Bo's Bits: Reaping the Fruits of the Bowls

By Bo Carter

Memphis and Utah State have played a combined 31 bowl games since 1946, but to say the teams have had some interesting encounters in the postseason might be a gross understatement.  

Now as they prepare for the 12th annual SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (plus the 2018 contest that was played for seven game clock minutes between Boise State and Boston College before severe storms over several hours ended the clash prematurely) on Tuesday, Dec. 27 at Dallas’ Ford Stadium, the two teams are anticipating another barn-burner if the 2022 season or past bowls involving them are any indication. 

For starters, the Aggies got into fruits and vegetables in their first two bowl appearances. San Jose State edged the Ags 20-0 in the Jan. 1, 1947, appropriately-named Raisin Bowl in rich fruit producing Fresno, Calif. A year later, USU ventured to the famed wine country in Lodi, Calif., and fell to then-powerhouse Pacific (Calif.) 35-21 in the 1948 Grape Bowl. 

Utah State voyaged into a more conventional postseason clash with the 1960 Sun Bowl and a 20-13 setback to New Mexico State in a tussle of two Aggies. NMSU closed the year with its best record in school history at 11-0 while USU dropped to a respectable 9-2 and a then-school-record victories year. That was eclipsed later by the 2012 squad that reeled off 11 wins in 13 games.

The Aggies finally broke into the bowl win column in 1993 with a convincing, 42-33 show on offense against Mid-American Conference stalwart Ball State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Since that time, Utah State is 6-6 in postseason play since that triumph 29 years ago.

Memphis, by the same token, broke into bowl game history with a 1956 Burley Bowl (played from 1945-56 in Johnson City, Tenn., on Thanksgiving in conjunction with the annual Tobacco Festival) win 32-12 over host East Tennessee State. 

The Tigers later played in the Rose Bowl – in this case the 1971 Pasadena Bowl contested at Rose Bowl Stadium – with a 28-9 verdict over San Jose State – a popular mutual bowl opponent for the 2022 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl competitors. NFF College Hall of Fame Tigers head coach, World War II hero and former Mississippi State standout Billy Jack Murphy retired as Memphis’ winningest head coach after that encounter. 

UM then embarked on what is now a string of 15 bowl games or invitations over a 20-year span from 2003-2022 with a 27-17 win over North Texas in the 2003 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl for a school-best winning streak in three postseason tests. 

Some of Memphis’ recent memorable bowl wins came over Akron 38-21 in the 2005 Motor City Bowl, over BYU (55-48) in the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl and over Florida Atlantic (25-10) in the 2020 Montgomery Camellia Bowl. The Tigers made a once-in-a-lifetime trek to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl to meet Penn State on Dec. 28, 2019. The Tigers presented themselves well in a traditional New Year’s Bowl tussle during a 53-39 loss to the Nittany Lions. That showing also helped Memphis RB/WR Tony Pollard gain an early-round draft selection in 2020 and continued play at AT&T Stadium with the NFL Dallas Cowboys. 

Utah State also ran off an impressive three-victory skein in the 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl over Toledo (41-15), in the 2013 Poinsettia Bowl over Northern Illinois (21-14) and in the 2014 New Mexico Bowl over UTEP (21–6). The Aggies also prevailed over Pac-12 Conference contender Oregon State in the 2021 Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl to gain some postseason momentum prior to the ’22 campaign. 

Interestingly, this is USU’s second postseason trip in four seasons to the Dallas-Fort Worth area after being edged 51-41 by Kent State in the 2019 Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl in Frisco, Texas, and the Golden Flashes won their first bowl skirmish in school history. 

For additional information, pregame pageantry and ticket purchases, please access Firstresponderbowl.com. 

-www.firstresponderbowl.com-