San Diego State Wins The 2021 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl

Fourth 2021 Tropical Smoothie Café Bowl Notes – Dec. 21, 2021 – Frisco, Texas – Toyota Stadium – Final Score: San Diego State 38, UTSA 24

General Notes

This was just the first meeting between these two successful 2021 programs. The teams have combined for more victories (24) than any two post-2021 bowl squads except Alabama (12-1) and Cincinnati (13-0) in the College Football Playoff semifinals in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.

Both San Diego State and UTSA closed the season with 12-2 overall records. The two schools played in their respective conference title games against WKU (Conference USA) and Utah State (Mountain West), respectively.

San Diego State is the first school to compete two contests in the TSCFB (vs. Ohio in ’18). Seven other schools have made one appearance.

The Aztecs are 10-9-0 in 19 bowl games, 582-432-32 (.572 – 45^th among 130 NCAA FBS schools in winning percentage and 77^th in total victories among FBS members).

The Roadrunners are 0-3 in three all-time bowl appearances (their 2020 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl against SMU was scrubbed by COVID-19 protocols, and they fell to Louisiana 31-24 in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl in Dallas), 66-68 in 11 seasons of varsity football and have qualified for three postseason tilts since 2016.

SDSU head coach Brady Hoke is 94-78-0 over 15 seasons as head coach at Ball State, San Diego State (two terms), Michigan, and Tennessee (interim in 2017). He is 3-3 in bowl skirmishes (2-0 with the Aztecs) and 16-6 in his last two seasons in San Diego.

UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor is 19-7-0 in just two seasons with the Roadrunners and has guided the school to back-to-back bowls for the first time in school annals. The ultra-successful former Texas high school coach also earned 2021 Conference USA Coach of the Year laurels after leading UTSA to its first C-USA gridiron championship and was a finalist for the FWAA Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.

UTSA was seeking to become the second team in succession to register its first bowl victory in the Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl after Kent State broke the postseason ice in 2019 here against Utah State before SDSU downed the Roadrunners.

Previous TSCFB Scores:

Dec. 20, 2017 – Louisiana Tech 51, SMU 10

Dec. 19, 2018 – Ohio 27, San Diego State 0

Dec.  20, 2019 – Kent State 51, Utah State 41

Dec. 19, 2020 – Game cancelled by COVID-19 protocols; invitees – SMU and UTSA

Previous Most Valuable Players

Offensive                                                           Defensive

2017 J’Mar Smith, QB, Louisiana Tech           Amik Robertson, CB, Louisiana Tech

2018 A. J. Ouellette, RB, Ohio                         Evan Croutch, LB, Ohio

2019 Dustin Crum, QB, Kent State                  Qwuantrezz Knight, DB, Kent State

2021 Jesse Matthews, WR, SDSU                  CJ Baskerville, DB, San Diego State

TSCFB Bowl Records (2017-19, 21)

Game records

Team      Record, Team vs. Opponent             Year

Most points scored (one team) 51, shared by: Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017; Kent State vs. Utah State, 2019

Most points scored (losing team)      41, Utah State vs. Kent State            2019

Most points scored (both teams)       92, Kent State vs. Utah State            2019

Fewest points allowed         0, Ohio vs. San Diego State, 2018

Largest margin of victory    41, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017

Total yards            550, Kent State vs. Utah State, 2019

Rushing yards      252, Kent State vs. Utah State, 2019

Passing yards       333, San Diego State vs. UTSA, 2021

First downs           29, Utah State vs. Kent State, 2019

Fewest yards allowed          287, Ohio vs. San Diego State          2018

Fewest rushing yards allowed           141, SMU vs. Louisiana Tech           2017

Fewest passing yards allowed           127, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU           2017

Individual               Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent Year

All-purpose yards 197, A. J. Ouellette, Ohio vs. San Diego State              2018

Touchdowns (all-purpose)   2, shared by four players. Last: Jesse Matthews, SD State vs. UTSA, 2021

Rushing yards      164, A. J. Ouellette, Ohio vs. San Diego State              2018

Rushing touchdowns           2, Nathan Rourke, Ohio vs. San Diego State  2018

Passing yards 333, Lucas Johnson, San Diego State vs. UTSA, 2021

Passing touchdowns 3, shared by: J’Mar Smith, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017; Jordan Love, Utah State vs. Kent State, 2019; Lucas Johnson, San Diego State vs. UTSA, 2021

Receptions 11, Jesse Matthews, San Diego State vs. UTSA, 2021

Receiving yards 175, Jesse Matthews, San Diego State vs. UTSA, 2017

Receiving touchdowns 2, shared by: Teddy Veal, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017; Siaosi Mariner, Utah State vs. Kent State, 2019; Jesse Mathews, San Diego State vs. UTSA, 2021

Tackles  14, Troy Lefeged Jr., Utah State vs. Kent State, 2019

Sacks     2, Nick Heninger, Utah State vs. Kent State, 2019

Interceptions 1, multiple players. Last: C.J. Baskerville, San Diego State vs. UTSA, 2021

Long Plays            Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent Year

Touchdown run    57, Deven Thompkins, Utah State vs. Kent State, 2019

Touchdown pass  78, Dustin Crum to Isaiah McKoy, Kent State vs. Utah State, 2019

Kickoff return        65, Jaqwis Dancy, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017

Punt return            30, Kylan Nelson, Ohio vs. San Diego State, 2018

Interception return 45, Amik Robertson, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017

Fumble return       8, Eric Kendzior, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017

Punt        51, Davan Dyer, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017; Lucas Dean, UTSA vs. San Diego State, 2021

Field goal              45, Dominik Eberle, Utah State vs. Kent State, 2019

SDSU punter-kicker Matt Araiza is the Aztecs first winner of the prestigious 2021 Ray Guy Award as NCAA FBS punter of the year.

SDSU wideout Jesse Matthews set Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl records for receptions with 11 and yards with 175 in tonight’s fracas. He also tied the bowl’s record for touchdown receptions with two.

Aztecs QB Lucas Johnson set a TSCFB record for passing yards with 333 and tied the bowl’s mark for touchdown passes with three. The 333 passing yards by SDSU also represented a TSCFB team record for yards passing.

Roadrunners punter Lucas Dean tied Davan Dyer of Louisiana Tech vs. SMU, 2017, for the longest punt in TCSFB annals with a 51-yarder.

Records by conference in the TSCFB are now Mid-American 2-0, Conference USA 1-1, American 0-1, and Mountain West 1-2.

The TSFB also has featured some of the nation’s top coaching notables such as Frank Solich (retired) of Ohio, Rocky Long of San Diego State, Sony Dykes of SMU (now at TCU), Skip Holtz of Louisiana Tech, Sean Lewis of Kent State, Gary Andersen (retired) of Utah State, and this year’s two top mentors.

Conference USA teams were 25-33 against non-conference opponents in one of the nation’s toughest non-league slates during the 2021 regular season. Teams from the Mountain West Conference are a composite 31-20 against non-loop opponents in scheduled ’21 after playing only four non-conference contests (1-3 record) in 2020 due to COVID-19 conditions. MWC teams also have started the post-2021 bowl season with a 4-0 mark – the most victories by any league to open ’21 postseason activity/

Conference USA started the 2021 postseason with 14-22 mark for 36 bowl tests over the last five seasons and 14-16 from 2016-19. The MWC is 17-12 in 29 bowl games over the last five seasons prior to 2021 (now 21-12) and 2-1 in bowls’ overtime games prior to December ’21.

This is the seventh of eight bowl skirmishes (3-4 record) for Conference USA and the fourth of eight bowl encounters (4-0 record) for the MWC. North Texas of C-USA meets Miami (Ohio) of the Mid-American Conference Thursday in the inaugural Frisco Football Classic here at Toyota Stadium in the eighth meeting involving C-USA bowl contingents.

Wednesday’s Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl between SEC contender Missouri and independent Army West Point is the second of three consecutive days of postseason matchups in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex this week. The location is historic Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth.

Bowl Eligibles By Conferences in 2021-22 (Six wins, current .500-plus overall records, or special invitees with at least six victories – 84 teams in 43 bowls, including CFP championship contest). There were 83 teams with six wins or .500-plus records at the end of regular season, and 6-7 overall Hawai’i received a special invitation.

ACC (10): Boston College, Clemson, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, NC State, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

American (7): Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, UCF, Tulsa

Big Ten (9): Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

Big 12 (7): Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia

C-USA (8): Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion, UAB, UTEP, UTSA, Western Kentucky

MAC (8): Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan

Mountain West (8): Air Force, Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, Utah State, Wyoming

Pac-12 (6): Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington State

SEC (13): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M

Sun Belt (4): Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette

Independent (4): Army, BYU, Liberty, Notre Dame

2021-22 Bowl Schedules, Results, Attendance – 11 Bowls – Schedule

Through Dec. 21, 2021

Friday, Dec. 17 Bahamas Bowl Middle Tennessee 31, Toledo 24, 13,596

Friday, Dec. 17 Cure Bowl Coastal Carolina 47, Northern Illinois 41, 9,784

Saturday, Dec. 18 RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl WKU 59, Appalachian State 38, 15,429

Saturday, Dec. 18 Cricket Celebration Bowl South Carolina State 31, Jackson State 10, 48,653

Saturday, Dec. 18 New Mexico Bowl Fresno State 31, UTEP 24, 16,422

Saturday, Dec. 18 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl UAB 31, BYU 28, 26,276

Saturday, Dec. 18 Lendingtree Bowl Liberty 56, Eastern Michigan 20, 15,186

Saturday, Dec. 18 Jimmy Kimmel Los Angeles Bowl Utah State 24, Oregon State 13, 29,896

Saturday, Dec. 18 R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Louisiana 36, Marshall 21, 21,642

Monday, Dec. 20 Myrtle Beach Bowl presented by TaxAct Tulsa 30, Old Dominion 17, 6,557

Tuesday, Dec. 21 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Wyoming 52, Kent State 38,

Tuesday, Dec. 21 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl San Diego State 38, UTSA 24, 15,801

Conference Records in 2021-22 Bowls (Through Dec. 21 - 11 Bowls)

AAC 1-0

ACC 0-0

Big Ten 0-0

Big 12 0-0

C-USA 3-4

Independents 1-1

MAC 0-4

MWC 4-0

Pac-12 0-1

SEC 0-0

Sun Belt 2-1

2021-22 Attendance 11 Bowls: 180,706, average: 16,428 (through tonight’s game)