WKU is headed south for bowl season in consecutive years as the 2015 Conference USA Champions have accepted their invitation to the 2015 Miami Beach Bowl, slated for a 1:30 p.m. (CT) kickoff on Dec. 21 at Marlins Park. It will be televised on ESPN.
The No. 25 Hilltoppers (11-2), who have been bowl eligible in five consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in C-USA, will face American Athletic Conference member South Florida (8-4) in the game.
South Florida is coached by Willie Taggart, one of the greatest players in WKU history, who was also the coach who got the Toppers started winning in NCAA’s highest level of competition
“We are excited to be taking part in our second consecutive bowl game as a member of Conference USA," Director of Athletics Todd Stewart said. "Our national profile has been raised by our affiliation with the league, and we have another tremendous bowl destination to reward our coaches and student-athletes for their efforts in getting our program to this point. It will be an exciting game, and WKU is proud to represent our league in the Miami Beach Bowl.”
Under head coach Jeff Brohm, the Hilltoppers have tallied an FBS record 11 wins, the most since the 2002 National Championship team won 12, and C-USA Championship Game MVP quarterback Brandon Doughty leads the nation in completion percentage (71.8), passing touchdowns (45) and points responsible for (286).
Doughty led the Toppers to a come-from-behind 45-28 win over Southern Mississippi Saturday to win the Conference USA championship after the home team fell behind 28-7.
Senior placekicker Garrett Schwettman is the nation’s leader in field goal percentage (93.3) while junior receiver Taywan Taylor has broken WKU’s single-season and career records for receiving yards and touchdown receptions as well as the single-season mark for receptions. Taylor is No. 2 nationally and leads C-USA in receiving touchdowns (17) and No. 4 nationally in receiving yards (1,363).
"Playing in a bowl game is something you set as a goal at the beginning of every year, and we’re happy to be able to go play another fantastic bowl game this season and represent Conference USA,” said head coach Jeff Brohm. "Our coaches and players have worked extremely hard to get us to this point, and we look forward to getting back to practice to prepare for a great opponent in South Florida.”
The Hilltoppers and Bulls have squared off six times with South Florida holding a 4-2 advantage in the series. WKU last faced USF in 2010 in Tampa, falling 24-12.
The Miami Beach Bowl is played at Marlins Park, a major league baseball field. The football playing area stretches from right field to the third base line endzone-to-endzone. The park opened in 2012 and only hosts football once a year for the Miami Beach Bowl. Football seating capacity is 34,000. A crowd of 20,761 saw Memphis edge BYU 55-48 in the first Miami Beach Bowl.
Taggart’s South Florida Bulls started the season 1-3 and it appeared that the former Stanford offensive coordinator was headed to a third straight disastrous season since leaving The Hill. But USF won four straight games in November and finished the season by beating a ranked Temple team by three touchdowns.
South Florida is 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference.
The Bulls are led by dual-threat sophomore quarterback Quinton Flowers (2,083 passing yards, 21 touchdowns; 883 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns; 64 percent completion rate in 10 games), who threw for 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions during USF's November blitz. He's been aided by running back Marlon Mack, whose 1,273 yards on the ground have made him the first player in Bulls history to top 1,000 yards in his first two seasons, and put him within striking distance of Andre Hall's school record of 1,374.
Tickets for the game will be available Monday morning through the WKU Ticket Office in Diddle Arena. The deadline to order tickets will be Thursday, Dec. 10 at 5:30 p.m. All orders will be filled by HAF donor rank and mailed on Friday, Dec. 11. Tickets, as set by the bowl, are $62.50 each.
The ticket office will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fans can also purchase their tickets online at WKUSports.com. All fans that have put down a bowl deposit will be called Monday morning to finalize their order. Fans that cannot make the trip to Miami can also donate their tickets back to WKU to be used for Miami youth organizations to attend the game. All ticket purchases will include a commemorative Miami Beach Bowl ticket.