WASABI FENWAY BOWL
SMU MUSTANGS
vs.
BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES
Thursday, Dec. 28 | 11 a.m. ET
Fenway Park
(37,731/Natural Grass)
Boston, Massachusetts
Television
ESPN
Chris Cotter, Mark Herzlich and Sherree Burruss
National Radio
Bowl Season Radio
Travis Jones, John Denton and Molly Cotten
SiriusXM 106 or 201
SMU Radio
KTCK-FM 96.7 (flagship)
THE GAME
The Wasabi Fenway Bowl was played for the first time in the 2022 season … The game annually pairs an American Athletic Conference team against an opponent from the Atlantic Coast Conference … It is the first college bowl game to be played at Fenway Park and the first Division I bowl to be played in New England … In addition to Fenway Park’s iconic status as a baseball venue, the stadium also has a rich history in football, dating to 1914 … The Boston Patriots (now the New England Patriots) played their home games at Fenway Park from 1963-68 … More recently, Fenway Park hosted the 2015 Boston College-Notre Dame game and the 2018 Harvard-Yale game as well as regular-season college and high school games … This year’s matchup will be only the second meeting between SMU and Boston College … The first meeting was a 31-29 win by the Mustangs Oct. 4, 1986, in Dallas … The schools will meet more regularly going forward as the Fenway Bowl marks SMU’s final game as an American Athletic Conference member before the Mustangs join the ACC for the 2024 season … The teams are scheduled to meet at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium in 2024.
FENWAY BOWL RESULTS (0-1)
12-17-22 Louisville 24, Cincinnati 7
17/19 SMU
11-2, 8-0 American
Head Coach
Rhett Lashlee (Arkansas ’08)
17-8, second season
SMU is playing in Bowl Season for the 20th time overall, while the Mustangs are bowl eligible for the fifth consecutive season … SMU’s last bowl victory was a 43-10 win against Fresno State in the 2012 Hawaii Bowl … … The Mustangs are 7-10-1 all-time in Bowl Season … SMU won its 12th conference championship, and its first title since the 1984 Southwest Conference crown, with a 26-14 win at Tulane in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game Dec. 2 … SMU takes a nine-game winning streak into the Fenway Bowl … The Mustangs have gone 10-0 when scoring at least 30 points this season … SMU tied an American Athletic Conference record with 18 players on the league’s all-conference teams … The Mustangs suffered a setback in their 59-14 win against Navy in the regular-season finale as QB Preston Stone left the game in the second quarter with a fractured fibula … Stone finished his season with 3,197 yards and 28 touchdowns against six interceptions … QB Kevin Jennings is expected to get the start against Boston College after a strong showing against Tulane in The American Championship Game … SMU’s 528 points and 40.6-point average rank as the best totals in program history … Three of the five starters on the offensive line — OT Marcus Bryant, OG Justin Osborne and OG Logan Parr — earned first-team all-conference honors, while C Brandon Hickman was on the second team and OT Hyrin White was an honorable mention choice … RB Jaylan Knighton has rushed for 720 yards and seven touchdowns … WR Jake Bailey has a team-high 36 receptions for 474 yards, while TE RJ Maryland has 34 catches for 518 yards and seven touchdowns … DE Elijah Roberts has a team-high 10 sacks, good for second in The American, while LB Kobe Wilson leads the way with 74 tackles … S Isaiah Nwokobia has four interceptions and was named as the Most Outstanding Player of The American Championship Game … K Collin Rogers earned first team all-conference honors after he led all American kickers in scoring (9.2 ppg), while P Ryan Bujcevski averages 4.54 yards per punt … WR Roderick Daniels Jr. averaged 10.1 yards on punt returns and 24.7 yards on kickoff returns and has 703 all-purpose yards.
BOSTON COLLEGE
6-6, 3-5 ACC
Head Coach
Jeff Hafley (Siena ’01)
21-26, fourth season
Boston College will play in Bowl Season for the 28th time as the Eagles play in the Fenway Bowl for the first time … Boston College takes a 14-13 bowl record into the Fenway Bowl … The bowl game will mark Boston College’s 77th game at Fenway Park, which served as the team’s home venue between 1936-45 and from 1953-56 … The Eagles are 55-16-5 all-time at Fenway Park … Boston College last earned bowl eligibility in 2021, when they traveled to the Military Bowl before the game was canceled due to Covid-19 protocols … The Eagles’ last win in Bowl Season was a 36-30 decision against Maryland in the 2016 QuickLane Bowl … Boston College is 1-7 in its last eight bowl games … The Eagles started the season at 1-3, with the lone win a nail biter against FCS opponent Holy Cross, but a five-game winning streak in the middle of the season gave Boston College bowl eligibility after the ninth game of the season … The Eagles are looking to snap a three-game slide to close the regular season … A victory against SMU would move Jeff Hafley ahead of Tom Coughlin for ninth on the Eagles’ career wins chart … QB Thomas Castellanos is a transfer from UCF who played in the 2022 conference championship game … Castellanos has passed for 2,146 yards and 15 touchdowns against 13 interceptions and is the leading rusher with 957 yards and 11 TDs on the ground … Castellanos has 3,103 yards of total offense, the most by a Boston College sophomore since Doug Flutie had 3,019 yards in 1982 … RB Kye Robichaux has 691 yards and seven TDs … The top receiver is WR Lewis Bond, who has 48 catches for 611 yards and seven touchdowns … OG Christian Mahogany earned All-ACC first team accolades on offense, while CB Elijah Jones was tabbed on defense … OT Ozzy Trapilo and LB Vinny DePalma were second-team choices … DePalma leads the Eagles with 87 tackles, while Jones has five of Boston College’s eight interceptions to pace the defense … The Eagles have registered only 12 sacks, while the Eagles have allowed a modest 19 sacks … K Liam Connor has hit 10 of 12 field goal attempts and is 6-for-6 from inside 40 yards … P Sam Candotti has averaged 38.1 yards per punt … The Eagles have attempted only 18 kickoff returns in 2023 and average 14.1 yards per return.