meineke car care bowl history
meineke car care bowl history
Fairly new to the scene this year, Meineke Car Care Bowl tickets have only recently become available to football fans. Beginning in December of 2002, this game features a matchup between those teams ranked at or approximate to number 3 in either the ACC or the Big East. Since the game was introduced to the scene, fans have lined up to see what the newest bowl have in store for the postseason.
When it started in 2002, the bowl was called the Continental Tire Bowl after its then sponsor. However, that changed in 2004 when Meineke took over. Now each year the game takes place in the 73,367 seat Bank of America Stadium located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Recently, in 2006, the bowl game came to an agreement with the U.S. Naval Academy. If the Navy qualifies for a bowl game, they will be eligible for the Meineke Car Care Bowl along with all qualified teams from the Big East.
In the bowl’s more recent past, fans have seen some exciting games. When 2004 came around, Boston College prepared to take on North Carolina. In the last few minutes of the game, Paul Peterson was taken down with a broken leg. However, as he was taken off the field, the cheers of fans told him that his team was about to score. In the next play, kicker Ryan Ohliger faked a field goal into the end zone for a 21 yard touchdown. With this, the score changed to 37-24 in favor of Boston College. It’s safe to say that the injured Eagles’ quarterback felt a little less pain as he watched the team take the bowl game.
2005 gave fans just as exciting of a performance. With excellent plays on both their offense and defense, North Carolina State was able to take down South Florida with a shutout 14-0 win. Credit for the touchdowns go to both Brian Clark, who caught a nine yard touchdown pass, and also to Andre Brown, who scored on a one yard run. However, the game came as a huge disappointment to South Florida who was playing in their first bowl game in school history. Although the team had managed to build themselves up to a Division I-A by 2001, their 100th game witnessed the first shutout in school history. Although the team managed to gain 295 yards in the game, Andre Hall, the team’s leading rusher, just couldn’t seem to get into the end zone. However, he did account for most of the offense, ending the game with 118 yards and two catches for 49 yards.
While Meineke Car Care Bowl tickets are new to the football scene, that doesn’t make them any less valuable to fans. This fresh, exciting bowl game gives football enthusiasts another opportunity to catch a great game in the postseason which is plenty of incentive to stay tuned. After all of the action-packed plays the bowl has seen already, there’s no doubt that the Meineke Car Care Bowl will continue to rise as one of college’s great postseason bowl.
