MIAMI BEACH BOWL
WESTERN KENTUCKY HILLTOPPERS vs. USF BULLS

Monday, Dec. 21
2:30 p.m. ET
Marlins Park (34,000/Natural Grass)
Miami, Fla.
#MiamiBeachBowl



Television
ESPN - WATCH LIVE
Dave Lamont, Desmond Howard
and Quint Kessenich

USF Radio
WWBA-AM 820 (flagship)


THE GAME
The Miami Beach Bowl will be played for the second time in 2015 … The bowl is owned and operated by the American Athletic Conference and will normally pair a team from The American against opponents from Conference USA, the Sun Belt and the Mid-American Conference … Opponents from other conferences, as well as independent institutions, may participate as well … The game is played at Marlins Park, the home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins, which has a retractable roof, climate-controlled temperatures and a natural grass playing surface … Marlins Park is built on the site of the former Orange Bowl, which was the site of five Super Bowls and countless major college football games … The first Miami Beach Bowl saw Memphis and Brigham Young battle into double overtime before the Tigers scored a 55-48 victory … Memphis forced overtime on a touchdown with 45 seconds left in regulation and stayed alive in the first OT on a 54-yard field goal by K Jake Elliott, before QB Paxton Lynch threw an 11-yard touchdown to WR Roderick Proctor in the second overtime … This year’s game will be the seventh meeting between USF and Western Kentucky … The Bulls hold a 4-2 series lead … USF head coach Willie Taggart is a 1998 graduate of Western Kentucky and a former Hilltopper quarterback who served as head coach at his alma mater from 2010-12.

MIAMI BEACH BOWL HISTORY (1-0)
12-22-14               Memphis 55, Brigham Young 48 (2ot)


25/rv WESTERN KENTUCKY
11-2, 8-0 Conference USA

Head Coach
Jeff Brohm (Louisville ’94)
19-7, third season

NOTES
Western Kentucky will play in a bowl game for the second straight season as the Hilltoppers gained bowl eligibility for the fifth consecutive year … WKU won the Conference USA title in 2015 after going 8-0 in regular-season conference play and defeating Southern Mississippi in the league championship game … The Hilltoppers became the first team in Conference USA history to go unbeaten in league play and win the conference championship game … Western Kentucky has won 12 straight games against C-USA opponents for the longest active conference streak in FBS … Western Kentucky enters the postseason ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press national poll, earning their first top-25 ranking as an FBS member … The Hilltoppers have won 11 games for the first time as an FBS member and would match the school record of 12 wins with a victory against USF … The Hilltoppers have one of the nation’s most potent offenses, with an average of 44.2 points and 519.8 yards per game … QB Brandon Doughty was named as the Conference USA Most Valuable Player in 2015 … Doughty has thrown for 4,594 yards and 45 touchdowns against seven interceptions … Doughty enters the postseason as the national leader in completion percentage (71.8) as well as touchdown passes and points responsible for (286) … WR Taywan Taylor has 17 touchdown receptions to rank second nationally, while his 1,363 receiving yards put him fourth among FBS players … RB Anthony Wales has rushed for 986 yards and seven touchdowns, whlie RB D’Andre Ferby has 604 yards and a team-leading 11 touchdowns … The defense is paced by LB T.J. McCollum, who has exactly 100 tackles to go with a team-high 11.5 tackles for loss … LB Nick Holt has a team-high 4.0 sacks, while S Prince Iworah leads the team with four interceptions … K Garrett Schwettman leads the nation in field goal percentage (93.3)

2015 RESULTS
September
                3              at Vanderbilt                      W            14-12
                10           Louisiana Tech *               W            41-38
                19           at Indiana                            L             35-38
                26           Miami (Ohio)                      W            56-14
October
                3              at Rice *                             W            49-10
                10           Middle Tennessee *        W            58-28
                15           at North Texas *               W            55-28
                24           at LSU   L              20-48
                31           at Old Dominion *            W            55-30
November
                7              Florida Atlantic *              W            35-19
                21           at Florida International * W            63-7
                27           Marshall *                          W            49-28
December
                5              Southern Mississippi ^   W            45-28
                21           vs. USF                 2:30 p.m.

* Conference USA game
^ Conference USA Championship




rv/- USF
8-4, 6-2 American

Head Coach
Willie Taggart (Western Kentucky ’98)
14-21, third season at USF
32-41, sixth season as collegiate head coach

NOTES
USF closed the regular season with seven wins in its final eight games to secure bowl eligibility for the first time since the 2010 season … USF is making its seventh appearance in a bowl game and is 4-2 all-time in the postseason … The last bowl appearance for the Bulls was a 31-26 win against Clemson in the 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl … The Bulls started the season at 1-3 and had not scored more than 17 points against an FBS opponent, but USF has averaged  37.9 points in its last eight games … RB Marlon Mack was chosen as an all-conference first team selection after he led The American  in rushing in the regular season (115.7 ypg) … Mack has rushed for 1,273 yards and eight touchdowns on 193 carries and has turned in back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons … QB Quinton Flowers has completed 149 of 244 passes (61.1 percent) for 2,023 yards and 21 touchdowns with eight interceptions … Flowers also has rushed for 883 yards and a team-high 10 TDs … WR Rodney Adams has 39 receptions for 692 yards and eight touchdowns and has been a key part of USF’s recent resurgence … Adams also averages 30.5 yards on kickoff returns … LB Auggie Sanchez leads the team with 106 tackles to go with 8.5 tackles for loss … S Jamie Byrd has 80 tackles with 5.0 sacks, 10.0 tackles for loss, three interceptions and two forced fumbles … DE Eric Lee has a team-high 11.0 tackles for loss to go with two forced fumbles and four pass breakups … CB Deatrick Nichols  earned all-conference first team plaudits after he finished the regular season with a team-high four interceptions … K Emilio Nadelman has made 15 of 21 field goal attempts and has connected on nine straight, including four straight field goals of at least 41 yards … P Mattias Ciabatti has averaged 43.2 yards per punt and has at least 15 punts of 50 yards or longer.

2015 RESULTS
September
                5              Florida A&M            W            51-3
                12           at Florida State        L            14-34
                19           at Maryland              L            17-35
October
                2              Memphis *               L            17-24
                10           Syracuse                 W            45-24
                17           at UConn *              W            28-20
                24           SMU *                      W            38-14
                31           at Navy *                  L             17-29
November
                7              at East Carolina * W             22-17
                14           Temple *                 W             44-23
                20           Cincinnati *            W             65-27
                26           at UCF *                 W              44-3
December
                21           vs. Western Kentucky          2:30 p.m.

* American Athletic Conference game