Fenway Bowl
| Fenway Bowl | |
|---|---|
| Wasabi Fenway Bowl | |
 | |
| Stadium | Fenway Park |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Operated | 2022–present |
| Conference tie-ins | The American, ACC |
| Sponsors | |
Wasabi Technologies (2022–present) | |
| 2023 matchup | |
| Boston College vs. SMU (Boston College 23–14) | |
| 2024 matchup | |
| North Carolina vs. UConn (December 28, 2024) | |
The Fenway Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized by ESPN Events and Fenway Sports Management, it features teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.[1] The bowl is one of three active bowl games staged in a baseball stadium, along with the Pinstripe Bowl (Yankee Stadium) and Rate Bowl (Chase Field).[2][3][4] The Fenway Bowl is one of three bowl games that have never released payout totals for the teams involved in the game (Myrtle Beach Bowl and the LA Bowl are the others).
History
[edit]
American football games at Fenway Park date to 1912, the year the venue opened.[5] Various high school, college, and professional football teams have played at Fenway, including the Boston Patriots during the American Football League (AFL) era, and the Boston College Eagles.[5] Prior to the Fenway Bowl, no bowl game had been scheduled for the ballpark.
Organizers had planned for the inaugural playing of the Fenway Bowl to be during the 2020–21 bowl season. On October 23, 2020, it was reported that the bowl would not debut as planned, citing COVID-19 pandemic concerns.[6] Postponement of the bowl was confirmed by organizers the following week, with the temporary Montgomery Bowl being created as a substitute.[7][8]
On May 27, 2021, organizers announced a game date for the 2021–22 bowl season of December 29, 2021.[9] On November 4, 2021, Wasabi Technologies signed on as the title sponsor of the game.[10] However, the game was canceled three days prior to kickoff due to COVID issues within the Virginia team; they had been set to face SMU.[11]
On December 17, 2022, as part of the 2022–23 bowl season, the Fenway Bowl was played for the first time, featuring Cincinnati and Louisville. The following year, the first ranked team was invited to the bowl, as SMU (17th in the AP poll and 24th in the College Football Playoff rankings) faced Boston College.[12]
Game results
[edit]Rankings are based on the AP poll prior to the game being played.
| Date | Winning Team | Losing Team | Attendance | Notes / Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 17, 2022 | Louisville | 24 | Cincinnati | 7 | 15,000 | notes[13] |
| December 28, 2023 | Boston College | 23 | No. 17 SMU | 14 | 16,238 | notes |
| December 28, 2024 | North Carolina vs. UConn | notes | ||||
MVPs
[edit]| Year | Offensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Pos. | Player | Team | Pos. | ||
| 2022 | Jawhar Jordan | Louisville | RB | Monty Montgomery | Louisville | LB | [14] |
| 2023 | Thomas Castellanos | Boston College | QB | Kam Arnold | Boston College | LB | [15][16] |
Appearances by team
[edit]Updated for the December 2024 edition (3 games, 6 total appearances).
- Teams with a single appearance
Won (2): Boston College, Louisville
Lost (2): Cincinnati, SMU
TBD (2): North Carolina, UConn
Appearances by conference
[edit]Updated for the December 2024 edition (3 games, 6 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Appearances by season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost | |
| ACC† | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 2022, 2023 | |
| The American | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2022, 2023 | |
| Independent† | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | ||
† December 2024 participant
Independent appearances: UConn (2024)
Game records
[edit]| Team | Performance vs. Opponent | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Most points scored (one team) | 24, Louisville vs. Cincinnati | 2022 |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 14, SMU vs. Boston College | 2023 |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 37, Boston College vs. SMU | 2023 |
| Fewest Points Allowed | 7, Cincinnati vs. Louisville | 2022 |
| Largest margin of victory | 17, Louisville vs. Cincinnati | 2022 |
| Total yards | 419, Louisville vs. Cincinnati (132 pass, 287 rush) | 2022 |
| Rushing yards | 287, Louisville vs. Cincinnati | 2022 |
| Passing yards | 132, Louisville vs. Cincinnati | 2022 |
| First downs | 24, Louisville vs. Cincinnati | 2022 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 127, Cincinnati vs. Louisville | 2022 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | 44, Cincinnati vs. Louisville | 2022 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 83, Cincinnati vs. Louisville | 2022 |
| Individual | Performance, Team | Year |
| All-Purpose yards | 160, Maurice Turner (Louisville) (160 pass) | 2022 |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 2, shared by: Jawhar Jordan (Louisville) Thomas Castellanos (Boston College) |
2022 2023 |
| Rushing yards | 160, Maurice Turner (Louisville) | 2022 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 2, shared by: Jawhar Jordan (Louisville) Thomas Castellanos (Boston College) |
2022 2023 |
| Passing yards | 132, Brock Domann (Louisville) | 2022 |
| Passing touchdowns | 1, shared by: Evan Prater (Cincinnati) Brock Domann (Louisville) Kevin Jennings (SMU) |
2022 2022 2023 |
| Receiving yards | 54, Jake Bailey (SMU) | 2023 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 1, shared by: Wyatt Fischer (Cincinnati) Marshon Ford (Louisville) Jaylan Knighton (SMU) |
2022 2022 2023 |
| Tackles | 16, Ivan Pace Jr. (Cincinnati) | 2022 |
| Sacks | 1.5, shared by: Yasir Abdullah (Louisville) YaYa Diaby (Louisville) |
2022 |
| Interceptions | 1, shared by: Armorion Smith (Cincinnati) Ja'von Hicks (Cincinnati) Alex Kilgore (SMU) |
2022 2022 2023 |
| Long Plays | Performance, Team | Year |
| Touchdown run | 49 yds., Jawhar Jordan (Louisville) | 2022 |
| Touchdown pass | 20 yds., Evan Prater to Wyatt Fischer (Cincinnati) | 2022 |
| Kickoff return | 38 yds., Key'Shawn Smith (SMU) | 2022 |
| Punt return | 6 yds., Lewis Bond (Boston College) | 2023 |
| Interception return | 20 yds., Armorion Smith (Cincinnati) | 2022 |
| Fumble return | ||
| Punt | 56 yds., Mark Vassett (Louisville) | 2022 |
| Field goal | 48 yds., James Turner (Louisville) | 2022 |
Source:[17]
Media coverage
[edit]The bowl has been televised by ESPN since its inception.
References
[edit]- ^ "New bowl game at Fenway Park to match teams from ACC, AAC". AP News. September 16, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ^ "Boston's Fenway Park to host new 2020 college football bowl game between ACC, AAC teams". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
- ^ "Fenway Park will reportedly begin hosting a bowl game in 2020". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
- ^ "Fenway Sports Management and ESPN Events Officially Introduce "The Fenway Bowl"". Retrieved September 17, 2019.
- ^ a b "Football at Fenway Through the Years". MLB.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
- ^ Saunders, Alan (October 23, 2020). "Report: 2020 Fenway Bowl Won't Be Played, 2nd ACC-Tied Bowl to Cancel". pittsburghsportsnow.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "ESPN Events Reveals 13-Game College Football Bowl Schedule for 2020-21: Inaugural Launch of the Fenway Bowl Postponed". espnpressroom.com (Press release). October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ^ "2020-21 Bowl Season Schedule Announced". bowlseason.com. October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ^ "Inaugural 'Fenway Bowl' Announced For December 29". WBZ-TV. CBS. May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ "Fenway Bowl Announces Wasabi Technologies as Title Sponsor". Retrieved November 4, 2020.
- ^ Adelson, Andrea (December 26, 2021). "Military, Fenway Bowls Canceled Because of COVID-19 Issues". ESPN. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ^ "No. 17 SMU To Face Boston College In Wasabi Fenway Bowl". smumustangs.com. December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
- ^ Golen, Jimmy (December 17, 2022). "Interim coach Deion Branch leads Louisville past Cincinnati at Fenway Bowl". CBS News. AP. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
- ^ Cubit, Alexis (December 17, 2022). "Louisville dominates Cincinnati in Fenway Bowl to retain Keg of Nails". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved December 17, 2022 – via MSN.com.
- ^ @FenwayBowl (December 28, 2023). "Your Wasabi Fenway Bowl Offensive MVP, Thomas Castellanos!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ @FenwayBowl (December 28, 2023). "Congratulations to this year's Defensive MVP, Kam Arnold!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Cincinnati vs. Louisville - College Football Game Summary - December 17, 2022". ESPN. Retrieved December 27, 2022.