2007 International Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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Inaugural Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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Date | January 6, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||
Season | 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Rogers Centre | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Cincinnati WR Dominick Goodman | ||||||||||||||||||
Referee | Dan Capron (Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 26,717 | ||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | John Saunders (Play by Play) Doug Flutie (Analyst) Craig James (Analyst) Todd Harris (Sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
International TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | TSN (Canada) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2007 International Bowl, held on January 6, 2007 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was one of the college American football bowl games that ended the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game pitted the University of Cincinnati against Western Michigan University.
It was historically notable for several reasons:
Besides the historic significance of the game itself, the UC–WMU matchup was of particular interest because newly hired Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly coached Central Michigan University during the 2006 regular season. Kelly and Central Michigan, the main rival of WMU, defeated Western Michigan 31–7 just eight weeks earlier. In addition, both schools had been charter members of the Mid-American Conference (WMU is still in the conference today, but UC left after the 1952–53 academic year).
The game drew a crowd of 26,717. In this game, Cincinnati jumped out to a 24–0 lead with 10:22 left in the first half, but Western Michigan was able to score 24 unanswered points to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats defeated the Broncos 27–24 with WMU missing a late 51-yard field goal that could have sent the game into overtime. [1] [2]
The on-air ESPN crew included John Saunders, who was born and raised in Toronto and graduated from WMU; and Doug Flutie, who played two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, both of which ended in Grey Cup championships.
The International Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) collegiate American football bowl game played in Toronto from 2007 through 2010. During its run, it was the only post-season bowl game played outside the United States, the first such game since the Bacardi Bowl, played in Cuba on January 1, 1937. The game pitted teams from the Big East and Mid-American Conferences, with the Big East winning all four match-ups.
The Victory Bell is the trophy awarded to the winner of the American college football rivalry game played by the Cincinnati Bearcats football team of the University of Cincinnati and the Miami RedHawks football team of Miami University. The Victory Bell is the oldest current non-conference college football rivalry in the United States. Having first been played in 1888, the rivalry is tied for being the oldest in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, with the North Carolina–Wake Forest rivalry and the Duke–North Carolina football rivalry also dating to 1888. It is also the fourth-most played college football rivalry game, with 127 meetings total.
The Western Michigan Broncos football program represents Western Michigan University in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Western Michigan has competed in football since 1906, when they played three games in their inaugural season. In 1927, WMU joined four other schools to form the Michigan Collegiate Conference. Western Michigan then moved to its present conference in 1948. Prior to 1939, Western Michigan's athletic teams were known as the Hilltoppers.
Brian Keith Kelly is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he has held since the 2022 season. Kelly served as the head football coach at Grand Valley State University from 1991 to 2003, Central Michigan University from 2004 to 2006, the University of Cincinnati from 2006 to 2009, and the University of Notre Dame from 2010 to 2021. He led the Grand Valley State Lakers to consecutive NCAA Division II Football Championships in 2002 and 2003. Kelly's 2012 Notre Dame team reached the 2013 BCS National Championship Game, while his 2018 and 2020 teams made appearances in the College Football Playoff.
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The 2007 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by Brian Kelly, played its home games in Nippert Stadium, as it has since 1923. This was Kelly's first complete season with the Bearcats, having coached them to a 27–24 win against Western Michigan in the 2007 International Bowl.
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The Keg of Nails is a traveling trophy continuously awarded to the winner of the American college football rivalry game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Louisville Cardinals. The rivalry has stretched over the span of four conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to Conference USA, and more recently in the Big East Conference, which in 2013 was renamed to the American Athletic Conference. It is believed to be the oldest rivalry for the Louisville football team and the second oldest for Cincinnati, only behind the Victory Bell with the Miami RedHawks.
The 1947 Sun Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the VPI Gobblers of the Southern Conference (SoCon) and the independent Cincinnati Bearcats. It took place on January 1, 1947, at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas. Cincinnati won, 18–6, in cold and icy conditions that led to a scoreless first half and three blocked extra points by VPI. The game was the first NCAA-sanctioned post-season football contest for Cincinnati, and was the first bowl game in VPI history. The 1947 game was also the 13th edition of the Sun Bowl, which had been played every year since 1935. In exchange for their participation in the event, each team received $9,438.
The 2010 Allstate Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the 76th Sugar Bowl. The Florida Gators defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 51–24 behind a record-setting performance by senior quarterback Tim Tebow.
The 2009 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by Brian Kelly, played its home games in Nippert Stadium.
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The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big 12 Conference. They have played their home games in historic and renovated Nippert Stadium since 1924. The Bearcats have an all-time record of over .500, having reached their 600th program victory in 2017. The program has had a resurgence in recent years. After joining the Big East for the 2005 season, the Bearcats have gone 155–75, along with 14 bowl game appearances, 7 conference titles, 4 BCS/NY6 Bowl berths and 38 NFL Draft selections, as of the 2022 season.
Luke Joseph Fickell is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach at the University of Wisconsin. Previously he was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati, a position he held from 2016 through 2022. Fickell played college football as a nose guard at Ohio State University from 1993 to 1996 and then was an assistant coach for the Buckeyes. He was interim head coach at Ohio State for the entire 2011 season.
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The 2006 Western Michigan Broncos football team represented Western Michigan University (WMU) in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They finished the season with an 8–5 overall record and a 6–2 record in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Broncos' 6–2 record gave them a second place in the MAC West Division. The team was invited to play in the 2007 International Bowl in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and lost to the Cincinnati Bearcats 27–24. The bowl game was WMU's first bowl game since the 1988 California Bowl.
Fredric Scott Satterfield is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati, a position he has held since the 2023 season. Satterfield served as the head football coach at Appalachian State University from 2013 to 2018 and the University of Louisville from 2019 to 2022.