Quick Lane Bowl

The Quick Lane Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2014 season. Backed by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League, the game features a bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten Conference competing against an opponent from the Atlantic Coast Conference, or a Mid-American Conference team if there are no more eligible teams from either.

Quick Lane Bowl
StadiumFord Field
LocationDetroit, Michigan
Operated2014–present
Conference tie-insBig Ten
ACC
MAC (secondary)
PayoutUS$2 million (2019)[1]
Preceded byLittle Caesars Pizza Bowl
Sponsors
Ford Motor Company (2014–present)
2019 matchup
Eastern Michigan vs. Pittsburgh
(Pittsburgh 34–30)
2020 matchup
Cancelled

The Quick Lane Bowl is played at Ford Field in Detroit as a de facto replacement for the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, and inherited its traditional December 26 scheduling. Unlike its predecessor, which placed the 8th place team in the Big Ten against the Mid-American champion, the competing teams are selected by conference representatives and not based on final rankings.[2] The Ford Motor Company serves as title sponsor of the game through its auto shop brand Quick Lane.

The inaugural game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and North Carolina Tar Heels was played on December 26, 2014, marking the first time the two teams had ever played each other in a bowl game.[3]

On October 30, 2020, organizers accounted that the 2020 edition of the bowl would not be played; a specific reason was not given.[4]

History

Since 2002, Detroit's Ford Field had played host to the Motor City Bowl—later known as the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl for sponsorship reasons; a bowl game between the 8th placed team in the Big Ten Conference and the champion of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), which was first played in 1997 at the Pontiac Silverdome. In May 2013, ESPN reported that the Detroit Lions were planning to organize a new Big Ten bowl game at Ford Field against an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponent—Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany had expressed a desire to revamp the conference's lineup of bowl games for the 2014 season to keep them "fresh".[5] In August 2013, the Lions officially confirmed the new, then-unnamed game, tentatively scheduled for December 30, 2014. The team had reached six-year deals with the Big Ten and ACC to provide tie-ins for the game; the teams playing in the bowl are to be picked by representatives from each participating conference.[2]

Ford Field, prior venue of the defunct Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and current venue of the Quick Lane Bowl

The announcement of the Lions' bowl game, and the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl's loss of Ford Field as a venue, left the fate of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl—which had a relatively lower-profile matchup—in jeopardy. Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand remarked that "very few" markets could adequately support hosting two major bowl games.[6][7] Organizers were open to the possibility of moving the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl across the street to Comerica Park, home stadium of the Detroit Tigers, for 2014 as an outdoor game.[6] Comerica Park, the Tigers, and game sponsor Little Caesars are all owned by Ilitch Holdings.[6] However, these plans never came to fruition.[5][7]

In August 2014, the Lions announced that the Ford Motor Company had acquired title sponsorship rights to the new Detroit bowl, now known as the Quick Lane Bowl—named for its auto shop brand, Quick Lane. It was also confirmed that the inaugural Quick Lane Bowl would inherit the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl's traditional date of December 26, and be televised by ESPN. In a statement to Crain's Detroit Business, Motor City Bowl co-founder Ken Hoffman confirmed that "there is no Pizza Bowl for 2014. We will have to see about the future", implying that the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl had been cancelled indefinitely;[7][8] the December 2013 playing proved to be the final edition of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

On October 21, 2014, the Quick Lane Bowl announced a secondary tie-in with the MAC.[9] The inaugural Quick Lane Bowl, played in December 2014, featured Rutgers of the Big Ten and North Carolina of the ACC. Through the first six playings of the bowl, five ACC teams, four Big Ten teams, and three MAC teams have been featured.

Game results

DateWinning TeamLosing TeamAttendanceNotes
December 26, 2014Rutgers40North Carolina2123,876notes
December 28, 2015Minnesota21Central Michigan1434,217notes
December 26, 2016Boston College36Maryland3019,117 notes
December 26, 2017Duke36Northern Illinois1420,211notes
December 26, 2018Minnesota34Georgia Tech1027,228notes
December 26, 2019Pittsburgh34Eastern Michigan3034,765notes
2020Cancelled[10]

Source:[11]

MVPs

2017 MVP Daniel Jones
Year MVP Team Position
2014Josh HicksRutgersRB
2015Mitch LeidnerMinnesotaQB
2016Defensive LineBoston CollegeDL
2017Daniel JonesDukeQB
2018Mohamed IbrahimMinnesotaRB
2019Kenny PickettPittsburghQB

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2019 edition (6 games, 12 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances
Rank Team Appearances Record
1Minnesota22–0
Teams with a single appearance

Won: Boston College, Duke, Pittsburgh, Rutgers
Lost: Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, Northern Illinois

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2019 edition (6 games, 12 total appearances).

Conference Record Appearances by season
Games W L Win pct. Won Lost
ACC532.6002016, 2017, 20192014, 2018
Big Ten431.7502014, 2015, 20182016
MAC303.000 2015, 2017, 2019

Game records

Team Record, Team vs. Opponent Year
Most points scored (one team) 40, Rutgers vs. North Carolina 2014
Most points scored (losing team) 30, shared by:
Maryland vs. Boston College
Eastern Michigan vs. Pittsburgh

2016
2019
Most points scored (both teams) 66, Boston College vs. Maryland 2016
Fewest points allowed 10, Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech 2018
Largest margin of victory 24, Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech 2018
Total yards 524, Rutgers vs. North Carolina 2014
Rushing yards 340, Rutgers vs. North Carolina 2014
Passing yards 361, Pittsburgh vs. Eastern Michigan 2019
First downs 27, shared by:
North Carolina vs. Rutgers
Duke vs. Northern Illinois
Eastern Michigan vs. Pittsburgh

2014
2017
2019
Fewest yards allowed 249, Minnesota vs. Central Michigan 2015
Fewest rushing yards allowed 65, Duke vs. Northern Illinois 2017
Fewest passing yards allowed 77, Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech 2018
Individual Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent Year
All-purpose yards
Touchdowns (all-purpose)2, most recently:
Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech
Tyler Johnson, Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech

2018
2018
Rushing yards224, Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech2018
Rushing touchdowns2, most recently:
Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech

2018
Passing yards361, Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh vs. Eastern Michigan2019
Passing touchdowns3, Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh vs. Eastern Michigan2019
Receiving yards165, Maurice Ffrench, Pittsburgh vs. Eastern Michigan2019
Receiving touchdowns2, Tyler Johnson, Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech2018
Tackles
Sacks
Interceptions1, by several players
Long Plays Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent Year
Touchdown run62, Ty Johnson, Maryland vs. Boston College2016
Touchdown pass96, Kenny Pickett to Maurice Ffrench, Pittsburgh vs. Eastern Michigan2019
Kickoff return55, Teldrick Morgan, Maryland vs. Boston College2016
Punt return14, KiAnte Hardin, Minnesota vs. Central Michigan2015
Interception return30, Darnell Savage, Maryland vs. Boston College2016
Fumble return7, Truman Gutapfel, Boston College vs. Maryland2016
Punt56, Zach Oakley, Central Michigan vs. Minnesota2015
Field goal51, Alex Kessman, Pittsburgh vs. Eastern Michigan2019

Media coverage

Television

Date Network Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Sideline reporters
2014 ESPN[12] Mark Neely Ray Bentley Niki Noto
2015 ESPN2 Dave Neal Matt Stinchcomb Kayce Smith
2016 ESPN Mark Neely Ray Bentley Alex Corddry
2017 Mike Couzens Allison Williams
2018 Mark Neely
2019 Mike Corey Rene Ingoglia

Radio

WDVD-FM and WJR (AM) are the flagship stations for the Quick Lane Bowl Radio Network. Availability between the two to carry the game rotates depending on other Detroit area sporting events.

Date Network Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Sideline reporters
2014 Quick Lane Radio Network Doug Karsch Jon Jansen
2015 Don Chiodo Brock Gutierrez Jim Costa
2016 Frank Beckmann Lomas Brown Kenny Brown
2017
2018 Joique Bell Matt Laurinec
2019 Chris Renwick Devin Gardner

See also

References

  1. "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  2. "Detroit Lions announce agreement with ACC for Bowl Game at Ford Field". detroitlions.com. August 7, 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  3. "Rutgers will meet North Carolina in Detroit's inaugural Quick Lane Bowl". NJ.com. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  4. Crawford, Kirkland (October 30, 2020). "Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit canceled this season; hope is to return in 2021". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  5. Meinke, Kyle (May 21, 2013). "Report: Detroit Lions to host bowl game with Big Ten tie-in, Pizza Bowl getting dumped". Mlive.com. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  6. Lacy, Eric (May 21, 2013). "Little Caesars Pizza Bowl organizers open to playing outside; Detroit Lions bowl interest confirmed". Mlive.com. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  7. Shea, Bill (August 19, 2014). "Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at Ford Field canceled". Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  8. "Quick Lane Bowl Announced". Big Ten Conference. August 26, 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  9. "MAC, Quick Lane Bowl Agree To Backup Tie-In". Hustle Belt (SB Nation). Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  10. Buczek, Joe (October 30, 2020). "Detroit's Quick Lane Bowl Canceled for 2020". MIsportsnow.com. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  11. "Quick Lane Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. pp. 12–13. Retrieved January 3, 2021 via NCAA.org.
  12. "ESPN College Football – Bowl Schedule and Commentators, College GameDay, College Football Awards, Division I Football Championship and More". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
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