Shula Bowl
Florida Atlantic Owls
FIU Panthers
SportFootball
First meetingNovember 23, 2002
Florida Atlantic 31, FIU 21
Latest meetingNovember 12, 2022
Florida Atlantic 52, FIU 7
Next meetingSeptember 14, 2024
StadiumsFAU Stadium (Florida Atlantic)
Riccardo Silva Stadium (FIU)
TrophyDon Shula Award
Statistics
Meetings total21
All-time seriesFlorida Atlantic leads, 16–4
Largest victoryFlorida Atlantic, 52–7 (2022)
Longest win streakFlorida Atlantic, 6 (2017–present)
Current win streakFlorida Atlantic, 6 (2017–present)
Map
[fullscreen map]
Locations of Florida Atlantic and FIU in the Miami metropolitan area

The Shula Bowl is the name given to the Florida Atlantic–Florida International football rivalry.[1] It is an annual college football rivalry game between the only two public universities in the Miami metropolitan area: Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton and Florida International University (FIU) in University Park. The game's winner receives a traveling trophy, the "Don Shula Award," for one year. The current winner is Florida Atlantic, winning 52–7 on November 12, 2022. Florida Atlantic leads the all-time series 16 games to 4.

The game and trophy are named after former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula. Don Shula was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 1970 to 1995. Each school's first head coach has previous ties to Don Shula. Florida Atlantic's first head coach Howard Schnellenberger was an assistant of Shula in the 1970s, and FIU's first head coach Don Strock was a player under Shula in the 1970s and 1980s.[2] Don Shula set numerous records as head coach of the Miami Dolphins and his legacy is seen throughout the Miami area. The Shula Bowl pays homage to Shula, to South Florida football and the ties and history of both universities.

Game location

The Shula Bowl was first played at Hard Rock Stadium, then known as Pro Player Stadium, in present-day Miami Gardens, Florida, on November 23, 2002. The game now alternates between Florida Atlantic and FIU's home fields. Until 2010, Florida Atlantic used Pro Player Stadium (later renamed Dolphin Stadium in 2006) as its home field, where FIU has almost always used the on-campus venue now known as Riccardo Silva Stadium as its home field. On one occasion, in 2007, FIU used the Miami Orange Bowl in Little Havana, Miami, as its home field, while FIU Stadium was undergoing an expansion. The 2007 game was played in the final months of the Orange Bowl before being demolished for the construction of LoanDepot Park.[3] Beginning in 2012, Florida Atlantic used its newly built FAU Stadium in Boca Raton as its home field, marking the first time the Shula Bowl was played on both rival schools' campuses.

Television

For years the game was telecast on the ESPN family of networks through an agreement to broadcast games in the Sun Belt Conference. In 2013, both schools moved to Conference USA, and the game was instead aired on Fox Sports 1, as C-USA did not air games on the ESPN networks (save for the conference championship game). In recent years the game has aired on Stadium and is carried locally on WSFL-TV The CW South Florida.

Future

It was announced in 2021 that FAU was set to leave Conference USA for the American Athletic Conference beginning in the 2023–24 school year, making it unclear whether the rivalry series would continue in the current format.[4] It was presumed that football in particular would be on hiatus until at least 2024, because that would be the next year when both teams would have openings in their non-conference schedules.[5][6]

In a statement announced on September 26, 2022, the FAU and FIU athletics departments inked a four-game series that would continue the Shula Bowl beginning in 2024.[7]

Game results

Florida Atlantic victoriesFIU victoriesVacated game - does not count
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1 November 23, 2002 Miami Gardens Florida Atlantic 31–21
2 November 22, 2003 Miami (FIU Stadium) Florida Atlantic 32–23
3 December 4, 2004 Miami Gardens Florida Atlantic 17–10
4 November 26, 2005 Miami (FIU Stadium) FIU † 52–6
5 November 25, 2006 Miami Gardens Florida Atlantic 31–0
6 November 24, 2007 Miami (Orange Bowl) Florida Atlantic 55–23
7 November 29, 2008 Miami Gardens Florida Atlantic 57–50
8 December 5, 2009 Miami (FIU Stadium) Florida Atlantic 28–21
9 October 30, 2010 Fort Lauderdale Florida Atlantic 21–9
10 November 12, 2011 Miami (FIU Stadium) FIU 41–7
11 November 16, 2012 Boca Raton FIU 34–24
12 November 29, 2013 Boca Raton Florida Atlantic 21–6
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
13 October 2, 2014 Miami (FIU Stadium) FIU 38–10
14 October 31, 2015 Boca Raton Florida Atlantic 31–17
15 October 1, 2016 Miami (FIU Stadium) FIU 33–31
16 November 18, 2017 Boca Raton Florida Atlantic 52–24
17 November 3, 2018 Miami (FIU Stadium) Florida Atlantic 49–14
18 November 9, 2019 Boca Raton Florida Atlantic 37–7
19 November 13, 2020 Miami (FIU Stadium) Florida Atlantic 38–19[8]
20 October 2, 2021 Boca Raton Florida Atlantic 58–21
21 November 12, 2022 Miami (FIU Stadium) Florida Atlantic 52–7
22 September 14, 2024 Boca Raton
Series: Florida Atlantic leads 16–4
† FIU vacated as part of NCAA penalties.

References

  1. ^ "FAU hosts FIU in annual 'Shula Bowl'".
  2. ^ "FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY Traditions - FLORIDA ATLANTIC University Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
  3. ^ "Shula Bowl VI Game Essentials - FIU Athletics". Archived from the original on 2012-04-07. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
  4. ^ "FAU Accepts Invite to The American". FAUSports.com. October 21, 2021.
  5. ^ "Future Florida Atlantic Football Non-Conference Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 9 Jul 2022.
  6. ^ "Future FIU Football Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  7. ^ "FAU and FIU Ink Four-Game Series". FAUSports.com. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  8. ^ Reese Furlow (14 November 2020). "In QB Javion Posey's first career start, FAU football wins fourth consecutive Shula Bowl". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
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