Bo’s Bits Vol. 4: What Else Can Happen in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl?
By Bo Carter, NFF National Correspondent
From being the first no-contest bowl in the 123-year history of college bowl games during the 2018 Boise State-Boston College matchup to last year’s 30-28 shootout win by all-time undefeated bowl participant Texas State (2-0) over Rice, the 16th annual SERVPRO First Responder Bowl brings anticipation of even more football magic and interesting occurrences.
First held on Jan. 1, 2011, after the historic Goodyear Cotton Bowl moved from its actual stadium namesake to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the bowl (then known as the TicketCity Bowl) brought traditional postseason activity back to downtown Dallas as Texas Tech outpointed Northwestern 45-38 with Tech QB Taylor Potts going 43-of-56 passing for 462 yards to provide the impetus at Cotton Bowl Stadium.
A year later, Houston QB Case Keenum established still-standing Cotton Bowl Stadium individual recordd with 45-of-69 passing for 532 yards in a 30-14 Top-25 rankings’ conquest of Penn State.
And after nine eventful years at the revamped Cotton Bowl Stadium, the first-Ticket City, later-Heart of Dallas and later SERVPRO First Responder Bowl changed venues to the classy Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the SMU campus in December 2019 where it will be staged for the seventh consecutive season on Dec. 26.
In between 2011 and 2025 some of the more notable events in this classic have been:
(1) Texas State playing in and winning its first two FBS bowls on Dec. 26, 2023, and Jan. 3, 2025, respectively, against Rice and North Texas. Of note, Rice and TXST will be matched up again on Jan. 2, 2026, in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth’s Amon G. Carter Stadium on the TCU campus.
(2) This is now the second instance in the first 16 holdings of the now-SERVPRO First Responder Bowl when two of these skirmishes have been played in the same calendar year – the Jan. 1, 2014, North Texas-UNLV contest and the Dec. 26, 2014, Louisiana Tech-Illinois feature; plus the Jan. 3, 2025, North Texas-Rice test and the Dec. 26, 2025, FIU-UTSA meeting.
(3) The aforementioned 2018 Boise State-Boston College clash where four consecutive hours of severe thunderstorms (one lightning bolt struck dangerously close to the northeast light tower at Cotton Bowl Stadium during the first-quarter delay and Boise State broadcaster Bob Behler and his crew conducted a literal, two-hours-plus “Weather Delay Theater” on the BSU radio network. The game never resumed.
(4) The Dec. 26, 2015, Southern Miss-Washington bout where the stadium field and press box areas had to be evacuated during postgame procedures as tornadoes struck in and around downtown Dallas, and team buses and travel parties were sheltered in lower stadium areas. There were 12 documented tornado sightings by the National Weather Service, 10 fatalities and an estimated $1 billion in total property damage across eight different municipalities. Thankfully, no bowl spectators or the participating teams or fans suffered injuries or damage that fateful afternoon.
(5) The three consecutive one-score finishes in hard-fought bowls between 2019-21 with WKU edging Western Michigan 23-20 in ’19, Louisiana outlasting UTSA 31-24 in 2020 before a turnout of 3,512 due to national COVID-19 restrictions and a 31-28 squeaker by Air Force over Louisville in 2021.
(6) Original contracted matchups from 2011-13 between Big Ten and Big 12 Conference opponents, various Conference USA and Sun Belt Conference tie-ins from 2014-16, wide-open meetings among Pac-12, Conference USA, Sun Belt and Mountain West members in the 2017-22 era, and 2023-present agreements among the American, Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Conference USA and Sun Belt Conferences to supply competitors – in this year’s case CUSA contender FIU against recent American power UTSA.
Lord knows what may happen next in this always-intriguing bowl, but fans attending on game day should be treated to some quality college football and salutes to first responders throughout the DFW area and nationally.
For additional information, pregame pageantry and ticket purchases, please access Firstresponderbowl.com.
-www.firstresponderbowl.com-