First Responders Bowl: UTSA 57, Florida International 20

 

Another corporate bowl. This one was tentatively called the Dallas Football Classic until Ticket City, an online ticket reseller, became the title sponsor in 2011 and named the game the Ticket City Bowl for two years (Phoenix' earlier Rate Bowl today was the Ticket City Cactus Bowl in 2015). The bowl was renamed to the Heart of Dallas Bowl in 2013, and then the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl from 2014 to 2017.  

In 2018, the name was changed to the First Responder Bowl, with Servpro, a disaster restoration company, the title sponsor. For the record, the crew that eventually shows up to restore sites after fires and floods aren't the "first responders" - police, ambulances, and firemen were all there first. But whatevs. It's also amusingly ironic to note that the first First Responder Bowl had to be cancelled in the first quarter due to a potential disaster in the form of severe weather.

This year's game featured the Florida International Panthers (7-5) of the CUSA. What? Another CUSA team? We've already seen Jacksonville State, Missouri State, Kennesaw State, Delaware, and Western Kentucky, and now we have another CUSA team? How many of these are there, and are they ALL in bowls? This team,  the FIU Panthers, are 8½-point underdogs to the UTSA Roadrunners (6-6) of the AAC.

And there's the problem. I may be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of CUSA teams, but life is too short and I have too much self-respect to spend three hours cheering for a Texas team (UTSA is University of Texas - San Antonio). And after all, CUSA is 3-2 in bowls so far this season, so if it comes down to CUSA vs. UTSA, I'll take the CUSA team over those beep-beep motherfucking Roadrunners any day. 

And then UTSA jumps out to a 31-14 halftime lead over Florida Man just to mess me up. And as if that wasn't enough, they outscored Florida Man, 26-6, in the second half and win the game, 57-20. They more than cover their 8½-point handicap in their win, and I take a loss with my underdog pick. But at least I wasn't cheering for a Texas team for the duration of the game. Tricksy beep-beep motherfuckers!  

And that's a wrap on today. I get a win, I take a loss, and the other was a push. My record after ten days and 19 games is 7-11. Twenty-seven more games to go, and eight of them are tomorrow.