2018 Boca Raton Bowl

2018 Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl
5th Boca Raton Bowl
UAB Blazers Northern Illinois Huskies (10–3) (8–5) C–USA MAC 37 13 Head coach:  Bill Clark Head coach:  Rod Carey
1 2 3 4 Total UAB 10 17 10 0 37 Northern Illinois 7 3 3 0 13
Date	December 18, 2018
Season	2018
Stadium	FAU Stadium
Location	Boca Raton, Florida
MVP	Xavier Ubosi (WR, UAB) & Anthony Rush (NT, UAB)[1]
Favorite	UAB by 2.5[2]
Referee	Cal McNeill (Mountain West)
Attendance	22,614
Payout	US$1,000,000 [3]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Announcers	Dave LaMont, Desmond Howard, Jonathan Vilma and Alyssa Lang (ESPN) Bill Rosinski, David Norrie and Ian Fitzsimmons (ESPN Radio)
Boca Raton Bowl  ← 2017  2019 →

The 2018 Boca Raton Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 18, 2018,^[4] with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST.^[5] It was the fifth edition of the Boca Raton Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Cheribundi beverage company, the game is officially known as the Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl.

The game featured the UAB Blazers, champions of Conference USA, and the Northern Illinois Huskies, champions of the Mid-American Conference. The Boca Raton Bowl was the first of three 2018–19 bowl games featuring two conference champions, along with the Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl.^[6] In just the second season since restarting its football program, the UAB Blazers defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies, 37–13, earning UAB their first-ever bowl victory.^[7]

Teams

Based on conference tie-ins, the bowl could invite teams from the American Athletic Conference (AAC) or Conference USA (C–USA) and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). On December 2, bowl organizers announced that the participating teams would be the UAB Blazers from C–USA and the Northern Illinois Huskies from the MAC.^[8] This was the first meeting between the two programs.^[9][10]

UAB Blazers

UAB won the 2018 Conference USA Football Championship Game on December 1, then accepted a bid to the Boca Raton Bowl on December 2.^[8] The Blazers entered the bowl with a 10–3 record (7–1 in conference).

Northern Illinois Huskies

Northern Illinois won the 2018 MAC Championship Game on November 30, then accepted a bid to the Boca Raton Bowl on December 2.^[8] The Huskies entered the bowl with an 8–5 record (6–2 in conference). Northern Illinois became the first team to make a second appearance in the Boca Raton Bowl, having played in the inaugural edition of the bowl in 2014.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP UAB NIU 1 14:42 1 70 0:18 UAB Xavier Ubosi 70-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Johnston III, Nick Vogel kick good 7 0 1 8:08 13 70 5:41 UAB 25-yard field goal by Nick Vogel 10 0 1 0:30 9 59 3:53 NIU Tre Harbison 1-yard touchdown run, Andrew Gantz kick good 10 7 2 12:08 8 54 3:22 UAB Spencer Brown 3-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Johnston III, Nick Vogel kick good 17 7 2 7:41 12 65 4:27 NIU 27-yard field goal by Andrew Gantz 17 10 2 5:11 7 75 2:30 UAB Xavier Ubosi 46-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Johnston III, Nick Vogel kick good 24 10 2 0:00 6 13 2:21 UAB 35-yard field goal by Nick Vogel 27 10 3 7:38 16 71 7:22 NIU 21-yard field goal by Andrew Gantz 27 13 3 5:15 6 87 2:23 UAB Xavier Ubosi 66-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Johnston III, Nick Vogel kick good 34 13 3 0:22 8 40 3:11 UAB 42-yard field goal by Nick Vogel 37 13 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 37 13

Statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	10	17	10	0	37
Huskies	7	3	3	0	13

Statistics	UAB	NIU
First downs	20	21
Plays–yards	65–476	73–281
Rushes–yards	36–103	44–102
Passing yards	373	179
Passing: comp–att–int	17–29–1	22–29–0
Time of possession	28:08	31:52

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UAB	Passing	Tyler Johnston III	17/29, 373 yds, 4 TD
	Rushing	Spencer Brown	25 car, 78 yds
	Receiving	Xavier Ubosi	7 rec, 227 yds, 3 TD
Northern Illinois	Passing	Marcus Childers	22/29, 179 yds
	Rushing	Tre Harbison	18 car, 49 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Spencer Tears	6 rec, 50 yds

References

1. @MrOliver1970 (December 18, 2018). "Congratulations to UAB BLAZERS FOOTBALL!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter.
2. Fawkes, Ben (December 10, 2018). "Odds for every 2018-19 CFB bowl game". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
3. "2018 Bowl Schedule". CFP.com. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
4. "2018-19 College Football Playoff and bowl schedule". ESPN. May 2, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
5. "Boca Raton Bowl by ESPN Events". cheribundibocaratonbowl.com. Boca Raton Bowl. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
6. "Northern Illinois to Play UAB in Boca Raton Bowl in Matchup of Conference Champions". Chicago Tribune. December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
7. Moriarty, Morgan (December 18, 2018). "UAB earns its first-ever bowl win in program history, capping off an incredible 2018 season". SB Nation. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
8. "UAB BLAZERS TO TAKE ON NIU HUSKIES IN THE 2018 CHERIBUNDI BOCA RATON BOWL – Boca Raton Bowl".
9. "UAB Blazers vs. Northern Illinois Huskies football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
10. Boyd, Joel (December 18, 2018). "5 Things to Watch For in Northern Illinois' Boca Raton Bowl Matchup Tonight vs. UAB". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 18, 2018.

External links

• Box score at ESPN