MEMPHIS TIGERS
vs.
WESTERN KENTUCKY HILLTOPPERS
Tuesday, Dec. 20
7 p.m. ET
FAU Stadium
(29,419/Natural Grass)
Boca Raton, Fla.
Television
ESPN
Dave Lamont, Desmond Howard and Quint Kessenich
National Radio
ESPN Radio
Marc Kestecher, John Congemi and Brett McMurphy
SiriusXM 80
Memphis Radio
WREC-AM 600 (flagship)
THE GAME
The Boca Raton Bowl will be played for the third time in 2016 as Memphis and Western Kentucky meet at FAU Stadium … The American Athletic Conference is slated to send an eligible team to the Boca Raton Bowl in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 … Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference are also scheduled to participate in the bowl four times during the six-year cycle … The Boca Raton Bowl is one of 13 bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events … This year’s game will be the sixth meeting between Memphis and Western Kentucky, but the first since 1956 … Each of the previous five meetings was a shutout for the winner, with the exception of the 1934 matchup, which was a scoreless tie … The game pairs the two previous winners of the Miami Beach Bowl — Memphis won the inaugural game in 2014, while Western Kentucky won in 2015.
BOCA RATON BOWL HISTORY (0-1)
12-23-14 Marshall 52, Northern Illinois 23
12-22-15 Marshall 16, UConn 10
MEMPHIS
8-4, 5-3 American
Head Coach
Mike Norvell (Central Arkansas ’05)
8-4, first season
NOTES
Memphis is headed to a bowl game for the 10th time in program history and the eighth time since 2003 … The Tigers are playing in a bowl game for the third consecutive season, matching a stretch from 2003-05 as the only times in program history with three straight bowl appearances … Memphis is 5-4 in its previous bowl appearances after falling to Auburn 31-10 in last year’s Birmingham Bowl … The last bowl victory was a 55-48 double-overtime win against Brigham Young in the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl … Memphis is 3-0 in the state of Florida since 2013 … The Tigers’ eight wins in 2016 assures Memphis of the winningest three-year stretch in program history … The 27 wins since 2014 surpassed the 25-win total from 1961-63 … At age 35, Mike Norvell is the youngest head coach in FBS football … Norvell is the first coach in school history to win as many as eight games in his first year at Memphis … K Jake Elliott was chosen as a first team CoSIDA Academic All-America, while TE Daniel Montiel was named to the second team … WR Tony Pollard was named The American’s Special Teams Player of the Year, becoming the fourth straight Memphis player to be so honored (Elliott won in 2014 and 2015 and former P Tom Hornsey won in 2013) … Elliott, Pollard and P Spencer Smith account for what might be the nation’s top special teams unit … Elliott became the first American Athletic Conference player to be named to the all-conference first team four times after he hit 20 of 24 field goal attempts, including 12 of 14 from 40 yards or longer, in 2016 … Elliott is Memphis’ career scoring leader with 438 points, the fifth-most by a kicker in NCAA history … Pollard averaged 28.4 yards on kickoff returns and had two touchdowns, after Memphis had not had a kickoff returned for a score since 1996 … Smith leads The American and is ranked seventh nationally in punting at 45.3 yards per punt … QB Riley Ferguson, has thrown for 3,326 yards and a league-leading 28 touchdowns with nine interceptions … Ferguson’s yardage and touchdowns totals trail only former QB Paxton Lynch on the Tigers’ all-time chart … RB Doroland Dorceus has team highs with 784 rushing yards and nine touchdowns … WR Anthony Miller has school records with 84 receptions for a 1,283 yards to go with 11 touchdowns.
rv/rv WESTERN KENTUCKY
10-3, 7-1 Conference USA
Interim Head Coach
Nick Holt (Pacific ’86)
0-0, first season
NOTES
Western Kentucky brings a seven-game winning streak into the postseason after the Hilltoppers captured the Conference USA title for the second straight year … The Boca Raton Bowl will be Western Kentucky’s fourth bowl appearance as an FBS member, the Hilltoppers have played in nine total bowls in their history … Western Kentucky has won its last two bowl games, including a 45-35 victory against USF in last year’s Miami Beach Bowl … The Hilltoppers will be led by defensive coordinator Nick Holt against Memphis after Jeff Brohm stepped aside to take the head coaching position at Purdue … Co-offensive coordinator Tony Levine was the head coach at Houston from 2012-14 …Western Kentucky has been bowl eligible in each of the last six seasons, marking the longest active streak in Conference USA … WKU is in its eighth full season of NCAA FBS competition … The Hilltoppers have averaged 44.5 points per game since 2014, the best mark in FBS football in that span … Western Kentucky is one of nine FBS programs to hit for double-digit wins in each of the last two years, joining Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Temple and Wisconsin … The 22 wins for Western Kentucky in the last two years stand as the most in program history over two seasons … Western Kentucky averages 45.1 points, which ranks second nationally, and 517.4 yards per game, which is seventh in FBS … QB Mike White has started every game this season after transferring from USF … White has completed 260 of 386 passes for 4,027 yards (fifth nationally) and 34 touchdowns (ninth) with six interceptions … RB Anthony Wales has rushed for 1,376 yards and 24 touchdowns … WR Taywan Taylor has 89 receptions for 1,586 yards and 16 TDs, while WR Nicholas Norris has 73 catches for 1,253 yards and 13 touchdowns … The defense is paced by LB Keith Brown, who has 123 tackles, 6.0 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss and an interception … KR Kylen Towner could set the NCAA FBS record for kickoff returns … Towner has averaged 40.8 yards on kickoff returns this season with one touchdown … K Skyler Simcox has connected on 15 of 20 field goal attempts … P Jake Collins averages 42.9 yards per punt.