Birmingham Bowl 2015: An East Coast Showdown
The afternoon of January 3rd, 2015, saw Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, play host to the annual Birmingham Bowl. This year's matchup pitted the Florida Gators (7-5) of the SEC against the Eastern Carolina Pirates (8-5) of the AAC. Both teams were coming off tough losses to division opponents in their final regular season games and were looking to the bowl game as one final opportunity to go out on a high note and send their seniors off in style. Football fans who enjoy betting on Florida Gators football were rewarded with favorable results after the Gators fought their way to victory. From among the three top Florida college football teams, the Gators are the only ones who walked away from their bowl games victorious.
Although they did finish with a winning record, the Gators had a tumultuous 2014 season following a horrid year in 2013. After the 4-8 record from last year and a 4-4 record in SEC play this season, head-coach Will Muschamp announced his resignation at the end of the regular season. This left Florida going into the Birmingham Bowl under the direction of interim head coach D.J. Durkin, who had done a masterful job as defensive coordinator of the unit that carried this team all year. His dedication paid off, as an interception in the end zone by cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III halted ECU's comeback attempt and sealed the victory.
Eastern Carolina had AAC championship aspirations under head coach Ruffin McNeil this season but ultimately finished with a 5-3 conference record. This was good enough for fourth place and a berth in the Birmingham Bowl against a big-name opponent. In contrast to Florida's defense, a highly potent offense (70 points against North Carolina) was the Pirates' strong point this season. Although senior QB Shane Carden threw for 427 yards the offense fell short of the end-zone too many times to get a victory.
The scoring opened halfway through the first quarter on a three yard touchdown pass to ECU WR Justin Hardy, who would finish the game with 11 receptions for 160 yards. This was the Pirate's only score until the third period; the Florida defense allowed a large number of yards but stepped up when it counted. As a matter of fact, a pick-six by DB Brian Poole provided the first points for the Gators. Early in the second quarter, redshirt freshman RB Adam Lane got the Florida offense going with a two-yard score on the ground. He would finish as the game's MVP, running for 109 yards on 16 carries.
Going into halftime Florida held a 21-7 advantage, but ECU seized their next opportunity, scoring less than three minutes into the third quarter on a pass to senior WR Cam Worthy. Florida struck back almost immediately on an 86-yard screen pass from freshman QB Treon Harris to sophomore WR Ahmad Fulwood, stretching their lead to 28-14. Harris would later leave with an injury and not return. The rest of the game would see ECU rack up yards but only convert on two field goal attempts that brought the score to 28-20. A promising drive to tie the game ended on that fateful end-zone interception by Hargreaves III. In a game that saw ECU outgain Florida by almost 200 yards and 17 first-downs, turnovers and big plays ultimately saw the Gators come away with a Birmingham Bowl victory.