The 2013 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl is an American

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 ...

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 ...

that was played on December 26, 2013 at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. The 17th edition of

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (known as the Motor City Bowl until 2009) was a post-season college football bowl game that was played annually from 1997 to 2013. The first five games (1997–2001) were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, M ...

featured the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

from the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

against the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

from the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

. It was one of the 2013–14 bowl games that concluded the 2013 FBS football season. Pittsburgh defeated Bowling Green by a score of 30–27. Pittsburgh running back James Conner, who rushed for 229 yards, 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 ...

.Werner, Sam
Pitt beats Bowling Green, 30–27, in Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
post-gazette.com. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014. The game was the final edition of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl; it was displaced by the

Quick Lane Bowl The Quick Lane Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2014 season. Backed by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League, the game features a bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten Confere ...

, organized by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

, beginning in 2014.

Teams

The 2013 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl marked the fourth time Pittsburgh and Bowling Green have played each other. Because Pittsburgh was not selected for one of the ACC's seven contractual bowl tie-ins and with the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

having just seven bowl-eligible teams and not able to send a team to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl, Pittsburgh was selected.Pitt Accepts Bid to Play in Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl
post-gazette.com. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2014. Pittsburgh came into the game holding a 2–1 lead in the series.
Pittsburghpanthers.com. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

Pittsburgh

In the Panthers' first season in the ACC, Pittsburgh finished 6th in the Coastal Division with a 6–6 (3–5 conference) record. The Panthers' offense was led by wide receivers Devin Street (who was unable to play in the game due to injuriesWerner, Sam
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl notebook: Boyd's show backs up his words
post-gazette.com. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2014.) and Tyler Boyd, as well as senior quarterback Tom Savage. Pittsburgh's defense was led by All-American defensive tackle

Aaron Donald Aaron Charles Donald (born May 23, 1991) is an American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pittsburgh, where he received unanimous All-American honors, and ...

, who entered the game with 10 sacks on the season. The Panthers were coached by

Paul Chryst Paul Joseph Chryst (born November 17, 1965) is a former American football head coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. Chryst was the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012 to ...

.Fortuna, Matt
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl preview

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

Bowling Green

Bowling Green entered the game as the

champions. The Falcons finished 1st in the MAC East Division with a 10–3 (7–1 conference) record. In the 2013 MAC Championship Game, BGSU defeated

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...

47–27 to spoil the Huskies' BCS hopes.Bowling Green wins MAC title, ruins Northern Illinois' BCS hopes

. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014. The Falcons' offense was led by quarterback Matt Johnson, who entered the game with 3,195 passing yards and 23 passing touchdowns. BGSU's defense led the MAC in scoring, rushing, passing and total defense. The Falcons were coached by Adam Scheier, who took over head coaching duties after

Dave Clawson David Paul Clawson (born August 16, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the head football coach at Wake Forest University, where he was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year. Clawson previously served a ...

agreed to become the head coach at Wake Forest.

Game summary

BGSU scored first on a 28-yard field goal from Tyler Tate. Pittsburgh responded on the next drive with a 15-yard James Conner touchdown run to take a 7–3 lead. In the second quarter, Pittsburgh expanded their lead to 10–3 after

Chris Blewitt Christopher Blewitt (born May 2, 1995) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers football, Pittsburgh Panthers, where he finished as their all-time leader in field goal (Americ ...

kicked a 25-yard field goal. Pittsburgh took a 17–3 lead after the Panthers' Tyler Boyd returned a punt 54-yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing drive, Bowling Green looked like it would have to punt inside their own 30-yard line after Matt Johnson was sacked. However, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called on Pittsburgh defensive tackle

, giving the Falcons a first down. Bowling Green would later score on the drive on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Matt Johnson to Alex Bayer to make it 17–10. The game remained 17–10 going into the half.Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Bowling Green Falcons play-by-play

. Retrieved 1 January 2014.James Conner sets Pitt record as Panthers slip past Bowling Green

. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Bowling Green Falcons box score

. Retrieved 1 January 2014. Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage suffered a rib injury in the first half of the game and was unable to play in the second half. Savage was replaced by Chad Voytik for the second half of the game.DiPaola, Jerry
Pitt overcomes injuries, absences to win Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
triblive.com. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014. Bowling Green tied the game 17–17 on the first play in the second half with a 94-yard kickoff return by BooBoo Gates. On the following Pittsburgh drive, the Panthers drove to Bowling Green's 21-yard line. However, Pittsburgh was unable to take the lead when Chris Blewitt missed a 39-yard field goal. On the subsequent drive, Bowling Green drove to Pittsburgh's 28-yard line and took a 20–17 lead on a 46-yard field goal from Tyler Tate. On the subsequent drive, Pittsburgh tied the game 20–20 with a 28-yard field goal from Chris Blewitt. The game remained tied 20–20 going into the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh took 27–20 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run from Chad Voytik. On the subsequent Bowling Green drive, the Falcons tied the game 27–27 with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Matt Johnson to Ryan Burbrink with 4:42 left in the game. Pittsburgh retook the lead on a 39-yard field goal from Chris Blewitt with 1:17 remaining in the game. Bowling Green had one final chance to tie or win the game. However, after the Falcons committed a holding penalty and Matt Johnson was sacked on back-to-back plays, the Falcons needed to convert a 4th and 40 situation to continue the drive. The Falcons were unable to convert, however, sealing the victory for Pittsburgh.

Scoring summary

Statistics

Pittsburgh running back James Conner was named the game's

. Conner rushed for 229 yards on 26 carries and had one rushing touchdown. Conner also broke the Pittsburgh bowl record for yards rushing, a record that was once held by

Tony Dorsett Anthony Drew Dorsett Sr. (born April 7, 1954) is a former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. From Western Pennsylvania, Dorsett attended the ...

. Pittsburgh outgained Bowling Green 487–289 in total yards. The Falcons had 279 receiving yards, but were held to only 10 rushing yards. Tyler Boyd was Pittsburgh leading receiver, who had 8 catches for 173 yards. With his performance, Boyd also broke the Pittsburgh record for most receiving yards by a freshman, a record that was once held by

Larry Fitzgerald Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. (born August 31, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver. Fitzgerald played in the National Football League for 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at University of Pittsburg ...

. Tom Savage was Pittsburgh leading passer, completing 8 of his 13 passes for 124 yards. Chad Voytik, who played in the second half after Savage was injured, completed 5 of his 9 passes for 108 yards. Voytik was also Pittsburgh's second leading rusher, rushing twice for 24 yards and a touchdown. Bowling Green's leading receiver was Shaun Joplin, who had 6 catches for 86 yards. Heath Jackson was the Falcons' second leading receiver, catching 5 passes for 78 yards. Bowling Green quarterback Matt Johnson completed 20 of his 32 passes for 272 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Falcons' leading rusher was Travis Greene, who rushed for 39 yards on 18 carries.

References

{{Pittsburgh Panthers bowl game navbox

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Bowling Green Falcons football bowl games Pittsburgh Panthers football bowl games December 2013 sports events in the United States

2013 in Detroit