Boca Raton Bowl
Annual American college football postseason game
College football bowl game
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.
From 2020 through 2023, the bowl was sponsored by RoofClaim.com.[ 2] Previous sponsors were Cheribundi (2017–2019) and Marmot (2015).
History
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]
Conference tie-ins
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]
Game results
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
December 18, 2024
James Madison
27
Western Kentucky
17
15,808
notes
Source:[ 12]
MVPs
2014 MVP Rakeem Cato
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]
2024
JC Evans
QB
James Madison
DJ Barksdale
NB
James Madison
Ryan Hanson
P
James Madison
[ 23]
Most appearances
Updated through the December 2024 edition (11 games, 22 total appearances).
Teams with multiple appearances
Teams with a single appearance
Won (5): BYU , James Madison , Marshall , South Florida , UAB
Lost (8): Akron , Appalachian State , Liberty , Memphis , SMU , Syracuse , Temple , UCF
Appearances by conference
Updated through the December 2024 edition (11 games, 22 total appearances).
Conference
Record
Appearances by season
Games
W
L
Win pct.
Won
Lost
C-USA
7
6
1
.857
2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
2024
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
2
1
1
.500
2024
2021
ACC
1
0
1
.000
2023
Independent appearances: BYU (2020), Liberty (2022)
Game records
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
16 , James Madison vs. Western Kentucky
2024
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
18 , Tommy Shuler (Marshall)
2014
Receiving yards
227 , Xavier Ubosi (UAB)[ 24]
2018
Receiving touchdowns
3 , shared byAnthony 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: Jacquez Williams (South Florida) Tavin Ward (South Florida)
2023
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) [ 25]
2018
The bowl has been televised by ESPN since its inception, with the 2019 edition broadcast on ABC .
Legends honorees
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 ]
References
^ "2019 Bowl Schedule" . collegefootballpoll.com . Retrieved December 13, 2019 .
^ "Boca Raton Bowl Announces Roofclaim.Com as Title Sponsor" . bowlseason.com (Press release). ESPN Events . December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020 .
^ "MAC Announces The Creation Of The Boca Raton Bowl" . Mac-sports.com. October 11, 2013. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013 .
^ a b Drew, David (May 14, 2014). "Dates and times set for inaugural MAC football-affiliated Boca Raton Bowl, Bahamas Bowl" . mlive.com. Retrieved May 14, 2014 .
^ "Sports Media: Good Karma's deal with ESPN Radio a long time coming" . Sports Business Journal . 2023-07-31. Retrieved 2023-07-31 .
^ "Marmot Becomes Title Sponsor of Boca Raton Bowl" . ESPN Events. 6 October 2015.
^ "Boca Raton Bowl Announces Cheribundi Tart Cherry As The New Title Sponsor" . Boca Raton News Most Reliable Source | Boca Raton Newspaper . 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-12-01 .
^ "BOCA RATON BOWL ANNOUNCES CHERIBUNDI TART CHERRY AS THE NEW TITLE SPONSOR" . Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2017 .
^ Ellis, Zac (October 11, 2013). "MAC announces creation of Boca Raton Bowl in 2014" . College-football.si.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013 .
^ "FB: C-USA Bowl Partners Announce 2017 Dates" . conferenceusa.com. May 10, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017 .
^ "Matchup" . cheribundibocaratonbowl.com . Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019 .
^ "Boca Raton Bowl" (PDF) . Bowl/All Star Game Records . NCAA. 2020. p. 16. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
^ Burke, Peter (December 23, 2014). "Rakeem Cato caps record-setting career with win in Boca Raton Bowl" . local10.com . Retrieved December 27, 2014 .
^ Smith, Cyrus (December 22, 2015). "Toledo shuts Temple down 32-17 to win Marmot Boca Raton Bowl" . underdogdynasty.com . Retrieved December 24, 2015 .
^ @BocaBowl (December 20, 2016). "Offensive MVP Ace Wales & Defensive MVP Keith Brown" (Tweet ) – via Twitter .
^ Kelly, John W. (December 20, 2017). "Owls are Boca Raton Bowl Champions!" . FAU.edu . Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
^ @MrOliver1970 (December 18, 2018). "Congratulations to UAB BLAZERS FOOTBALL!" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter .
^ "Boca Bowl Champs!!" . fausports.com . December 21, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
^
^ Parry, Rose (December 18, 2021). "Western Kentucky Tops Appalachian State, 59-38, in the 2021 Roofclaim.Com Boca Raton Bowl" . roofclaimbocaratonbowl.com (Press release). Retrieved December 18, 2021 .
^ Shomo, Evan (December 21, 2022). "Toledo Rockets Win Ninth Annual Roofclaim.Com Boca Raton Bowl" . roofclaimbocaratonbowl.com . Florida Atlantic University. Retrieved December 21, 2022 .
^ "USF Football Dominates Syracuse, 45-0, In Boca Raton Bowl Victory" . USF Athletics . 2023-12-21. Retrieved 2023-12-22 .
^ Paul, Ben (December 18, 2024). "James Madison 24-17 Western Kentucky, Boca Raton Bowl 2024" . bocaratonbowl.com . Retrieved December 19, 2024 .
^ @UAB_FB (December 18, 2018). "The 227 yards receiving by Xavier Ubosi is a new @BocaBowl record!" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter .
^ @UAB_FB (December 18, 2018). "Nick Vogel knocks through a 42-yard field goal and sets a new @BocaBowl record with the longest made field goal in bowl history!" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter .
^ @BocaBowl (December 2, 2014). "Howard Schnellenberger to Receive First-Ever Palm Beach County Football Legends Award Presented by Sun Trust" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter .
^ "Reidel Anthony to receive Palm Beach County Football Legends Award" . Sun-Sentinel . Fort Lauderdale, Florida . December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 .
^ @bsschiller (November 29, 2016). "Cardinal Newman alumnus & former NFL kicker, John Carney will receive the 2016 Built Ford Tough Palm Beach County Football Legends Award" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter .
^ "Zips Keep Busy on Final Day Before Bowl Game" . gozips.com . December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017 .
^ @BocaBowl (December 17, 2018). "Honoring our #BuiltFordTough Palm Beach County Football Legends Award Winner" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter .
External links