Fenway Bowl
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
StadiumFenway Park
LocationBoston, Massachusetts
Operated2022–present
Conference tie-insThe American, ACC
Sponsors
Wasabi Technologies (2022–present)
2022 matchup
Cincinnati vs. Louisville (Louisville 24–7)
2023 matchup
Boston College vs. SMU (Boston College 23–14)

The Fenway Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized by ESPN Events and Fenway Sports Management, it features teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.[1] Upon its inaugural playing in 2022, it became the fourth active bowl game staged in a baseball stadium, along with the Pinstripe Bowl (Yankee Stadium), the Holiday Bowl (Petco Park) and Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Chase Field).[2][3][4]

History

Holy Cross and Boston College playing at Fenway Park in 1916

American football games at Fenway Park date to 1912, the year the venue opened.[5] Various high school, college, and professional football teams have played at Fenway, including the Boston Patriots during the American Football League (AFL) era, and the Boston College Eagles.[5] Prior to the Fenway Bowl, no bowl game had been scheduled for the ballpark.

Further information: Fenway Park § American football

Organizers had planned for the inaugural playing of the Fenway Bowl to be during the 2020–21 bowl season. On October 23, 2020, it was reported that the bowl would not debut as planned, citing COVID-19 pandemic concerns.[6] Postponement of the bowl was confirmed by organizers the following week, with the temporary Montgomery Bowl being created as a substitute.[7][8]

On May 27, 2021, organizers announced a game date for the 2021–22 bowl season of December 29, 2021.[9] On November 4, 2021, Wasabi Technologies signed on as the title sponsor of the game.[10] However, the game was canceled three days prior to kickoff due to COVID issues within the Virginia team; they had been set to face SMU.[11]

On December 17, 2022, as part of the 2022–23 bowl season, the Fenway Bowl was played for the first time, featuring Cincinnati and Louisville. The following year, the first ranked team was invited to the bowl, as SMU (17th in the AP poll and 24th in the College Football Playoff rankings) faced Boston College.[12]

Game results

Rankings are based on the AP poll prior to the game being played.

Date Winning Team Losing Team Attendance Notes / Ref.
December 17, 2022 Louisville 24 Cincinnati 7 15,000 notes[13]
December 28, 2023 Boston College 23 No. 17 SMU 14 16,238 notes

MVPs

Year Offensive MVP Defensive MVP Ref.
Player Team Pos. Player Team Pos.
2022 Jawhar Jordan Louisville RB Monty Montgomery Louisville LB [14]
2023 Thomas Castellanos Boston College QB Kam Arnold Boston College LB [15][16]

Appearances by team

Updated through the December 2023 edition (2 games, 4 total appearances).

Teams with a single appearance

Won: Boston College, Louisville
Lost: Cincinnati, SMU

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2023 edition (2 games, 4 total appearances).

Conference Record Appearances by season
Games W L Win pct. Won Lost
ACC 2 2 0 1.000 2022, 2023  
The American 2 0 2 .000   2022, 2023

Game records

Team Performance vs. Opponent Year
Most points scored (one team) 24, Louisville vs. Cincinnati 2022
Most points scored (losing team) 14, SMU vs. Boston College 2023
Most points scored (both teams) 37, Boston College vs. SMU 2023
Fewest Points Allowed 7, Cincinnati vs. Louisville 2022
Largest margin of victory 17, Louisville vs. Cincinnati 2022
Total yards 419, Louisville vs. Cincinnati (132 pass, 287 rush) 2022
Rushing yards 287, Louisville vs. Cincinnati 2022
Passing yards 132, Louisville vs. Cincinnati 2022
First downs 24, Louisville vs. Cincinnati 2022
Fewest yards allowed 127, Cincinnati vs. Louisville 2022
Fewest rushing yards allowed 44, Cincinnati vs. Louisville 2022
Fewest passing yards allowed 83, Cincinnati vs. Louisville 2022
Individual Performance, Team Year
All-Purpose yards 160, Maurice Turner (Louisville) (160 pass) 2022
Touchdowns (all-purpose) 2, shared by:
Jawhar Jordan (Louisville)
Thomas Castellanos (Boston College)
2022
2023
Rushing yards 160, Maurice Turner (Louisville) 2022
Rushing touchdowns 2, shared by:
Jawhar Jordan (Louisville)
Thomas Castellanos (Boston College)
2022
2023
Passing yards 132, Brock Domann (Louisville) 2022
Passing touchdowns 1, shared by:
Evan Prater (Cincinnati)
Brock Domann (Louisville)
Kevin Jennings (SMU)
2022
2022
2023
Receiving yards 54, Jake Bailey (SMU) 2023
Receiving touchdowns 1, shared by:
Wyatt Fischer (Cincinnati)
Marshon Ford (Louisville)
Jaylan Knighton (SMU)
2022
2022
2023
Tackles 16, Ivan Pace Jr. (Cincinnati) 2022
Sacks 1.5, shared by:
Yasir Abdullah (Louisville)
YaYa Diaby (Louisville)
2022
Interceptions 1, shared by:
Armorion Smith (Cincinnati)
Ja'von Hicks (Cincinnati)
Alex Kilgore (SMU)
2022
2022
2023
Long Plays Performance, Team Year
Touchdown run 49 yds., Jawhar Jordan (Louisville) 2022
Touchdown pass 20 yds., Evan Prater to Wyatt Fischer (Cincinnati) 2022
Kickoff return 38 yds., Key'Shawn Smith (SMU) 2022
Punt return 6 yds., Lewis Bond (Boston College) 2023
Interception return 20 yds., Armorion Smith (Cincinnati) 2022
Fumble return    
Punt 56 yds., Mark Vassett (Louisville) 2022
Field goal 48 yds., James Turner (Louisville) 2022

Source:[17]

Media coverage

Television

Date Network Play-by-play announcer Color commentator Sideline reporter
2022 ESPN Chris Cotter Mark Herzlich Kelsey Riggs
2023 Sherree Burress

Radio

Date Network Play-by-play announcer Color commentator Sideline reporter
2022 Bowl Season Radio Travis Jones John Denton David Beaudin

References

  1. ^ "New bowl game at Fenway Park to match teams from ACC, AAC". San Francisco Chronicle. September 16, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Boston's Fenway Park to host new 2020 college football bowl game between ACC, AAC teams". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  3. ^ "Fenway Park will reportedly begin hosting a bowl game in 2020". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  4. ^ "Fenway Sports Management and ESPN Events Officially Introduce "The Fenway Bowl"". Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Football at Fenway Through the Years". MLB.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  6. ^ Saunders, Alan (October 23, 2020). "Report: 2020 Fenway Bowl Won't Be Played, 2nd ACC-Tied Bowl to Cancel". pittsburghsportsnow.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  7. ^ "ESPN Events Reveals 13-Game College Football Bowl Schedule for 2020-21: Inaugural Launch of the Fenway Bowl Postponed". espnpressroom.com (Press release). October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  8. ^ "2020-21 Bowl Season Schedule Announced". bowlseason.com. October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  9. ^ "Inaugural 'Fenway Bowl' Announced For December 29". WBZ-TV. CBS. May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  10. ^ "Fenway Bowl Announces Wasabi Technologies as Title Sponsor". Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  11. ^ Adelson, Andrea (December 26, 2021). "Military, Fenway Bowls Canceled Because of COVID-19 Issues". ESPN. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  12. ^ "No. 17 SMU To Face Boston College In Wasabi Fenway Bowl". smumustangs.com. December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  13. ^ Golen, Jimmy (December 17, 2022). "Interim coach Deion Branch leads Louisville past Cincinnati at Fenway Bowl". CBS News. AP. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  14. ^ Cubit, Alexis (December 17, 2022). "Louisville dominates Cincinnati in Fenway Bowl to retain Keg of Nails". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved December 17, 2022 – via MSN.com.
  15. ^ @FenwayBowl (December 28, 2023). "Your Wasabi Fenway Bowl Offensive MVP, Thomas Castellanos!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ @FenwayBowl (December 28, 2023). "Congratulations to this year's Defensive MVP, Kam Arnold!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Cincinnati vs. Louisville - College Football Game Summary - December 17, 2022". ESPN. Retrieved 27 December 2022.

External links

NCAA Division I FBS bowl games
Categories