The 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl was a postseason college football match between the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Cincinnati Bearcats at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama . The University of Southern Mississippi represented Conference USA (which Cincinnati was once a member of) and the University of Cincinnati represented the Big East Conference . The game resulted in a 31–21 Cincinnati victory, which did not cover their 11-point spread.[ 1] The payout for both teams was $ 300,000, the lowest payout among all college football bowl games.[ 3]
This was the final game for head coach Jeff Bower , ending his 17-season tenure at Southern Miss.[ 4] Bower was forced to resign after their disappointing season.[ 5] After Bower's resignation, the selection of Southern Miss for this bowl game was notable as Bower's first game as head coach of the Golden Eagles was also at Legion Field, in the All-American Bowl in 1990 .
Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk passed for four touchdowns and 334 yards.[ 5] Southern Miss quarterback Jeremy Young went 18-for-32 for 122 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions .[ 5] After being down 31–14 in the fourth quarter, Jeremy Young cut the lead with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chris Johnson, but Southern Miss's rally fell short after they couldn't recover an onside kick or convert a fourth-and-1 play on their next possession.[ 5] Only 35,258 people attended the game, less than half of Legion Field 's capacity.[ 6] Cincinnati distributed 8,352 tickets, a school record for bowl attendance, while Southern Mississippi distributed around 5,000 tickets.[ 7] Cincinnati's win brought their record to 10–3, their first 10-win season since 1951 . With the loss, Southern Miss's record ended at 7–5.[ 8]
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
Southern Miss
Cincinnati
1
5:23
5 plays, 59 yards
1:55
Southern Miss
Shawn Nelson 10-yard touchdown reception from Jeremy Young , Justin Estes kick good
7
0
2
6:12
7 plays, 75 yards
2:19
Cincinnati
Dominick Goodman 14-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk , Jake Rogers kick good
7
7
2
0:24
6 plays, 49 yards
1:23
Cincinnati
Dominick Goodman 5-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk , Jake Rogers kick good
7
14
3
13:17
1 plays, 29 yards
0:09
Cincinnati
Earnest Jackson 29-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk , Jake Rogers kick good
7
21
3
6:48
14 plays, 80 yards
6:29
Southern Miss
Jeremy Young 1-yard touchdown run, Justin Estes kick good
14
21
3
4:08
8 plays, 58 yards
2:40
Cincinnati
Antwuan Giddens 10-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk , Jake Rogers kick good
14
28
3
0:05
9 plays, 51 yards
2:28
Cincinnati
22-yard field goal by Jake Rogers
14
31
4
9:37
11 plays, 76 yards
5:28
Southern Miss
Chris Johnson 5-yard touchdown reception from Jeremy Young , Justin Estes kick good
21
31
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
21
31
[ 9]
[ 10]
Statistical Comparison
Eagles
Bearcats
1st Downs
19
21
Total Yards
339
405
Passing Yards
122
334
Rushing Yards
217
71
Penalties
8–80
8–51
3rd Down Conversions
6–17
6–14
4th Down Conversions
1–4
1–2
Turnovers
3
4
Time of Possession
33:36
26:24
Eagles Individual Leaders
Passing
Player
C/ATT*
Yds
Pct
TD
INT
J. Young
18/32
122
56.3
2
3
Rushing
Player
Cara
Yds
Ave
TD
LGb
D. Fletcher
29
155
5.3
0
40
J. Young
17
55
3.2
1
20
T. Harrison
2
7
3.5
0
4
B. Barefoot
1
0
0.0
0
0
Receiving
Player
Recc
Yds
Ave
TD
LGb
D. Fletcher
7
50
7.1
0
16
T. Harrison
1
18
18.0
0
18
S. Nelson
3
18
6.0
1
10
T. Magee
2
15
7.5
0
13
C. Johnson
2
13
6.5
1
8
E. Morgan
2
8
4.0
0
4
G. Baptiste
1
0
0.0
0
0
* Completions/Attempts
a Carries
b Long play
c Receptions
Bearcats Individual Leaders
Passing
Player
C/ATT*
Yds
Pct
TD
INT
B. Mauk
30/52
334
57.7
4
3
Rushing
Player
Cara
Yds
Ave
TD
LGb
B. Mauk
12
41
3.4
0
14
G. Moore
4
18
4.5
0
12
J. Ramsey
6
9
1.5
0
6
B. Glatthaar
1
7
7.0
0
7
B. Benton
1
0
0.0
0
0
Receiving
Player
Recc
Yds
Ave
TD
LGb
D. Goodman
7
95
13.6
2
20
C. Barwin
7
86
12.3
0
26
A. Giddens
7
64
9.1
1
23
E. Jackson
3
46
15.3
1
29
C. Howard
2
24
12.0
0
18
M. Barnett
2
17
8.5
0
10
G. Moore
1
3
3.0
0
3
B. Benton
1
(-)1
(-)1.0
0
0
* Completions/Attempts
a Carries
b Long play
c Receptions
^ a b World Features Syndicate via Long Beach Press-Telegram , December 19, 2007
^ "ncaafootball.com - Bowl Schedules/Results" . Archived from the original on August 3, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2009 .
^ "New Mexico Bowl: Team expenses chip away payout profits : LoboZone : Albuquerque Tribune" . Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2008 .
^ SportingNews.com - Your expert source for NCAA Football stats, scores, standings, and blogs from NCAA Football columnists [permanent dead link ]
^ a b c d "Mauk, Bearcats spoil Bower's final game at Southern Miss" . ESPN.com . December 22, 2007. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2008 . Retrieved on 2008-14-04.
^ "安心して飲み続けられるローヤルゼリー" .
^ "Papajohns.com Bowl notebook- al.com" . Archived from the original on December 25, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .
^ "Papajohns.com Bowl Game Notes :: Cincinnati 31, Southern Miss. 21" . Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2008 .
^ ESPN
^ Yahoo Sports