Postseason college football bowl game
College football game
The2020 First Responder Bowl was acollege football bowl game played on December 26, 2020, with kickoff at 3:30 p.m.EST (2:30 p.m. localCST ) onABC .[ 4] First Responder Bowl , and was one of the2020–21 bowl games concluding the2020 FBS football season . Sponsored by fire and water cleanup and restoration companyServpro , the game was officially known as theServpro First Responder Bowl .
Based on conference tie-ins, the First Responder Bowl was expected to feature teams from theAmerican Athletic Conference (AAC),Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), or theBig 12 Conference .[ 5] Louisiana of theSun Belt Conference againstUTSA ofConference USA (C-USA). This was the first meeting of the two programs.[ 6]
[ edit ] Louisiana accepted their bid to the First Responder Bowl on December 20, 2020.[ 7] AP Poll . Their only loss of the season was toCoastal Carolina , who they were due to face in a rematch in theSun Belt Championship Game , but it was cancelled due to COVID-19 effects within the Coastal Carolina program.[ 8]
UTSA accepted their bid to the First Responder Bowl on December 15, 2020.[ 9] SMU in theFrisco Bowl , but that game was canceled due toCOVID-19 problems at SMU.[ 10] BYU in October.
During the week prior to the game, UTSA head coachJeff Traylor tested positive forCOVID-19 , and thus did not accompany the team to Dallas. Associate head coach and offensive coordinatorBarry Lunney Jr. served as the Roadrunners' coach for the game.[ 11]
Game information First quarter (10:43) LA – Jalen Williams 15 yard pass fromLevi Lewis , Kenneth Almendares kick (Drive: 8 plays, 68 yards, 4:17;Louisiana 7–0 ) Second quarter (8:27) LA – Kenneth Almendares 31 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 61 yards, 4:35;Louisiana 10–0 ) (4:33) UTSA –Frank Harris 11 yard rush, Hunter Duplessis kick (Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:54;Louisiana 10–7 ) (1:21) LA –Kyren Lacy 10 yard pass from Levi Lewis, Kenneth Almendares kick (Drive: 8 plays, 74 yards, 3:06;Louisiana 17–7 ) Third quarter (14:19) LA – Elijah Mitchell 3 yard rush, Kenneth Almendares kick (Drive: 1 play, 3 yards, 0:04;Louisiana 24–7 ) (10:14) UTSA – Zakhari Franklin 29 yard pass from Frank Harris, Hunter Duplessis kick (Drive: 4 plays, 62 yards, 1:33;Louisiana 24–14 ) (4:09) UTSA – Joshua Cephus 10 yard pass from Frank Harris, Hunter Duplessis kick (Drive: 6 plays, 89 yards, 2:24;Louisiana 24–21 ) Fourth quarter (13:32) UTSA – Hunter Duplessis 20 yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 82 yards, 3:33;Tied 24–24 ) (7:16) LA – Trey Ragas 1 yard rush, Kenneth Almendares kick (Drive: 12 plays, 72 yards, 6:09;Louisiana 31–24 )
Statistics LA UTSA First downs 23 27 Plays–yards 69–411 65–431 Rushes–yards 46–265 44–223 Passing yards 146 208 Passing:comp– att– int 12–23–0 13–21–1 Time of possession 32:37 27:23
Team Category Player Statistics Louisiana Passing Levi Lewis 12/22, 146 yards, 2 TD Rushing Elijah Mitchell 19 carries, 127 yards, 1 TD Receiving Elijah Mitchell 2 receptions, 45 yards UTSA Passing Frank Harris 13/21, 208 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Sincere McCormick 23 carries, 122 yards Receiving Zakhari Franklin 5 receptions, 115 yards, 1 TD
^ Prior to the game, Traylor tested positive for COVID-19. Associate head coach Barry Lunney Jr. was UTSA's acting head coach for the game. ^ @TDARaginCajuns (December 26, 2020)."MVP of the First Responder Bowl: UL RB Elijah Mitchell (19 carries, 127 yards, 1 TD)" (Tweet ). RetrievedDecember 26, 2020 – viaTwitter . ^ "ESPN Game Summary - Louisiana vs. UTSA - December 26, 2020" .ESPN.com . RetrievedDecember 26, 2020 .^ Austro, Ben (December 23, 2020)."2020-21 bowl officiating assignments" .footballzebras.com . RetrievedDecember 23, 2020 . ^ "College Football Bowl Schedule | 2020" .FBSchedules.com . RetrievedOctober 30, 2020 .^ Mercer, John David (March 17, 2020)."2020-2021 College Football Bowl Ties, Affiliations For Each Conference" .collegefootballnews.com .USA Today . RetrievedDecember 6, 2020 . ^ "UTSA Roadrunners vs. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football series history" .winsipedia.com . RetrievedDecember 25, 2020 .^ "2020 Servpro First Responder Bowl to Feature No. 19 Louisiana and UTSA" .firstresponderbowl.com (Press release). December 20, 2020. RetrievedDecember 25, 2020 .^ "Sun Belt championship game canceled due to COVID issues" .AL.com . December 18, 2020.^ "UTSA accepts invitation to play in SERVPRO First Responder Bowl" .kens5.com . December 15, 2020. RetrievedDecember 15, 2020 .^ "Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl Canceled; UTSA to Play in SERVPRO First Responder Bowl" .thefriscobowl.com (Press release). December 15, 2020. RetrievedDecember 15, 2020 .^ Sun Belt Conference (December 26, 2020)."No. 16 Louisiana tops UTSA 31-24 in First Responder Bowl" .sunbeltsports.org . Sun Belt Conference. RetrievedDecember 29, 2020 .
Formerly known as the TicketCity / Heart of Dallas Bowl
