American Football Database
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2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl
Bowl Game
File:Papajohnsbowl.png
PapaJohns.com Bowl logo
1 2 3 4 Total
University of Cincinnati 0 14 17 0 31
University of Southern Mississippi 7 0 7 7 21
Date December 22, 2007
Season 2007
Stadium Legion Field
Location Birmingham, Alabama
MVP QB Ben Mauk, Cincinnati
Favorite Cincinnati by 11[1]
Attendance 35,258
Payout US$300,000 per team[2]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN2
Announcers: Pam Ward, Ray Bentley
PapaJohns.com Bowl
 < 2006  2008

The 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl was a postseason college football match between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The University of Cincinnati represented the Big East Conference and the University of Southern Mississippi represented Conference USA (which Cincinnati was once a member of). 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 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 by scoring a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chris Johnson, but Southern Miss' rally fell short after they couldn't recover an onside kick or convert a fourth-and-1 play on its 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' record ended at 7-5.[8]

Game summary[]

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring Information Score
Plays Yards TOP Cincinnati Southern Miss
1 5:23 5 plays, 59 yards 1:55 Southern Miss Shawn Nelson 10-yard touchdown reception from Jeremy Young, Justin Estes kick good 0 7
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 14 7
3 13:17 1 plays, 29 yards 0:09 Cincinnati Earnest Jackson 29-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk, Jake Rogers kick good 21 7
3 6:48 14 plays, 80 yards 6:29 Southern Miss Jeremy Young 1-yard touchdown run, Justin Estes kick good 21 14
3 4:08 8 plays, 58 yards 2:40 Cincinnati Antwuan Giddens 10-yard touchdown reception from Ben Mauk, Jake Rogers kick good 28 14
3 0:05 9 plays, 51 yards 2:28 Cincinnati 22-yard field goal by Jake Rogers 31 14
4 9:37 11 plays, 76 yards 5:28 Southern Miss Chris Johnson 5-yard touchdown reception from Jeremy Young, Justin Estes kick good 31 21
"TOP" = Time of Possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 31 21

Final statistics[]

[9] [10]

Statistical Comparison
Bearcats Eagles
1st Downs 21 19
Total Yards 405 339
Passing Yards 334 122
Rushing Yards 71 217
Penalties 8–51 8–80
3rd Down Conversions 6–14 6–17
4th Down Conversions 1–2 1–4
Turnovers 4 3
Time of Possession 26:24 33:36
 
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 aCarries bLong play cReceptions

 
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 aCarries bLong play cReceptions

References[]

External links[]

Preceded by
Benjamin Williams
2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl MVP
Ben Mauk
Succeeded by
Mike Teel
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