BIRMINGHAM BOWL
AUBURN TIGERS vs. MEMPHIS TIGERS
Wednesday, Dec. 30
Noon ET
Legion Field (80,601/SureTurf)
Birmingham, Ala.
Television
ESPN -
WATCH LIVE
Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht and Paul Carcaterra
National Radio
ESPN Radio
Allen Bestwick, Dan Hawkins and Tiffany Greene
Sirius 80; XM 80
Memphis Radio
WREC-AM 600 (flagship)
THE GAME
The Birmingham Bowl pairs an American Athletic Conference team against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference … The game was first played in 2006 as the PapaJohns.com Bowl and was the BBVA Compass Bowl for the last four seasons … Current members of the American Athletic Conference have made seven appearances in the Birmingham Bowl … The game is played at Legion Field, which served as the location for the annual Alabama-Auburn matchup from 1948-88 … Memphis has won both of its prior meetings with Auburn, though the last matchup took place in the 1976 season … Both schools will be playing in the Birmingham Bowl for the first time.
BIRMINGHAM BOWL HISTORY (0-1)
12-23-06 USF 24, East Carolina 7
12-22-07 Cincinnati 31, Southern Mississippi 21
12-29-08 Rutgers 29, North Carolina State 23
1-2-10 UConn 20, South Carolina 7
1-8-11 Pittsburgh 27, Kentucky 10
1-7-12 SMU 28, Pittsburgh 6
1-5-13 Mississippi 38, Pittsburgh 17
1-4-14 Vanderbilt 41, Houston 24
1-3-15 Florida 28, East Carolina 20
AUBURN
6-6, 2-6 SEC
Head Coach
Gus Malzhan (Henderson State ’90)
26-13, third season at Auburn
35-16, fourth season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Auburn heads to a bowl game for the 40th time in program history as the Tigers make the short jaunt to Birmingham … By comparison, Auburn’s first bowl game was a 7-7 tie with Villanova in the 1936 Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba … Auburn is 22-15-2 all-time in bowl games … The Tigers will play a bowl game in their home state for the first time in 2015 … Two seasons removed from an appearance in the BCS National Championship against Florida State, Auburn was tabbed as the favorite in the SEC this season … The Tigers ended up going 2-6 in conference games … Head coach Gus Malzahn has gone 12-2 in nonconference games in his three seasons at Auburn … Abuburn has won 14 straight regular-season games against nonconference opponents … RB Peyton Barber has rushed for 976 yards and 13 touchdowns on 226 carries … Barber has registered five 100-yard games … QB Jeremy Johnson has thrown for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns with seven interceptions and has five rushing TDs as well … WR Ricardo Louis has team highs with 45 receptions, 699 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions … LB Jonathan Ford has a team-high 113 tackles with two forced fumbles and two interceptions … LB Cassanova McKinzy has a team-leading 5.0 sacks with 10.0 tackles for loss and 20 quarterback hurries … CB Carlton Davis has a team-high three interceptions … Auburn, like Memphis, boasts one of the nation’s top kickers as K Daniel Carlson has made 22 of his 26 field goal attempts, including 8 of 10 from 40 yards or longer … Carlson is sixth nationally in field goals per game (1.83) and is one of two kickers nationally with four field goals of 51 yards or longer … Auburn had two players named to the All-SEC teams … Carlson was named to the first team, while OT Shon Coleman earned second-team plaudits … Auburn ranks fourth nationally in kickoff returns (29.97 ypr).
2015 RESULTS
September
5 vs. Louisville ^ W 31-24
12 Jacksonville State W ot 27-20
19 at LSU * L 21-45
26 Mississippi State * L 9-17
October
3 San Jose State W 35-21
15 at Kentucky * W 30-27
24 at Arkansas * L ot 46-54
31 Mississippi * L 19-27
November
7 at Texas A&M * W 26-10
14 Georgia * L 13-20
21 Idaho W 56-34
28 Alabama * L 13-29
December
5 vs. Memphis Noon
* Southeastern Conference game
^ at Atlanta, Ga.
rv/rv MEMPHIS
9-3, 5-3 American
Interim Head Coach
Darrell Dickey (Kansas State ’83)
0-0, first season at Memphis
42-64, 10th season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Memphis makes its eighth appearance in a bowl game as the Tigers make back-to-back bowl showings … The Tigers are 4-3 all-time in bowl games after last year’s 55-48 overtime win against Brigham Young in the Miami Beach Bowl … Memphis had won 15 consecutive games spanning the 2014 and 2015 seasons after the Tigers raced to an 8-0 start this season … Memphis then dropped three straight before closing the regular season with a 63-0 win against SMU … Darrell Dickey will serve as the Tigers’ coach for the Birmingham Bowl following the departure of Justin Fuente to Memphis … Dickey will remain on the staff of new head coach Mike Norvell, the former Arizona State offensive coordinator …The Tigers rank seventh nationally in scoring offense (42.7 ppg) and 13th in total offense (510.4 ypg) through the regular season … QB Paxton Lynch has thrown for 3,670 yards and has completed 69.0 percent of his passes (280 of 406) with 28 touchdowns and three interceptions … Lynch is second in The American and is ranked 12th nationally in total offense (325.8 yards per game) and is 11th in pass efficiency rating (159.2) … Lynch, who is fifth among FBS quarterbacks in completions per game (23.3), was named to the American Athletic Conference first team … Five Memphis players have at least 200 rushing yards, led by RB Doroland Dorceus, who has 613 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns … WR Mose Frazier has a team-high 66 receptions for 750 yards and four touchdowns, while WR Anthony Miller has 44 catches for 684 yards and five TDs … OT Taylor Fallin was chosen to the all-conference first team as well … LB Leonard Pegues has a team-high 64 tackles, while LB Wynton McManis has 56 tackles to go with 3.0 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss … K Jake Elliott earned second-team All-America honors from Walter Camp and the Associated Press.
2015 RESULTS
September
5 Missouri State W 63-7
12 at Kansas W 55-23
19 at Bowling Green W 44-41
24 Cincinnati * W 53-46
October
2 at USF * W 24-17
17 Mississippi * W 37-24
23 at Tulsa * W 66-42
31 Tulane * W 41-13
November
7 Navy * L 20-45
14 at Houston * L 34-35
21 at Temple * L 12-31
28 SMU * W 63-0
December
30 vs. Auburn Noon
* American Athletic Conference game