2015 St. Petersburg Bowl

2015 St. Petersburg Bowl
Connecticut Huskies Marshall Thundering Herd
(6–6) (9–3)
The American Conference USA
10 16
Head coach: 
Bob Diaco		 Head coach: 
John "Doc" Holliday
1234 Total
Connecticut 7030 10
Marshall 7603 16
Date December 26, 2015
Season 2015
Stadium Tropicana Field
Location St. Petersburg, Florida
MVP Marshall WR Deandre Reaves[1]
Favorite Marshall by 4[2]
Referee Kevin Mar[3] (Mtn. West)
Attendance 14,652[3]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN/ESPN Radio
Announcers Tom Hart, Anthony Becht, & Tiffany Greene (ESPN)
Drew Goodman, Rene Ingoglia, & Brett McMurphy (ESPN Radio)

The 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies of the American Athletic Conference and the Marshall Thundering Herd of Conference USA, played on December 26, 2015 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game was the final contest of the 2015 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football season for both teams.[4]

Connecticut was selected to play in the 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl following a 6–6 regular season highlighted by a win over the otherwise-undefeated Houston Cougars to achieve bowl eligibility. The Huskies faced Marshall, who finished their regular season with a 9–3 record and for the first time since 2012 did not qualify for the Conference USA championship game.

Team selection

In 2015, the St. Petersburg Bowl selection committee had a contractual arrangement with the American and Conference USA that allowed the committee to pick one team from each conference.[Note 1] The American has had a contractual bowl bid to the game since the game's inception in 2008.[Note 2]

This game featured the Connecticut Huskies of the American Athletic Conference against the Marshall Thundering Herd of Conference USA in their first meeting against each other.

Connecticut

After finishing the regular season 6–6 (4–4 The American), the Huskies accepted an invitation to play in this game.[6]

This was the Huskies' sixth bowl appearance and their first since the 2011 Fiesta Bowl where they lost to Oklahoma by a score of 48–20. This was their first bowl game in the state of Florida and their first against a team from Conference USA.

Marshall

After finishing the regular season 9–3 (6–2 C-USA), the Herd accepted an invitation to play in this game.[7]

This was the Herd's twelfth bowl appearance and their second appearance in the St. Petersburg Bowl. They previously won the 2011 edition (then named the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl) against FIU by a score of 20–10. This was their first bowl against a team from the American Athletic Conference.

Game summary

First quarter

Connecticut received the opening kickoff to start the game. After running back Arkeel Newsome ran the ball on three straight plays but failed to gain the requisite ten yards required to earn a first down, UConn was forced to punt the ball to Marshall. After a running play by Hyleck Foster gained a single yard, the Thundering Herd achieved the first first down of the game on a 21-yard pass play from quarterback Chase Litton to wide receiver Deandre Reaves, moving the ball into the Huskies' side of the field. The Marshall drive stalled after two running plays and an incomplete pass, forcing a punt that pinned UConn at their own 9-yard line. The Huskies were again unable to earn a first down, punting the ball back to the Thundering Herd who returned it to the UConn 20-yard line, giving Marshall excellent field position. The Thundering Herd capitalized on their second play from scrimmage, a 16-yard touchdown pass from Litton to Ryan Yurachek. After Marshall successfully kicked the extra point, the score was 7–0.

The Huskies responded to the Marshall score on their next drive. Starting from the 25-yard line after a touchback on the kickoff, Connecticut earned five first downs off three runs and two passes by quarterback Bryant Shirreffs. The last first down, a 17-yard pass from Shirreffs to Newsome, gave UConn a first-and-goal from the Marshall 8-yard line. Huskies running back Ron Johnson scored on the next play, running the ball into the end zone. Following the extra point the score was tied 7–7.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP UCONN MRSH
1 8:10 2 20 0:49 MRSH Ryan Yurachek 16-yard touchdown reception from Chase Litton, Nick Smith kick good 0 7
1 1:51 13 75 6:19 UCONN Ron Johnson 8-yard touchdown run, Bobby Puyol kick good 7 7
2 8:04 13 65 6:02 MRSH 21-yard field goal by Nick Smith 7 10
2 0:00 15 85 4:57 MRSH 29-yard field goal by Nick Smith 7 13
3 0:02 6 40 2:32 UCONN 52-yard field goal by Bobby Puyol 10 13
4 1:44 13 80 6:35 MRSH 32-yard field goal by Nick Smith 10 16
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 10 16

Source: [3]

Statistics

Statistics[3] UCONN MARSHALL
First downs 15 24
Plays–yards 50–213 77–389
Rushes–yards 33–127 41–171
Passing yards 86 218
Passing: Comp–Att–Int 10–17–1 23–36–1
Time of possession 25:18 34:42

Notes

  1. ↑ The bowl also had a backup arrangement with the Atlantic Coast Conference to select a team from their conference should either the American or Conference USA fail to provide a team. As both conferences had sufficient bowl-eligible team available, this backup arrangement did not come into play.
  2. ↑ The American Athletic Conference operated as the Big East Conference from 1979 through 2013.[5] See 2010–13 Big East Conference realignment for more information. This article uses the name "Big East" to refer to the conference for the years 2013 and earlier.

References

  1. ↑ Zampini, Matt (December 26, 2015). "Football: UConn falls to Marshall in St. Petersburg Bowl". dailycampus.com. The Daily Campus. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2015
  3. 1 2 3 4 "2015 St. Petersburg Bowl: UConn vs. Marshall Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
  4. ↑ "UConn and Marshall To Meet in Eighth Annual St. Petersburg Bowl". St. Petersburg Bowl. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ "American Athletic Conference". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  6. ↑ "HUSKIES HEADING TO ST. PETERSBURG BOWL TO TAKE ON MARSHALL". UConnHuskies.com. University of Connecticut. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Marshall Accepts Invitation to St. Petersburg Bowl". HerdZone.com. Marshall University. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.

External links

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