The 2023 Celebration Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 16, 2023, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The eighth annual Celebration Bowl featured the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), the Howard Bison, and the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), the Florida A&M Rattlers. The game began at approximately 12:00 p.m. EST and was aired on ABC.[4][5] Sponsored by Cricket Wireless, the game was officially known as the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
| 2023 Cricket Celebration Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 8th Celebration Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 16, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Kelvin Dean (RB, Florida A&M) & Isaiah Major (LB, Florida A&M)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Florida A&M by 6.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Christian Watson (Mountain West)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Howard "Showtime" Marching Band and Florida A&M Marching 100[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 41,108 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Tiffany Greene (play-by-play), Jay Walker (analyst), and Quint Kessenich (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Canada: TSN2 Brazil: ESPN Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Matheus Pinheiro (play-by-play) and Rafael Belattini (analyst) | ||||||||||||||||||
The SWAC and MEAC are the two NCAA Division I conferences of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The Celebration Bowl thus serves as a de facto black college football national championship.
The Celebration Bowl was the only one of the 2023–24 bowl games involving teams from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The NCAA structured a 24-team bracket tournament to determine a champion for the 2023 FCS football season. The 2023 Celebration Bowl was the first time the SWAC champions defeated the MEAC champions since the 2016.
Teams
editThe game featured teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
Howard Bison
editHoward entered the game with a 6–5 record, 4–1 in conference play and tied with North Carolina Central atop MEAC standings. Howard qualified for the Celebration Bowl due to their regular-season win over North Carolina Central.[6][7]
Florida A&M Rattlers
editFlorida A&M completed their regular season with a 10–1 record, 8–0 in conference play; their only loss was to South Florida of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Rattlers then defeated Prairie View A&M in the 2023 SWAC Football Championship Game, contested on December 2, qualifying them for the Celebration Bowl.[8]
Game summary
editHoward held a 14–0 lead after the first quarter, and a 16–10 lead at halftime. After no scoring in the third quarter, Florida A&M scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, while Howard was limited to a field goal and one touchdown, coming on a pick-six. Florida A&M's 30–26 victory marked only the second win by a SWAC team in the Celebration Bowl, the first having been by Grambling State in the 2016 edition.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard | 14 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 26 |
| No. 10 Florida A&M | 0 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 30 |
at Mercedes-Benz Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia
- Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: N/A (indoor stadium)
- Game attendance: 41,108
- Referee: Christian Watson
- TV announcers (ABC): Tiffany Greene (play-by-play), Jay Walker (analyst), and Quint Kessenich (sideline)
- Box score
| Game information |
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No scoring
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Statistics
edit| Statistics | HOW | FAMU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 11 | 19 |
| Plays–yards | 55–187 | 67–357 |
| Rushes–yards | 28–81 | 35–68 |
| Passing yards | 106 | 289 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 14–27–3 | 19–32–2 |
| Time of possession | 27:12 | 32:48 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howard | Passing | Quinton Williams | 14–27, 106 yards, 3 INT |
| Rushing | Eden James | 12 carries, 55 yards | |
| Receiving | Nah'shawn Hezekiah | 3 receptions, 46 yards | |
| Florida A&M | Passing | Jeremy Moussa | 19–32, 289 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Terrell Jennings | 19 carries, 68 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Kelvin Dean | 3 receptions, 87 yards, 2 TD |
References
edit- ^ @AlisonPosey14 (December 16, 2023). "No surprise that @Rhsathletics1 product Kelvin Dean is your Offensive MVP of the 2023 Celebration Bowl. Isaiah Major is your defensive MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved December 16, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Austro, Ben (December 3, 2023). "2023-24 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
- ^ Woodroof, Cory (December 16, 2023). "The Howard and Florida A&M marching bands wowed during Celebration Bowl halftime performances". usatoday.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
- ^ Straka, Dean (May 31, 2023). "2023-24 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, locations, kickoff times, TV channels". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ Lewis, Barry. "2023-24 College Football Bowl Schedule, Dates, Times Announced". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ Hofheimer, Bill (November 2023). "Howard University Qualifies for the Cricket Celebration Bowl for the First Time". espnpressroom.com (Press release). Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ^ Stevens, Chris (November 12, 2023). "The MEAC is up for grabs after Howard blows out NC Central. What happens now?". hbcusports.com. HBCU Sports. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
- ^ "Florida A&M Wins Its First SWAC Championship, Advances to Celebration Bowl". WTXL. Associated Press. December 2, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.