Cowboys Kickoff Classic
Logo for the 2019 Advocare Classic (logo changed annually with each game)
StadiumAT&T Stadium
LocationArlington, Texas
Operated2009–2019, 2021
Sponsors
Advocare (2015–2019)
Allstate (2021)
Former names
Cowboys Classic (2009–2014)
Advocare Classic (2015–2019)
Allstate Kickoff Classic (2021)

The Cowboys Kickoff Classic was an annual college football game played on the opening weekend of the college football season. It was played in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys from 2009 to 2021. The game was originally known as the Cowboys Classic from 2009 to 2014, Advocare Classic from 2015 to 2019, and Allstate Kickoff Classic in 2021. No game was scheduled for 2022 or 2023.[1]

Game results

Season Date Winners Runners-up Attendance TV
2009 September 5, 2009 20 BYU Cougars 14 3 Oklahoma Sooners 13 75,437[2] ESPN
2010 September 4, 2010 6 TCU Horned Frogs 30 24 Oregon State Beavers 21 46,138[3] ESPN
2011 September 3, 2011 4 LSU Tigers 40 3 Oregon Ducks 27 87,711[4] ABC
2012 September 1, 2012 2 Alabama Crimson Tide 41 8 Michigan Wolverines 14 90,413[5] ABC
2013 August 31, 2013 12 LSU Tigers 37 20 TCU Horned Frogs 27 80,230[6] ESPN
2014 August 30, 2014 1 Florida State Seminoles 37 Oklahoma State Cowboys 31 61,521[7] ABC
2015 September 5, 2015 3 Alabama Crimson Tide 35 20 Wisconsin Badgers 17 64,279[8] ABC
2016 September 3, 2016 1 Alabama Crimson Tide 52 20 USC Trojans 6 81,359[9] ABC
2017 September 2, 2017 11 Michigan Wolverines 33 17 Florida Gators 17 75,802[10] ABC
2018 September 2, 2018 25 LSU Tigers 33 8 Miami Hurricanes 17 68,841[11] ABC
2019 August 31, 2019 16 Auburn Tigers 27 11 Oregon Ducks 21 60,662[12] ABC
2020 September 5, 2020 Game cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Originally Alabama v USC.[13]
2021 September 4, 2021 Kansas State Wildcats 24 Stanford Cardinal 7 28,668 FS1

Rankings are from the AP Poll.

Game summaries

2009

Founded as the Cowboys Classic, the 2009 game featured the No. 20 BYU Cougars of the Mountain West Conference (MWC) against the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 Conference and was played on September 5, 2009. It was the first college football game played at Cowboys Stadium. The game was only the second game played by BYU and Oklahoma, with the Cougars upsetting the Sooners 14–13.

2010

Opening kickoff of the 2015 Advocare Classic between Alabama and Wisconsin

The second Cowboys Classic matched the No. 24 Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 Conference and the No. 5 TCU Horned Frogs of the Mountain West Conference (MWC) on September 4, 2010. The Horned Frogs defeated the Beavers 30–21 in front of series low crowd of 46,138.

2011

The third edition paired the No. 4 Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 Conference against the No. 3 LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and was played on September 3, 2011, with the Tigers winning 40–27.

2012

No. 8 Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference played No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) on September 1, 2012, the first regular-season meeting between the teams. Alabama won 41–14 in front of an event record attendance of 90,413.

2013

The fifth playing of the Cowboys Classic matched the No. 12 LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the No. 20 TCU Horned Frogs of the Big 12 Conference and was played on August 31, 2013. The Tigers beat the Horned Frogs 37–27.

2014

The sixth edition featured the Florida State Seminoles of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 Conference, and was played on August 30, 2014 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It was the fifth meeting between Florida State and Oklahoma State, with the Seminoles leading the series 3–1. The No. 1 Seminoles defeated the unranked Cowboys 37–31 in front of a crowd of 62,521.

2015

The seventh edition of the Advocare Classic (and the first with Advocare as title sponsor) featured the Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big Ten Conference, and was played on September 5 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. En route to a national championship, Alabama won their season opener over Wisconsin by a score of 35–17, with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry rushing for 147 yards and three touchdowns.[14] It was the second overall meeting between Alabama and Wisconsin.

2016

The eighth edition of the classic (and the second with Advocare sponsoring the event) featured the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the #20 USC Trojans of the Pac-12 Conference, played September 3 at AT&T Stadium. The Crimson Tide routed the Trojans 52–6 in front of an announced attendance of 81,359.

2017

The ninth edition of the Advocare classic featured the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference versus the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), played September 2 at AT&T Stadium. It was the fourth meeting between Michigan and Florida (Michigan leads 3–0), and the first ever regular season meeting between the teams. The Wolverines won the game 33–17.

2018

The tenth edition of the Advocare classic featured #25 LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) against the #8 Miami Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), played September 2 at AT&T Stadium. It was the thirteenth meeting between Miami and LSU (LSU leads 10–3), and their first meeting since the 2005 Peach Bowl. LSU won the game 33–17.

2019

The eleventh edition of the Advocare Classic featured the #11 Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 Conference against the #16 Auburn Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), played August 31 at AT&T Stadium. It was the second meeting between Oregon and Auburn (Auburn leads 1–0), and their first meeting since the 2011 BCS National Championship Game. After being down by 15 in the third quarter, Auburn came from behind to win 27–21, scoring the winning touchdown with 9 seconds remaining.

2021

After missing 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the game was played again in 2021 between Stanford and Kansas State. The Wichita Eagle reported that the stadium attendance of 28,668 was mostly filled with Kansas State fans. The final score was Kansas State 24, Stanford 7.[15]

Records

By team

Rank Team Apps Record Win %
1 Alabama 3 3–0 1.000
LSU 3 3–0 1.000
3 Auburn 1 1–0 1.000
BYU 1 1–0 1.000
Florida State 1 1–0 1.000
Kansas State 1 1–0 1.000
6 Michigan 2 1–1 .500
TCU 2 1–1 .500
8 Florida 1 0–1 .000
Miami 1 0–1 .000
Oklahoma 1 0–1 .000
Oklahoma State 1 0–1 .000
Oregon State 1 0–1 .000
USC 1 0–1 .000
Wisconsin 1 0–1 .000
Stanford 1 0–1 .000
15 Oregon 2 0–2 .000

By conference

Rank Conference Apps Record Win %
1 SEC 8 7–1 .875
2 MW 2 2–0 1.000
3 ACC 2 1–1 .500
4 Big 12 4 1–3 .250
5 Big Ten 3 1–2 .333
6 Pac-12 5 0–5 .000

References

  1. ^ "Why AT&T Stadium won't be hosting a 'Cowboys Kickoff Classic' this CFB season". June 27, 2022.
  2. ^ "Brigham Young Cougars vs. Oklahoma Sooners Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
  3. ^ "Oregon State Beavers vs. TCU Horned Frogs Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  4. ^ "Oregon Ducks vs. LSU Tigers Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  5. ^ "Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  6. ^ "LSU Tigers vs. TCU Horned Frogs Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  7. ^ "Florida State Seminoles vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2015.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "Scoring Summary (Final): #20 USC vs. #1 Alabama". USC Trojans. September 3, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  10. ^ "Michigan vs. Florida - Game Summary - September 2, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  11. ^ "Miami vs. LSU - Game Summary - September 2, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  12. ^ "Oregon vs. Auburn - Game Summary - August 31, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  13. ^ "2020 Advocare Classic cancelled". advocareclassicfootball.com. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  14. ^ "Alabama vs. Wisconsin Game Recap". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  15. ^ Robinett, Kellis (September 4, 2021). "What we learned from Kansas State's impressive opening victory over Stanford". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved September 10, 2021.

External links

College Football on ABC
College football kickoff games
Categories