The 2011 Liberty Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

postseason

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played on December 31, 2011, at

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The st ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. With sponsorship from

AutoZone AutoZone, Inc. is an American retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories, the largest in the United States. Founded in 1979, AutoZone has over 6,400 stores across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the US Virgin Is ...

, the 53rd edition of the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

was officially the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The game, which was telecast at 2:30 p.m. CT on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, featured the

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

co-champions, versus the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's team ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). It was the first edition of the game to be aired by ABC since 1980. Cincinnati won the game, 31–24, in front of a crowd of 57,103.

Teams

After finishing the 2011 season with six wins and six losses, the Vanderbilt Commodores ended in fourth place in the

(SEC) East Division. They were chosen as the SEC representative to the Liberty Bowl. The Commodores' roster included junior-year quarterback Jordan Rodgers, the younger brother of

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

' Super Bowl-winning quarterback

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers began his college football career at Butte College in 2002 before transferring to the ...

. The Cincinnati Bearcats ended the regular season with nine wins and three losses and were co-champions of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

. Cincinnati was chosen as part of the alternate Big East tie-in with the Liberty Bowl in place of the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

champions. The Bearcats' squad included Ralph Abernathy IV, grandson of

Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and ...

, a leader in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. In the 2011 season, both teams had beaten

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Vanderbilt won 24–21 at home in the second game of their season. Cincinnati won 35–27 at home in their final regular-season game. Both teams also lost to

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Vanderbilt dropped their second-to-last game on the road to the Volunteers by a score of 21–27. Cincinnati's loss was also in Knoxville by a score of 23–45 in the second game of their season. Vandy - Cinci

Game

After a touchdown by

Zac Stacy Zachary Latrell Stacy (born April 9, 1991) is a former American football running back and domestic abuser. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Vanderbilt. He also played ...

and a successful conversion kick by Ryan Fowler, the Commodores were ahead at the end of the first quarter by 7–0. The Bearcats dominated the scoreboard in the second quarter with touchdowns by George Winn and Anthony McClung (with successful conversions by Tony Milano) and Cincinnati went into halftime with a 14–7 lead. The halftime entertainment was presented by

KC and the Sunshine Band KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "That's the Way (I Like It)", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "K ...

. The group performed three of their hit songs – "

Boogie Shoes "Boogie Shoes" is a funk/disco song by KC and the Sunshine Band, which first appeared on their 1975 self-titled album. The song became a hit after it appeared on the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack in 1977. It was subsequently released as ...

", "

Get Down Tonight "Get Down Tonight" is a song released in 1975 on the self-titled album by the disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The song became widely successful, becoming the first of their five No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also reached th ...

", and " That's The Way I Like It". They were accompanied by a number of marching bands and dance groups from around the country. After halftime, Vanderbilt tied the score with a Jerron Seymour touchdown and Ryan Fowler conversion and the third quarter ended 14–14. Shortly after the start of the fourth quarter, Cincinnati again took a 17–14 lead with a Tony Milano field goal. Vanderbilt responded with a touchdown by Chris Boyd and conversion by Fowler to retake the lead 21–17. Ralph Abernathy IV and

Isaiah Pead Isaiah D'Vaughn Pead (born December 14, 1989) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Cincinnati. Pead was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He was also a member of the ...

then scored a pair of touchdowns (and two conversions for Milano) for Cincinnati, who went ahead 31–21. Vanderbilt finished the game with a Ryan Fowler field goal. The final score was Cincinnati 31 – 24 Vanderbilt.

MVP

After running for 149 yards and a touchdown, Isaiah Pead was named the game's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. Pead led the Bearcats in carries (28) and rushing yards (149) and was the team's third leading receiver with 3 receptions for 15 yards.

Statistics

Both teams were evenly matched in total offensive yards (Cincinnati 301, Vanderbilt 295) and yards per play (Bearcats 4.1, Commodores 4.2), but Cincinnati had a decisive edge (20–14) in total first downs. Vanderbilt played more of a passing game with 12 completions in 34 attempts for 168 yards (4.9 yards per attempt). Cincinnati also completed 12 passes but in 29 attempts for 2.8 yards per attempt. The Bearcats played more of a running game with 44 carries for 221 yards (5 yards per carry) while the Commodores had 36 carries for 127 yards (3.5 yards per carry). Both teams threw two interceptions, but the Commodores also lost a fumble. Cincinnati received five penalties for 55 yards and Vanderbilt had six penalties for 39 total yards. The Bearcats had a slight edge in time of possession with 30:46 to the Commodores 29:14.

References

{{Vanderbilt Commodores bowl game navbox

Liberty Bowl Cincinnati Bearcats football bowl games Vanderbilt Commodores football bowl games December 2011 sports events in the United States 2011 in sports in Tennessee