2007 International Bowl

The 2007 International Bowl, held on January 6, 2007 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was one of the college American football bowl games that ended the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game pitted the University of Cincinnati against Western Michigan University.

2007 International Bowl
Inaugural Bowl Game
1234 Total
Western Michigan 01707 24
Cincinnati 141003 27
DateJanuary 6, 2007
Season2006
StadiumRogers Centre
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
MVPCincinnati WR Dominick Goodman
RefereeDan Capron
Attendance26,717
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN2
AnnouncersJohn Saunders (Play by Play)
Doug Flutie (Analyst)
Craig James (Analyst)
Todd Harris (Sideline)
International TV coverage
NetworkTSN (Canada)

Background

It was historically notable for several reasons:

Besides the historic significance of the game itself, the UC–WMU matchup was of particular interest because newly hired Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly coached Central Michigan University during the 2006 regular season. Kelly and Central Michigan, the main rival of WMU, defeated Western Michigan 31–7 just eight weeks earlier. In addition, both schools had been charter members of the Mid-American Conference (WMU is still in the conference today, but UC left after the 1952–53 academic year).

Game summary

The game drew a crowd of 26,717. In this game, Cincinnati jumped out to a 24–0 lead with 10:22 left in the first half, but Western Michigan was able to score 24 unanswered points to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats defeated the Broncos 27–24 with WMU missing a late 51-yard field goal that could have sent the game into overtime.[1][2]

Broadcast

The on-air ESPN crew included John Saunders, who was born and raised in Toronto and graduated from WMU; and Doug Flutie, who played two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, both of which ended in Grey Cup championships.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.