The 2022 Birmingham 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 ...

bowl game played on December 27, 2022, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. The 16th annual Birmingham Bowl, the game featured Coastal Carolina of the

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 ...

and

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 ...

of the American Athletic Conference. The game began at 5:50 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by ticket sales company TicketSmarter, the game was officially known as the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl.

Teams

This was the first time that Coastal Carolina and East Carolina faced each other.

Coastal Carolina

Coastal Carolina compiled a 9–2 regular season record, 6–2 in conference play. They had a non-conference game against Virginia canceled. The Chanticleers qualified for the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game, which they lost to Troy, thus entered the bowl with a 9–3 overall record. Coastal Carolina did not face any ranked opponents during the season.

East Carolina

East Carolina played to a 7–5 regular-season record, 4–4 in conference play. They faced one ranked opponent during the season, losing to NC State in their first game. The Pirates played in, and lost, the January 2015 edition of the Birmingham Bowl. They also played in, and lost, the December 2006 edition of the game, when it was known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl. They played in the 2022 Birmingham Bowl and defeated Coastal Carolina University, securing their first bowl victory since 2013.

Officials

The officials for the game were from the Big 12 Conference and were: Referee: Tutashinda Salaam Umpire: Sheldon Davis Head Line Judge: Bradford Edwards Line Judge: David Young Field Judge: Ed Vinzant Side Judge: Rick Ockey Back Judge: Joel Wetzel Center Judge: Darren Winkley Alternate: Marvel July Replay Official: Dee Anderson Communicator: Terry Porter

Game summary

Statistics

References

{{East Carolina Pirates bowl game navbox Birmingham Bowl Birmingham Bowl Birmingham Bowl Birmingham Bowl Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football bowl games East Carolina Pirates football bowl games