| 2018 Servpro First Responder Bowl | |||||||||||||||||
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| 9th First Responder Bowl No contest | |||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 26, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2018 | ||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cotton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dallas, Texas | ||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Boise State by 3[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Kevin Mar (Pac-12) | ||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$1,867,000[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Lowell Galindo,Ahmad Brooks andKris Budden | ||||||||||||||||
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The2018 First Responder Bowl was acollege footballbowl game scheduled for December 26, 2018, at theCotton Bowl Stadium inDallas. It was one of the2018–19 bowl games concluding the2018 FBS football season. Sponsored byServpro, a franchisor of fire and water cleanup and restoration, the game was officially known as theServpro First Responder Bowl. The ninth overall staging of the bowl, this was the first edition since being rebranded; its prior six editions were the Heart of Dallas Bowl, preceded by the TicketCity Bowl in its first two stagings.
The game was delayed in the first quarter, after Boston College took a 7–0 lead, and went into a weather delay due to lightning. Repeated lightning strikes near the stadium forced further delays; under NCAA rules, any lightning within 8 miles (13 km) of a stadium triggers a mandatory 30-minute delay, and the delay is extended with additional strikes. The game was canceled about two hours later amid forecasts that the severe weather would continue throughout the day and night. The game is considered a no-contest for the teams involved.[3][4]
This is believed to be the first postseason game at the FBS-level (or its predecessors) that was canceled due to weather.[5][6] NCAA records reflect only two prior postseason cancellations—a 1941 charity game betweenSan Jose State andHawaii that was canceled following theattack on Pearl Harbor;[7][8] and a 2013Division II game, theC.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl, betweenOuachita Baptist andTarleton State that was canceled due to severe winter weather.[9]
Bowl organizers had intended to invite teams from theBig Ten Conference andConference USA, based on conference tie-ins. However,Boise State from theMountain West Conference andBoston College from theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) were selected,[10] based on thebowl eligibility of teams and other bowl assignments.
This would have been the second all-time meeting between the two schools, with the previous meeting also coming in a bowl game. Boston College defeated Boise State in the2005 MPC Computers Bowl, 27–21, on Boise State's home field ofBronco Stadium (now known asAlbertsons Stadium).
Boston College received and accepted a bid to the First Responder Bowl on December 2.[10] The Eagles entered the bowl with a 7–5 record (4–4 in conference).
Boise State was defeated in the2018 Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game on December 1, then received and accepted a bid to the First Responder Bowl on December 2.[10] The Broncos entered the bowl with a 10–3 record (7–1 in conference).