2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl

The 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl was a postseason college football match between the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Cincinnati Bearcats at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The University of Southern Mississippi represented Conference USA (which Cincinnati was once a member of) and the University of Cincinnati represented the Big East Conference. The game resulted in a 31–21 Cincinnati victory, which did not cover their 11-point spread.[1] The payout for both teams was $300,000, the lowest payout among all college football bowl games.[3]

2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl
PapaJohns.com Bowl logo
Southern Miss Golden Eagles Cincinnati Bearcats
(7–5) (9–3)
C-USA Big East
21 31
Head coach: 
Jeff Bower		 Head coach: 
Brian Kelly
APCoachesBCS
202322
1234 Total
Southern Miss 7077 21
Cincinnati 014170 31
DateDecember 22, 2007
Season2007
StadiumLegion Field
LocationBirmingham, Alabama
MVPQB Ben Mauk, Cincinnati
FavoriteCincinnati by 11[1]
Attendance35,258
PayoutUS$300,000 per team[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN2
AnnouncersPam Ward, Ray Bentley

This was the final game for head coach Jeff Bower, ending his 17-season tenure at Southern Miss.[4] Bower was forced to resign after their disappointing season.[5] After Bower's resignation, the selection of Southern Miss was notable as Bower's first game as head coach of the Golden Eagles was also at Legion Field, in the All-American Bowl in 1990.

Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk passed for four touchdowns and 334 yards.[5] Southern Miss quarterback Jeremy Young went 18-for-32 for 122 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.[5] After being down 31-14 in the fourth, quarter Jeremy Young cut the lead by scoring a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chris Johnson, but Southern Miss' rally fell short after they couldn't recover an onside kick or convert a fourth-and-1 play on its next possession.[5] Only 35,258 people attended the game, less than half of Legion Field's capacity.[6] Cincinnati distributed 8,352 tickets, a school record for bowl attendance, while Southern Mississippi distributed around 5,000 tickets.[7] Cincinnati's win brought their record to 10-3, their first 10-win season since 1951. With the loss Southern Miss' record ended at 7-5.[8]

Game summary
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP Southern Miss Cincinnati
1 5:23 5 plays, 59 yards 1:55 Southern Miss Shawn Nelson 10-yard touchdown reception from Jeremy Young, Justin Estes kick good 7 0
2 6:12 7 plays, 75 yards 2:19 Cincinnati Dominick Goodman 14-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk, Jake Rogers kick good 7 7
2 0:24 6 plays, 49 yards 1:23 Cincinnati Dominick Goodman 5-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk, Jake Rogers kick good 7 14
3 13:17 1 plays, 29 yards 0:09 Cincinnati Earnest Jackson 29-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk, Jake Rogers kick good 7 21
3 6:48 14 plays, 80 yards 6:29 Southern Miss Jeremy Young 1-yard touchdown run, Justin Estes kick good 14 21
3 4:08 8 plays, 58 yards 2:40 Cincinnati Antwuan Giddens 10-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk, Jake Rogers kick good 14 28
3 0:05 9 plays, 51 yards 2:28 Cincinnati 22-yard field goal by Jake Rogers 14 31
4 9:37 11 plays, 76 yards 5:28 Southern Miss Chris Johnson 5-yard touchdown reception from Jeremy Young, Justin Estes kick good 21 31
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 21 31

Final statistics

[9] [10]

Statistical Comparison
EaglesBearcats
1st Downs1921
Total Yards339405
Passing Yards122334
Rushing Yards21771
Penalties8–808–51
3rd Down Conversions6–176–14
4th Down Conversions1–41–2
Turnovers34
Time of Possession33:3626:24
  
Eagles Individual Leaders
Passing
Player C/ATT* Yds Pct TD INT
J. Young 18/32 122 56.3 2 3
Rushing
Player Cara Yds Ave TD LGb
D. Fletcher 29 155 5.3 0 40
J. Young 17 55 3.2 1 20
T. Harrison 2 7 3.5 0 4
B. Barefoot 1 0 0.0 0 0
Receiving
Player Recc Yds Ave TD LGb
D. Fletcher 7 50 7.1 0 16
T. Harrison 1 18 18.0 0 18
S. Nelson 3 18 6.0 1 10
T. Magee 2 15 7.5 0 13
C. Johnson 2 13 6.5 1 8
E. Morgan 2 8 4.0 0 4
G. Baptiste 1 0 0.0 0 0

*Completions/Attempts aCarries bLong play cReceptions

Bearcats Individual Leaders
Passing
Player C/ATT* Yds Pct TD INT
B. Mauk 30/52 334 57.7 4 3
Rushing
Player Cara Yds Ave TD LGb
B. Mauk 12 41 3.4 0 14
G. Moore 4 18 4.5 0 12
J. Ramsey 6 9 1.5 0 6
B. Glatthaar 1 7 7.0 0 7
B. Benton 1 0 0.0 0 0
Receiving
Player Recc Yds Ave TD LGb
D. Goodman 7 95 13.6 2 20
C. Barwin 7 86 12.3 0 26
A. Giddens 7 64 9.1 1 23
E. Jackson 3 46 15.3 1 29
C. Howard 2 24 12.0 0 18
M. Barnett 2 17 8.5 0 10
G. Moore 1 3 3.0 0 3
B. Benton 1 (-)1 (-)1.0 0 0

*Completions/Attempts aCarries bLong play cReceptions |width="33"|  |valign="top"|

References
  1. World Features Syndicate via Long Beach Press-Telegram, December 19, 2007
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 3, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "New Mexico Bowl: Team expenses chip away payout profits : LoboZone : Albuquerque Tribune". Archived from the original on 2007-12-22. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  4. SportingNews.com - Your expert source for NCAA Football stats, scores, standings, and blogs from NCAA Football columnists
  5. "Mauk, Bearcats spoil Bower's final game at Southern Miss". ESPN.com. 2007-12-22. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008. Retrieved on 2008-14-04.
  6. http://www.papajohnsbowl.com/history/results.html
  7. "Papajohns.com Bowl notebook- al.com". Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  8. Papajohns.com Bowl Game Notes :: Cincinnati 31, Southern Miss. 21
  9. ESPN
  10. Yahoo Sports
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