughout the country, as well as SiriusXM satellite radio. In addition, the games streamed live on Tune-In, Audacy and The Varsity Network apps.

Sean’s Gone…

Sean Taylor, Western Michigan’s sophomore running back and return specialist, racked up 128 return yards in the Broncos’ 52-24 Quick Lane Bowl victory over Nevada, including a 100-yard TD to tie Andre Debose of Florida (Gator Bowl, 2012) for the all-time Bowl Season return yard average record at 64.0 yards per return. Taylor also recorded 146 yards rushing on 14 carries.

Best performances in this year’s Bowl Season

WATCH VIDEO

Big Game Bob is Back (for one game)

Bob Stoops, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Dec. 7, returned to OU's sideline as interim head coach for the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. It marked Stoops' first collegiate game since beating Auburn in the 2016 Sugar Bowl. It was his 19th bowl game as a head coach (he now owns a 10-9 mark).

Golden Hurricane in Myrtle Beach!

Tulsa’s quarterback Davis Brin passed for 285 yards and two touchdowns in the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Dec. 20, leading the Golden Hurricanes to a 30-17 win over Old Dominion. His performance earned Brin the game MVP, as he set a Myrtle Beach Bowl record in yards with 285.

Davis BRIN

2021-22 BOWL SEASON TOP PERFORMERS