Cure Bowl
The Cure Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in December of each year in Orlando, Florida, currently at Camping World Stadium. The Cure Bowl is so named to promote awareness and research of breast cancer, with proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The Cure Bowl usually features teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt Conference. Through sponsorship from FBC Mortgage, the game is officially the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl.
| Cure Bowl | |
|---|---|
| FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl | |
 | |
| Stadium | Camping World Stadium |
| Location | Orlando, Florida |
| Previous stadiums | Exploria Stadium (2019) |
| Operated | 2015–present |
| Conference tie-ins | The American, Sun Belt |
| Payout | US$573,125 (2019)[1] |
| Sponsors | |
AutoNation (2015–2018) FBC Mortgage (2019–present) | |
| Former names | |
AutoNation Cure Bowl (2015–2018) | |
| 2019 matchup | |
| Liberty vs. Georgia Southern (Liberty 23–16) | |
| 2020 matchup | |
| Liberty vs. Coastal Carolina (Liberty 37–34OT) | |
History
The game has tie-ins with the American Athletic Conference (The American) and the Sun Belt Conference. The inaugural game took place on December 19, 2015,[2] featuring the San Jose State Spartans from the Mountain West Conference and the Georgia State Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference. A Mountain West team was invited to the bowl due to The American not having enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the tie-in.[3]
During the planning stages, it was originally proposed to hold the game at Bright House Networks Stadium on the campus of UCF.[4] However, it was later decided to hold the game at the newly renovated Camping World Stadium in downtown Orlando, joining the Camping World Bowl and the Citrus Bowl as annual bowl games at the venue.[5] The bowl remained at Camping World Stadium through 2018, was moved to Exploria Stadium in 2019,[6] and returned to Camping World Stadium in 2020.[7]
The game was acquired by ESPN Events in May 2020.[8] The 2020 edition of the bowl, between Liberty and Coastal Carolina, became the first Cure Bowl to go to overtime.
Sponsorship
From its inaugural playing in 2015 through 2018, the game was sponsored by AutoNation and was known as the AutoNation Cure Bowl.[9] In December 2019, FBC Mortgage became the new title sponsor, making the game the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl.[10] In December 2020, FBC Mortgage renewed its sponsorship of the bowl.[11]
Game results
All rankings are taken from the AP Poll prior to the game being played.
| Date | Winning Team | Losing Team | Attendance | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 19, 2015 | San Jose State | 27 | Georgia State | 16 | 18,536 | notes |
| December 17, 2016 | Arkansas State | 31 | UCF | 13 | 27,213 | notes |
| December 16, 2017 | Georgia State | 27 | Western Kentucky | 17 | 19,585 | notes |
| December 15, 2018 | Tulane | 41 | Louisiana | 24 | 19,066 | notes |
| December 21, 2019 | Liberty | 23 | Georgia Southern | 16 | 18,158 | notes |
| December 26, 2020 | No. 23 Liberty | 37 | No. 9 Coastal Carolina | 34OT | 4,488 | notes |
Source:[12]
MVPs
| Year | MVP | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Kenny Potter | San Jose State | QB |
| 2016 | Kendall Sanders | Arkansas State | WR |
| 2017 | Conner Manning | Georgia State | QB |
| 2018 | Darius Bradwell | Tulane | RB |
| 2019 | Jessie Lemonier | Liberty | DE |
| 2020 | Malik Willis | Liberty | QB |
Most appearances
Updated through the December 2020 edition (6 games, 12 total appearances).
- Teams with multiple appearances
| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record | Win pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Liberty | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
| T1 | Georgia State | 2 | 1–1 | 0.500 |
- Teams with a single appearance
Won: Arkansas State, San Jose State, Tulane
Lost: Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Louisiana, UCF, Western Kentucky
Appearances by conference
Updated through the December 2020 edition (6 games, 12 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Appearances by season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost | |
| Sun Belt | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0.333 | 2016, 2017 | 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Independents | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 2019, 2020 | |
| The American | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 2018 | 2016 |
| Mountain West | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2015 | |
| C-USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 2017 | |
- Independent appearances: Liberty (2019, 2020)
Game records
| Team | Performance vs. Opponent | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Most points scored | 41, Tulane vs. Louisiana | 2018 |
| Fewest points allowed | 13, UCF vs. Arkansas State | 2016 |
| Margin of victory | 18, Arkansas State vs. UCF | 2016 |
| First downs | 28, Tulane vs. Louisiana | 2018 |
| Rushing yards | 337, Tulane vs. Louisiana | 2015 |
| Passing yards | 351, Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State | 2017 |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 34, Coastal Carolina vs. Liberty | 2020 |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 71, Coastal Carolina vs. Liberty | 2020 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 223, UCF vs. Arkansas State | 2016 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | -2, Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State | 2017 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 89, San Jose State vs. Georgia State | 2015 |
| Individual | Player, Team | Year |
| Points scored | 24, Malik Willis (Liberty) | 2020 |
| Passing touchdowns | 3, shared by: Justice Hansen (Arkansas State) Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina) |
2016 2020 |
| Rushing yards | 145, Darius Bradwell (Tulane) | 2018 |
| Passing yards | 351, Mike White (Western Kentucky) | 2017 |
| Receiving yards | 178, Jaivon Heiligh (Coastal Carolina) | 2020 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 4, Malik Willis (Liberty) | 2020 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 3, Kendall Sanders (Arkansas State) | 2016 |
| Tackles | 14, Demeitre Brim (UCF) | 2016 |
| Sacks | 2, shared by: Rolland Jones (Arkansas State) Ceridor McKendry (Georgia State) Zachery Harris (Tulane) |
2016 2017 2018 |
| Interceptions | 1, by multiple players—most recent: Brayden Matts (Coastal Carolina) Alex Spillum (Coastal Carolina) Javon Scruggs (Liberty) |
2020 2020 2020 |
| Long Plays | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Touchdown run | 42 yds., Kenny Potter (San Jose State) | 2015 |
| Touchdown pass | 75 yds., Justice Hansen to Kendall Sanders (Arkansas State) | 2016 |
| Kickoff return | 35 yds., Raymond Calais (Louisiana) | 2018 |
| Punt return | 85 yds., Tyler Ervin (San Jose State) | 2015 |
| Interception return | 63 yds., Bralen Trahan (Louisiana) | 2018 |
| Fumble return | 0 yds., by multiple players—most recent: Alex Spillum (Coastal Carolina) |
2020 |
| Punt | 70 yds., Wil Lutz (Georgia State) | 2015 |
| Field goal | 46 yds., Alex Probert (Liberty) | 2019 |
Source:[15]
Media coverage
Television
The game was initially televised by CBS Sports Network, making it one of the few bowl games to not be televised by an ESPN network. Following the bowl's acquisition by ESPN Events in 2020, broadcasting moved to ESPN.[16]
| Date | Network | Play-by-play announcers | Color commentators | Sideline reporters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | CBS Sports Network | Carter Blackburn | Aaron Taylor | Jenny Dell |
| 2016 | ||||
| 2017 | ||||
| 2018 | ||||
| 2019 | John Schriffen | |||
| 2020 | ESPN | Roy Philpott | Kelly Stouffer | Alex Chappell |
Radio
| Date | Network | Play-by-play announcers | Color commentators | Sideline reporters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | iHeartRadio | Paul Kennedy | Max Starks | Jamie Seh |
| 2016 | Touchdown Radio | Bernie Guenther | Gino Torretta | |
| 2017 | JP Shadrick | |||
| 2018 | ||||
| 2019[17] | Bowlday Radio | Jamie Seh | Dani Welniak | Melanie Newman |
| 2020[18] | First Team Radio | Tenitra Batiste |
See also
References
- "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- "Citrus Bowl to host Cure Bowl in 2015". WESH.com. Hearst Television. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
- "AAC, Sun Belt to meet in 2015 Cure Bowl on CBS Sports Network". CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
- Washington, Chad (April 14, 2014). "Report: Sun Belt to be tie-in to new bowl game in Orlando". The Daily Advertiser. Lafayette, Louisiana. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- Murschel, Matt (April 14, 2014). "Orlando set to host third bowl game featuring teams from AAC, Sun Belt". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
- Murschel, Matt (May 1, 2019). "Orlando City Stadium to host Cure Bowl". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
- "Cure Bowl to be Played Saturday, December 26 on ESPN". curebowl.com. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- "ESPN Events Reveals 13-Game College Football Bowl Schedule for 2020-21". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- "AutoNation signs on as title sponsor of Cure Bowl". Retrieved October 24, 2014.
- "FBC Mortgage Named Title Sponsor of the Cure Bowl and March 2 Cure". CureBowl.com (Press release). December 6, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- "FBC Mortgage Continues as Title Sponsor of the 2020 Cure Bowl". CureBowl.com (Press release). December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- "FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 16. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
- "The History". curebowl.com. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- @ASeaofRed (December 26, 2020). "Malik Willis is named MVP of the 2020 Cure Bowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 26, 2020 – via Twitter.
- "Cure Bowl Records" (PDF). 2019 Media Prospectus. Orlando Sports Foundation. pp. 22–23. Retrieved December 26, 2020 – via curebowl.com.
- "Bowl season is going to be an even more ESPN-centric affair this year". Awful Announcing. 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
- "More history to be made at Exploria Stadium". Twitter. 2019-12-08. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
- "Announcer for Cure Bowl shares what the game means to her". Click Orlando. 2020-12-22.