The 2016 Cure Bowl was a post-season 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 ...

played on December 17, 2016 at Camping World Stadium in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. The second annual edition of the

Cure Bowl The Cure Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game that has been played in December of each year in Orlando, Florida since 2015. It was originally held at Camping World Stadium before moving to Exploria Stadium in 2022. The Cure Bowl i ...

is one of the 2016–17 bowl games that concludes the 2016 FBS football season. Sponsored by automotive retailer

AutoNation AutoNation is an American automotive retailer based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which provides new and pre-owned vehicles and associated services in the United States. The company was founded by Wayne Huizenga in 1996, starting with twelve Aut ...

, the game is officially known as the AutoNation Cure Bowl. Notably, the UCF Knights would not lose another game until the 2019 Fiesta Bowl.

Teams

The game features teams from the American Athletic Conference and

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

. On December 4, 2016, it was announced that the 2016 matchup would feature the UCF Knights taking on the Arkansas State Red Wolves. The two teams have only played each other once before, with the

Knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

defeating the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

(as ASU was then known as) at

Centennial Bank Stadium Centennial Bank Stadium (formerly known as Liberty Bank Stadium) is located on the campus of Arkansas State University and is home to their college football team, the Red Wolves. The stadium was named after the old nickname of the school, the Ind ...

31-20 in 1991.

Arkansas State

After finishing the season with a 7-5 record, the Red Wolves will be appearing in their sixth straight bowl game. Arkansas State last played at Camping World Stadium in the

1954 Tangerine Bowl The 1954 Tangerine Bowl was an American college football bowl game played after the 1953 season, on January 1, 1954, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Arkansas State Indians (now the Arkansas State Red Wolves) tied the Eas ...

, when the stadium was called the Tangerine Bowl. The Red Wolves' on-campus stadium,

, is a drive from Camping World Stadium.

UCF

Following the winless 2015 season, first year coach Scott Frost led the team to a 6-6 record with wins over

South Carolina State South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina, is a memb ...

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

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 ...

, Tulane, and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. The Knights have not played at Camping World Stadium since the opening of the on-campus

Bright House Networks Stadium FBC Mortgage Stadium (formerly known as Bright House Networks Stadium and Spectrum Stadium, also known as the Bounce House) is an American football stadium located in Orlando, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Centra ...

following their 2006 season. Prior to that, the team had used the Citrus Bowl (the previous name of Camping World Stadium), which is a drive from Bright House Networks Stadium, as their home stadium for the previous 30 years.

Officials

The officials from the game came from the Mountain West Conference.

Referee: Kevin Mar Umpire: Stuart Schake Head Linesman: George Shoup Line Judge: David Young Side Judge: Steve Heiman Field Judge: Robert "Scooter" Asel Back Judge: Robert Lewis Center Judge: Darren Winkley Replay Official: Judson Howard Communicator: Bob Bahne Alternate Official: Tim Crowley

Game summary

Scoring summary

Source:

Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cure Bowl 2016–17 NCAA football bowl games

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 Cure Bowl 2016 Cure Bowl 2010s in Orlando, Florida 2016 in sports in Florida December 2016 sports events in the United States