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The American Opens Up Bowl Season With USF in Miami Beach Bowl

MIAMI BEACH BOWL

2:30 p.m. ET
Marlins Park (34,000/Natural Grass)
Miami, Fla.
#MiamiBeachBowl

miami beach bowl preview

Television
ESPN - WATCH LIVE
Dave Lamont, Desmond Howard
and Quint Kessenich

USF Radio
WWBA-AM 820 (flagship)

THE GAME
The Miami Beach Bowl will be played for the second time in 2015 … The bowl is owned and operated by the American Athletic Conference and will normally pair a team from The American against opponents from Conference USA, the Sun Belt and the Mid-American Conference … Opponents from other conferences, as well as independent institutions, may participate as well … The game is played at Marlins Park, the home of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins, which has a retractable roof, climate-controlled temperatures and a natural grass playing surface … Marlins Park is built on the site of the former Orange Bowl, which was the site of five Super Bowls and countless major college football games … The first Miami Beach Bowl saw Memphis and Brigham Young battle into double overtime before the Tigers scored a 55-48 victory … Memphis forced overtime on a touchdown with 45 seconds left in regulation and stayed alive in the first OT on a 54-yard field goal by K Jake Elliott, before QB Paxton Lynch threw an 11-yard touchdown to WR Roderick Proctor in the second overtime … This year's game will be the seventh meeting between USF and Western Kentucky … The Bulls hold a 4-2 series lead … USF head coach Willie Taggart is a 1998 graduate of Western Kentucky and a former Hilltopper quarterback who served as head coach at his alma mater from 2010-12.