ST. PETERSBURG BOWL
UCONN HUSKIES vs. MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
Saturday, Dec. 26
11 a.m. ET
Tropicana Field (28,453/FieldTurf)
St. Petersburg, Fla.
#StPeteBowl
Television
ESPN -
WATCH LIVE
Tom Hart, Anthony Becht and Tiffany Greene
National Radio
ESPN Radio
TBD, Rene Ingoglia and Brett McMurphy
Sirius 80; XM 80
UConn Radio
WTIC-AM 1080 (flagship)
THE GAME
The St. Petersburg Bowl will be contested for the eighth time when UConn faces Marshall … UConn will make its first appearance in the bowl, while Marshall was a 20-10 winner against Florida International in the Thundering Herd’s only previous appearance in 2011 … The game has been played since its inception at Tropicana Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays … While current members of the American Athletic Conference have made a combined six appearances in the St. Petersburg Bowl, this year’s game will be the second time a team plays in the game as a member of The American … This year’s game will be the first meeting on the gridiron between UConn and Marshall.
ST. PETERSBURG BOWL HISTORY (0-1)
12-20-08 USF 41, Memphis 14
12-19-09 Rutgers 45, UCF 24
12-21-10 Louisville 31, Southern Mississippi 28
12-20-11 Marshall 20, Florida International 10
12-21-12 UCF 38, Ball State 17
12-23-13 East Carolina 37, Ohio 20
12-26-14 North Carolina State 34, UCF 27
UCONN
6-6, 4-4 American
Head Coach
Bob Diaco (Iowa ’95)
8-16, second season
NOTES
UConn won three of its last four games to close the regular season as the Huskies return to postseason play for the first time since their appearance in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2010 season … The Huskies are 3-2 all-time in bowl games … UConn played in four straight bowl games between the 2007 and 2010 seasons … UConn scored a 20-17 win against then-No. 13 Houston, handing the Cougars their only loss of the season … The win against Houston marked the second time in as many years that the Huskies accounted for an opponent’s only American Athletic Conference loss (UCF, 2014) … … UConn has not allowed more than 17 points in any of its six wins … UConn ranks second in The American in both total defense (352.2 ypg) and second in scoring defense (19.8 ppg) … The Huskies had five players chosen as either a first-team, second-team or honorable mention all-conference performer — all on defense … CB Jamar Summers was a first-team choice after he finished the regular season with a league-leading seven interceptions … S Andrew Adams, who has a team-high 89 tackles to go with three interceptions, was a second-team all-conference choice, along with DE Julian Campenni, who had 25 tackles and 4.0 tackles for loss … DE Folorunso Fatukasi has team highs with 6.5 sacks and four forced fumbles, while LB Luke Carrezola leads the squad with 11.5 tackles for loss … The offense is led by versatile RB Arkeel Newsome, who has rushed for 760 yards and six touchdowns, has 40 receptions for 432 yards and three TDs and is averaging 22.6 yards on kickoff returns … QB Bryant Shirreffs has completed 158 of 262 passes (60.3 percent) for 1,992 yards and nine touchdowns with seven interceptions … WR Noel Thomas has a team-high 54 receptions for 719 yards and three touchdowns — all team highs … K Bobby Puyol was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist … Puyol has hit 15 of 17 field goal attempts (88.2 percent).
2015 RESULTS
September
3 Villanova W 20-15
12 Army W 22-17
19 at Missouri L 6-9
26 Navy * L 18-28
October
2 at Brigham Young L 13-30
10 at UCF * W 40-13
17 USF * L 20-28
24 at Cincinnati * L 13-37
30 East Carolina * W 31-13
November
7 at Tulane * W 7-3
21 Houston * W 20-17
28 at Temple * L 3-27
December
26 vs. Marshall 11 a.m.
* American Athletic Conference game
MARSHALL
9-3, 6-2 Conference USA
Head Coach
Doc Holliday (West Virginia ’79)
49-28, sixth season
NOTES
Marshall is playing in a bowl game for the 13th time, beginning with its appearance in the 1948 Tangerine Bowl … Marshall is 9-3 all-time in bowl games and has won its last four … The Thundering Herd has won nine of its last 10 bowls … Marshall was a 52-23 winner against Northern Illinois in the Boca Raton Bowl last year … The last team to defeat the Herd in a bowl game was Cincinnati, which was a 32-14 winner in the 2004 Fort Worth Bowl … Marshall would finish with at least 10 wins for the third straight season if it beats UConn … Freshman QB Chase Litton threw for 2,387 yards and 22 touchdowns in the regular season … Litton stepped into the starting role after an injury to QB Michael Birdsong against Norfolk State and has not relinquished the spot … RB Devon Johnson rushed for a team-high 555 yards and five TDs … WR Davonte Allen leads a deep group of receivers with 56 receptions for 696 yards and five touchdowns … TE Ryan Yurachek (the son of Houston director of athletics Hunter Yurachek) has a team-high eight touchdown catches … LB Evan McKelvey was chosen as the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year after he finished the regular season with 113 tackles, good for second in the conference … McKelvey, a sixth-year senior, also has 9.0 tackles for loss, nine pass breakups, an interception, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble … LB Gary Thompson has team highs with 8.0 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles … CB Taj Letman and CB Rodney Allen lead the squad with three interceptions each … WR Deandre Reaves was named Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Year after he had three special teams touchdowns in the regular season … Reaves averaged 30.5 yards on kickoff returns with two touchdowns and averaged 13.7 yards on punt returns with one TD … He is the first Marshall player with multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns in a season since Troy Brown had three in 1991.
2015 RESULTS
September
6 Purdue W 41-31
12 at Ohio L 10-21
19 Norfolk State W 45-7
26 at Kent State W ot 36-29
October
3 Old Dominion * W 27-7
9 Southern Mississippi * W 31-10
17 at Florida Atlantic * W 33-17
24 North Texas * W 30-13
31 at Charlotte * W 34-10
November
7 at Middle Tennessee * L ot 24-27
14 Florida International * W 52-0
27 at Western Kentucky * L 28-49
December
26 vs. UConn 11 a.m.
* Conference USA game