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The 2023 First Responder Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 26, 2023, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas. The 14th annual First Responder Bowl featured the Texas State Bobcats of the Sun Belt Conference and the Rice Owls of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The game began at approximately 4:30 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. Sponsored by cleanup and restoration company Servpro, the game was officially known as the Servpro First Responder Bowl.

Teams

The game featured the Texas State Bobcats of the Sun Belt Conference and the Rice Owls of the American Athletic Conference (The American).

This was the fifth meeting between Texas State and Rice; the series was tied at 2–2 entering the game. This was the first appearance in a First Responder Bowl for both teams.

Texas State Bobcats

The Bobcats entered the game with a 7–5 record (4–4 in the Sun Belt), tied for second place in their conference's West Division. After starting their season with four wins in their first five games, the Bobcats lost four of their final seven games.

This was the first bowl game in the football program history of Texas State.

Rice Owls

The Owls entered the game with a 6–6 record (4–4 in The American), tied for fifth place in the conference. After starting their season 4–3, the Owls had a three game losing streak, then won their final two games to become bowl eligible.

JT Daniels began the season as Rice's starting quarterback, but left the Owls' week nine game against SMU on November 1 with a concussion after taking a shot to the helmet in the second quarter. A month later, on December 1, Daniels announced that he would be retiring from football due to the multiple concussions he sustained during his career.

Game summary

at Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, Texas

• Date: Tuesday, December 26, 2023
• Game time: 4:30 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 55 °F (13 °C) • Wind: 11 mph (18 km/h) SW
• Game attendance: 26,542
• Referee: Ed Ardito
• TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Neal (play-by-play), Aaron Murray (analyst), and Morgan Uber (sideline)
• Box score

References

1. @JacobHRichman (December 26, 2023). "And Brian Holloway is indeed the MVP of the First Responder Bowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 26, 2023 – via Twitter.
2. Parks, James (December 11, 2023). "College football bowl schedule, game odds, point spreads for 2023-24". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
3. Austro, Ben (December 3, 2023). "2023-24 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
4. @FRBowl (December 26, 2023). "26,542 is the attendance @frbowl Highest for the bowl game since it's been played at SMU" (Tweet). Retrieved December 26, 2023 – via Twitter.
5. "Winsipedia – Texas State Bobcats vs. Rice Owls". Winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
6. Gates, Billy (December 3, 2023). "Texas State selected to play in Servpro First Responder Bowl, 1st bowl game in program history". KXAN-TV. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
7. Dean, Richard (November 1, 2023). "Rice falls short against SMU, lose QB JT Daniels to injury". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
8. "Rice QB JT Daniels to medically retire from football". 247Sports.com. December 1, 2023.
9. "Ex-USC, Georgia QB JT Daniels Retires from Football Due to Concussion History". Syndication.BleacherReport.com. December 1, 2023.
10. "Breaking: Former Bulldogs Quarterback JT Daniels Medically Retires From Football". SI.com. December 1, 2023.

External links

• Game statistics at statbroadcast.com

• 2023–24 NCAA football bowl games
• First Responder Bowl
• 2023 in sports in Texas
• December 2023 sports events in the United States
• Texas State Bobcats football bowl games
• Rice Owls football bowl games