2014 Miami Beach Bowl

Last updated
2014 Miami Beach Bowl
1st Miami Beach Bowl
BYU Cougars Memphis Tigers
(8–4)(9–3)
Independent The American
4855
Head coach: 
Bronco Mendenhall 		Head coach: 
Justin Fuente
1234OT2OTTotal
BYU14140173048
Memphis1771473755
DateDecember 22, 2014
Season 2014
Stadium Marlins Park
Location Miami, Florida
MVPMemphis QB Paxton Lynch [1]
Favorite Memphis by 1.5 [2]
Referee Wayne Winkler (C-USA)
Attendance20,761 [3]
Payout US$650,000 per team
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN
Announcers Dave Flemming, Danny Kanell, & Allison Williams (ESPN)
Miami Beach Bowl
  2015 > 

The 2014 Miami Beach Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 22, 2014, at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. The first edition of the Miami Beach Bowl, it featured the American Athletic Conference co-champion Memphis Tigers against the BYU Cougars. It began at 2:00 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN. [4] It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that comprised the conclusion of the 2014 FBS football season.

Contents

Memphis defeated BYU in double overtime by the score of 55–48. [5] Afterwards, the two teams engaged in a bench-clearing brawl. [6] [7] [8]

Team selection

The game featured the American Athletic Conference co-champion Memphis Tigers against the BYU Cougars.

This was the first meeting between these two teams.

BYU Cougars

In April 2014, organizers announced that they had reached a deal with BYU to play in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl in 2014. [9] After defeating the UNLV Rebels for their sixth win of the season on November 15, bowl director Carlos Padilla II extended an invitation to play in the game. [10]

This was BYU's third Florida bowl game, following the 1976 Tangerine Bowl where they lost to Oklahoma State 21–49, and the 1985 Citrus Bowl where they lost to Ohio State 7–10.

Memphis Tigers

After finishing the regular season with a 9–3 record and a share of the American Athletic Conference championship, the Tigers accepted their bid to the Miami Beach Bowl. [11]

This was Memphis' second Florida bowl game, following the 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl (the inaugural contest for that bowl game) where they lost to the South Florida Bulls by a score of 14–41. This was the Tigers' first bowl appearance since that game.

Game summary

Scoring summary
QuarterTime Drive TeamScoring informationScore
Plays Yards TOP BYUMEM
113:543350:23MEMKeiwone Malone 33-yard touchdown reception from Paxton Lynch, Jake Elliott kick good07
112:175821:37BYUMitchell Juergens 47-yard touchdown reception from Christian Stewart, Trevor Samson kick good77
19:498582:28MEMPaxton Lynch 1-yard touchdown run, Jake Elliott kick good714
17:167812:33BYU Mitch Mathews 25-yard touchdown reception from Christian Stewart, Trevor Samson kick good1414
12:225441:19MEM39-yard field goal by Jake Elliott1417
212:447312:16MEMPaxton Lynch 3-yard touchdown run, Jake Elliott kick good1424
24:5514624:49BYU Jordan Leslie 23-yard touchdown reception from Christian Stewart, Trevor Samson kick good2124
23:114151:19BYU Paul Lasike 3-yard touchdown run, Trevor Samson kick good2824
39:5013715:10MEMPaxton Lynch 1-yard touchdown run, Jake Elliott kick good2831
33:456732:16MEM Alan Cross 17-yard touchdown reception from Paxton Lynch, Jake Elliott kick good2838
411:355421:08BYU23-yard field goal by Trevor Samson3138
410:522260:43BYUPaul Lasike 7-yard touchdown run, Trevor Samson kick good3838
47:48–––BYUInterception returned 18 yards for touchdown by Zac Stout, Trevor Samson kick good4538
40:458331:49MEMKeiwone Malone 5-yard touchdown reception from Paxton Lynch, Jake Elliott kick good4545
OT4−3–BYU45-yard field goal by Trevor Samson4845
OT4−12–MEM55-yard field goal by Jake Elliott4848
2OT425–MEMRoderick Proctor 11-yard touchdown reception from Paxton Lynch, Jake Elliott kick good4855
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.4855

Statistics

StatisticsBYUMEM
First downs2224
Plays–yards91–42597–480
Rushes–yards42–7751–174
Passing yards348306
Passing: Comp–Att–Int23–49–324–46–3
Time of possession29:1330:56

Post-game

Brawl

During the post game celebration Memphis players ran towards the BYU sideline to celebrate with their fans sitting behind the BYU bench (due to the bizarre baseball stadium field layout, most of the people in attendance could only sit on the BYU side of the field). Some bumping and shoving occurred and one Memphis player was pushed in the back by a BYU player that was allegedly also being pushed from behind. [12] [13] The Memphis player he pushed then turned around and (using both hands) punched/shoved the BYU player in the back of the head. As the BYU player turned his attention back to the attacker in an apparent attempt to retaliate he threw a punch and he was attacked by 3-4 Memphis players and an all out, bench-clearing brawl ensued. Punches and kicks were thrown by many players on both sides, one Memphis player even used a helmet as a weapon, [14] and when it was over, numerous players walked off the field bloody and bruised. As the brawl was dying down a BYU player (Kai Nacua) can be seen coming into view and sucker punching a Memphis player (Alan Cross), who was not wearing a helmet, from behind. [15] As the BYU player turned toward the camera's view, a bloodied bruise could be clearly seen from a punch he received while attempting to defend himself from another Memphis player earlier in the brawl. [16]

Aftermath

Tom Holmoe, BYU's athletic director, apologized to BYU fans stating, "We expect better of our athletes, even in the face of a difficult loss. We intend to fully review this matter. I apologize to Cougar Nation." Memphis said in a statement via AAC commissioner Mike Aresco that they are displeased with the Miami Beach Bowl brawl, and that, "The university will respond accordingly following this detailed review. Needless to say, we are extremely disappointed that this happened, as we expect the highest standard of conduct from our student-athletes." [17]

On January 20, 2015, The University of Memphis announced the completion of an internal review of the incident and expected punishments to be levied against twelve members of the team. [18] BYU also took action to punish their players. Kai Nacua, Trey Dye, Sione Takitaki, and Tomasi Laulile were all suspended for BYU's season opener against Nebraska.

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References

  1. ↑ "Paxton Lynch's Record-Setting Day Leads Memphis to Miami Beach Bowl Overtime Win". miamibeachbowl.com. December 22, 2014. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ "College Football: Memphis Tigers Team Page with Schedule and ATS Results". VegasInsider.com.
  3. ↑ "Miami Beach Bowl Game Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
  4. ↑ "FAQ". MiamiBeachBowl.com. Miami Beach Bowl. 2014. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Boxscore". ESPN.com. December 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ Neal, David J. (December 22, 2014). "Memphis Beats BYU in Miami Beach Bowl; Game Ends in Brawl", Miami Herald. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  7. ↑ Associated Press (December 22, 2014). "Memphis Wins Miami Beach Bowl, then Brawls with BYU", USA Today. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ Newport, Kyle (December 22, 2014). "BYU and Memphis Fight at End of Wild Miami Beach Bowl", Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ "BYU to play inaugural Miami bowl". ESPN.com. ESPN. April 29, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  10. ↑ "BYU Accepts Official Invitation to Play in the Inaugural Miami Beach Bowl". Miami Beach Bowl. November 15, 2014. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Conference Champs Memphis Tigers Headed to Miami Beach". MiamiBeachBowl.com. Miami Beach Bowl. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  12. ↑ Koroma Shoved? 1
  13. ↑ BYU Memphis fight - Koroma's Push. 22 December 2014 – via YouTube.
  14. ↑ Johnson Uses Helmet in Brawl
  15. ↑ Nacua Sucker Punches Cross
  16. ↑ "Nacua1_zps9cfoxx5y.gif gif by cougarcoug - Photobucket". Photobucket.
  17. ↑ "Miami Beach Bowl Brawl Disappoints AAC Commish, School Ads, What Started The Fight? [VIDEO]". TravelersToday. 25 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "Memphis Completes Review of Football Altercation". January 20, 2015.
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