2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl

2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl
PapaJohns.com Bowl logo
Cincinnati Bearcats Southern Miss Golden Eagles (9–3) (7–5) 31 21 Head coach:  Brian Kelly Head coach:  Jeff Bower AP Coaches BCS 20 23 22
1 2 3 4 Total Cincinnati 0 14 17 0 31 Southern Miss 7 0 7 7 21
Date	December 22, 2007
Season	2007
Stadium	Legion Field
Location	Birmingham, Alabama
MVP	QB Ben Mauk, Cincinnati
Favorite	Cincinnati by 11[1]
Attendance	35,258
Payout	US$300,000 per team[2]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN2
Announcers	Pam Ward, Ray Bentley

The 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl was a postseason college football match between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The University of Cincinnati represented the Big East Conference and the University of Southern Mississippi represented Conference USA (which Cincinnati was once a member of). 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]

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

Final statistics

^{[9] [10]}

Statistical Comparison Bearcats Eagles 1st Downs 21 19 Total Yards 405 339 Passing Yards 334 122 Rushing Yards 71 217 Penalties 8–51 8–80 3rd Down Conversions 6–14 6–17 4th Down Conversions 1–2 1–4 Turnovers 4 3 Time of Possession 26:24 33:36		Bearcats Individual Leaders Passing Player C/ATT^* Yds Pct TD INT B. Mauk 30/52 334 57.7 4 3 Rushing Player Car^a Yds Ave TD LG^b 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 Rec^c Yds Ave TD LG^b 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		Eagles Individual Leaders Passing Player C/ATT^* Yds Pct TD INT J. Young 18/32 122 56.3 2 3 Rushing Player Car^a Yds Ave TD LG^b 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 Rec^c Yds Ave TD LG^b 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

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.
3. New Mexico Bowl: Team expenses chip away payout profits : LoboZone : Albuquerque Tribune
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
8. Papajohns.com Bowl Game Notes :: Cincinnati 31, Southern Miss. 21
9. ESPN
10. Yahoo Sports