Tag: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl

East Carolina 53, Coastal Carolina 29 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl What Happened, What It All Means

East Carolina 53, Coastal Carolina 29: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl what happened, player of the game, and what it all means

East Carolina beat Coastal Carolina 53-29 to win the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. What happened, who was the player of the game, and what does it all mean?

East Carolina 53, Coastal Carolina 29 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl What Happened, Player of the Game, What It All Means

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TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl What Happened

– Holton Ahlers threw five touchdown passes, the offense exploded with 21 straight points as part of a 35-7 run to put the game away by the end of the third quarter. Ahlers spread the wealth around with Isaiah Winstead coming up with two scoring grabs.

– Coastal Carolina was missing a slew of players along with head coach Jamey Chadwell, but it took a 14-10 lead and appeared to be in it until QB Grayson McCall was knocked out of the game in the second quarter. He completed 10-of-12 passes for 67 yards and ran for a touchdown before leaving the game.

– Jarrett Guest filled in for McCall and threw two touchdown passes, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with Ahlers and the East Carolina offense. The Pirates outgained the Chanticleers 486 yards to 337.

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TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Player of the Game

Holton Ahlers, QB East Carolina 
He completed 26-of-38 passes for 300 yards and five scores, and ran seven times for 48 yards and a touchdown.

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TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Fun Stats

– The two teams combined for 22 penalties or 228 yards. Both were flagged 11 times.

– Coastal Carolina turned it over three times. East Carolina didn’t turn it over.

– Keaton Mitchell ran 22 times for 127 yards and a score for East Carolina.

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl What It All Means

East Carolina was supposed to win this, but it was still impressive how it rose to the moment and came through. There were way too many penalties, and it wasn’t always smooth, but it was a good way to close out a season that got rocky in the finishing kick.

Not only was it the first bowl win under head coach Mike Houston in his four years, it was the first appearance. It was the first bowl game for the program since 2014, the first bowl win since 2013, and just the second bowl win since 2007. Yeah, it was a big deal.

It’s going to be lost in the wash that Coastal Carolina was 6-0 and then 9-1 with big things on the table. The defense went bye-bye, it allowed 45 points or more over the last three games, and … this was a rough beat. The team lost its head coach, a slew of key players, and Grayson McCall was giving it his all despite being in the transfer portal.

Don’t let this performance ruin an otherwise strong season and great run over the last few years. The program won 31 games over the last four seasons and went to three bowl games.

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East Carolina vs Coastal Carolina TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Prediction Game Preview

East Carolina vs Coastal Carolina game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl on Tuesday, December 27

East Carolina vs Coastal Carolina prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl, Tuesday, December 27

East Carolina vs Coastal Carolina TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Prediction Game Preview

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East Carolina vs Coastal Carolina How To Watch

Date: Tuesday, December 27
Game Time: 6:45 ET
Venue: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, AL
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: East Carolina (7-5), Coastal Carolina (9-3)
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East Carolina vs Coastal Carolina TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl 5 Things To Know

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

– Coastal Carolina came close to having a special season, and it could still be a ten-win campaign. It started 6-0 and then 9-1, got rocked by James Madison, and rolled in the Sun Belt Championship by Troy.

Head coach Jamey Chadwell decided he’d rather be working at Liberty, Grayson McCall entered the transfer portal, and now the program is in a holding pattern for the Tim Beck era to begin. On the plus side, McCall is still playing in this before leaving.

– East Carolina had an interesting year. It was wildly inconsistent – good enough to blowout UCF and win at BYU, and flaky enough to get destroyed by Houston and lose to Navy – but it’s still going to be a winning season. The balanced offense knows how to crank up the yards. But …

– East Carolina has been a bowl game nightmare. Since getting by Boise State in the 2007 Hawaii it lost four of the last five and went 4-9 since 1992. It was supposed to play Boston College in last year’s Military, but it got canceled thanks to COVID.

– This is just the third bowl game for Coastal Carolina, with all coming in the last three seasons under Chadwell. The Chanticleers lost a thriller of a 2020 Cure Bowl to Liberty, and last year hung on for dear life to beat Northern Illinois in the 2021 Cure.

– The 2020 Birmingham Bowl – coming at the end of the 2019 season – was a rough 36-6 Cincinnati blowout over Boston College, and the 2020 season version was canceled. Other than that, this has been one of the consistently best bowls of the season. Four of the last five were thrillers including Houston’s win over Auburn last season in the final moments.

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Why East Carolina Will Win The TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl

Coastal Carolina’s missing parts are more of a problem than East Carolina’s. But even at full strength, the Pirates have the style to give the Chanticleers problems.

ECU is usually dominates the turnover battle, it’s great offensively on third downs, and it’s going against a team that’s struggles on defense at getting off the field.

The Pirates haven’t turned the ball over since October 8th, going six straight games without a mistake and with eight games on the year with no turnovers. Coastal Carolina struggled over the last three games – two losses and a close call against Southern Miss – partly because it gave it up seven times.

Combined the lack of turnovers with almost no issues with penalties, and East Carolina isn’t going to beat itself.

Combine all of that with what East Carolina is about to do against a Coastal Carolina pass defense that was the worst in the Sun Belt, and it’s a nice mix. However …

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Why Coastal Carolina Will Win The TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl

Grayson McCall, have a day.

Assuming he’s really and truly going to still play in this – and not be off being a Florida Gator or something – he going to crank up huge numbers against a Pirate secondary that allowed a nation-worst 299 passing yards per game.

From Houston and Clayton Tune pushing for 435 yards, to Temple rolling up 527 yards and five scores in a loss, to everyone by Navy and BYU coming up with at least 200 yards, everyone got fat on the East Carolina secondary.

Even with McCall out for a few games with a foot injury, the offense still worked. One of the most efficient passing games in America should be able to fire at will, but …

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, East Carolina vs Coastal Carolina Prediction, TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl History

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1 sentence in Grayson McCall’s transfer announcement sent oddsmakers into a panic over Coastal Carolina’s bowl game

Always read the fine print

It was right there in big, bold, italicized letters at the bottom of Grayson McCall’s transfer announcement:

“I WILL PLAY IN THE BOWL GAME AND FINISH WHAT I STARTED.”

Somehow, the message still wasn’t received by all. And by ‘all’ we mean bettors and oddsmakers.

With McCall’s Coastal Carolina program set to face East Carolina in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27, many saw the junior quarterback’s decision to transfer and immediately went to bet on the exhibition, probably thinking McCall wouldn’t play.

Half of the fun in the sports betting world is trying to get a jump on new information before the sportsbooks have a chance to react to it or take the game off the board.

Except there was no new edge here. Nothing changed except McCall’s status as a Chanticleer after the game. The line for the bowl game opened at Coastal Carolina as 7.5-point underdogs, but went for a pretty quick and strange joyride immediately after McCall’s announcement.

Well, you don’t see that often! McCall tweeted his intention to enter the transfer portal at 2:49 p.m. ET when the line was CCU +10.5.

Not even three minutes later, Action Network tracked the line shifting to CCU +13.5 where it stayed for about 10 minutes before falling back down to CCU +10.5—and then down another point to CCU +9.5.

After all that, oddsmaker apparently believe transferring will give McCall and the Chanticleers more of an edge against ECU than if he were coming back for his senior year.

McCall has been a star for CCU for three years now, passing for 7,994 yards, 77 touchdowns and eight interceptions to go with another 1,042 yards and 16 scores on the ground.

His presence against East Carolina can’t be understated.

Which is exactly why many went rushing to bet on the Pirates before realizing McCall still had one more game to play.

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Houston Wins Birmingham Bowl Over Auburn 17-13: Reaction, Analysis, 5 Thoughts

Houston Wins TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Over Auburn 17-13: Reaction, Analysis, 5 Thoughts

Houston beat Auburn to win the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. Five thoughts and analysis of the game, and what it all means.

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Houston beat Auburn 17-13: Birmingham Bowl 5 Things That Matter

Prediction: Auburn 26, Houston 20
Line: Auburn -2, o/u: 51
Final Score: Houston 17, Auburn 13

Birmingham Bowl 5 Thoughts
5. The SEC is 0-3 …
4. The Auburn home game
3. Clayton Tune made the throw
2. Houston’s defense stepped up
1. Auburn closed with a thud

5. The SEC is 0-3 …

It might not be by the time you read this – Mississippi State should handle Texas Tech in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl – but this is an awful look so far this bowl season for the conference that’s supposed to be the most dominant in college football.

There’s no excuse.

The SEC gets the best talent, has the top facilities, and it’s bound by absolutely nothing when it comes to resources and attention. That “It Just Means More” tag line is actually true, but Missouri couldn’t come up with one big late stop against Army.

Florida got trucked by UCF, and yeah, the SEC side cared.

In Birmingham, Auburn couldn’t get anything moving, couldn’t take advantage of its opportunities, and couldn’t come up with that one big stop late to get out with a bowl win.

And now the SEC is 0-3 with Texas A&M having to tap out of its bowl. In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter – Auburn could come back next year and go 12-1 – but you don’t lose three games to Group of Five programs if you’re the supposed be-all-end-all of super-conferences.

At the same time, give all due credit to the American Athletic Conference for going 2-0 so far against the SEC, especially because that was …

Birmingham Bowl 5 Thoughts
4. The Auburn home game
3. Clayton Tune made the throw
2. Houston’s defense stepped up
1. Auburn closed with a thud

NEXT: The Auburn home game

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Auburn vs Houston: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Prediction, Game Preview

Auburn vs Houston: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might or might not win.

Auburn vs Houston: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch: Tuesday, December 28 

Auburn vs Houston: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl How To Watch

Date: Tuesday, December 28
Game Time: 12:00 pm ET
Venue: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, AL
How To Watch: ESPN, Live stream on ESPN+
Records: Auburn (6-6), Houston (10-2)
CFN Predictions | Bowl Schedule

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Auburn vs Houston TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Preview

– In so many ways, this bowl game matters.

It matters for a Houston team that was 11-1 before losing to Cincinnati 35-20 in the American Athletic Conference Championship. There weren’t any great wins on the schedule after losing to Texas Tech, and the one chance it had to make a big statement this season fell flat against the Bearcats.

– Beating Auburn is a must for head coach Dana Holgorsen and the program, especially after getting rolled by Hawaii in last year’s bowl appearance.

– Beating Houston is definitely a must for Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin, whose first season was going great until a four-game losing streak – closing with the tough overtime loss to Alabama – changed the narrative.

– It’s a strong overall defensive Tiger team that’s great at getting into the backfield and solid against the run. The offensive side is the question mark, with a running game that’s been wildly inconsistent and a passing attack that’s been hit-or-miss since starter Bo Nix – before transferring to Oregon – went out with an ankle injury.

– Houston’s defense is the best in the nation at third down stops. It’s terrific at coming up with takeaways, it was the best in the AAC against the run, and the pass rush has been a constant killer. The offense is efficient and is great at controlling the clock, but the line struggles in pass protection and the running game is spotty at best.

Why Auburn, Houston Will Win
Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Players To Know

NEXT: Why Auburn Will Win, Why Houston Will Win, TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Prediction

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Houston players discuss the opportunity to play the Auburn Tigers

This should be a fun Birmingham Bowl.

The Auburn Tigers will play the Houston Cougars in the Birmingham Bowl on Tuesday, December 28.

Houston linebacker Deontay Anderson spoke with Mark Berman of Fox 26 about the opportunity to play a team like the Tigers.

“We’re ready for that,” Anderson said. “We can’t wait for that. It’s a great opponent, SEC opponent, great exposure. So we’re gonna prepare our butt off to get it.”

Houston quarterback Clayton Tune described playing Auburn in the Birmingham Bowl highly. He said, “It’s gonna be awesome. It’s an SEC opponent. So we’re really excited.”

Houston enters the game with an 11-2 record and they will have the chance to cap off a great season with a win against Auburn.

Bryan Harsin’s Tigers have the opportunity to secure a winning season and carry some positive momentum into the offseason.

Auburn to play No. 20 Houston in the Birmingham Bowl

This is a very tough matchup for Auburn.

Welcome back to 2015.

Auburn will play in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl against 11-2 Houston. This is the second time Auburn has played in the Birmingham Bowl, with the first being a 31-10 win over 9-4 Memphis back in 2015.

This time, things are a little more difficult.

No. 21 Houston (No. 20 in the CFP rankings) is a much better team than Memphis was. The Cougars just lost to No. 4 Cincinnati 35-20 in the American Athletic Conference Championship game and were riding an 11-game win streak in the contest.

Houston has a strong passing game led by quarterback Clayton Tune (3,263 passing yards, 28 touchdowns) and wide receiver Nathaniel Dell (80 receptions, 1,179 receiving yards, 12 touchdowns). Dell just had 152 yards against the second best passing defense in FBS (Cincinnati, giving up 168.3 passing yards allowed per game).

With a hobbled quarterback, no offensive coordinator, and a weak secondary, this is going to be a very tough matchup for 6-6 Auburn and Bryan Harsin.

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