| 2023 Starco Brands LA Bowl | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Date | December 16, 2023 | ||||||||
| Season | 2023 | ||||||||
| Stadium | SoFi Stadium | ||||||||
| Location | Inglewood, California | ||||||||
| Referee | (ACC)[1] | ||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||
The 2023 LA Bowl is a college football bowl game that is scheduled to be played on December 16, 2023, at SoFi Stadium located in Inglewood, California. The third annual LA Bowl game will feature teams form the Mountain West Conference and the Pac-12 Conference. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. PST and will air on ABC.[2][3] The LA Bowl will be one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The bowl game will be sponsored by former National Football League player Rob Gronkowski and Starco Brands, and the game will be officially known as the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk.[4]
Teams
Based on conference tie-ins, the game will feature the Boise State Broncos from the Mountain West Conference and the UCLA Bruins from the Pac-12 Conference.
This will be the second meeting between Boise State and UCLA, as well as both teams' first appearance in the LA Bowl. The Bruins won their only previous meeting, defeating the Broncos 38–7 on September 4, 1999 in both teams' season opener.[5]
Boise State
After losing their first two games to a pair of Power 5 opponents, including College Football Playoff team Washington, the Broncos alternated wins and losses to reach a record of just 4–5 after the first week of November. However, Boise State would win their last three games in Mountain West play, which set up a three-way tie between them, UNLV, and San Jose State. Thanks to Mountain West tiebreaker rules, an aggregate of different computer rankings were used to determine who would play in the Mountain West Championship, with UNLV and Boise State making the cut and San Jose State being left out.[6] Boise State soundly defeated UNLV, 44–20, to win the 2023 Mountain West conference title. The Broncos entered the game with a record of 8–5.
UCLA
This will be UCLA's final game as a member of the Pac-12, as the Bruins are set to join the Big Ten Conference in 2024.[7]
Led by true freshman QB Dante Moore, the Bruins won their first three games, but suffered a 14–7 loss to Utah in their Pac-12 opener. Moore struggled mightily as the Bruins continued in Pac-12 play, throwing just three touchdowns to six interceptions. This led to his benching by Chip Kelly in favor of junior Ethan Garbers.[8] UCLA went just 4–5 in Pac-12 play, although they did earn a 38–20 win over rival USC with Garbers at quarterback. After the conclusion of the regular season, Moore announced his intention to enter the transfer portal. UCLA entered the game with a record of 7–5.
Game summary
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise State | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| UCLA | - | - | - | - | 0 |
Statistics
| Statistics | BSU | UCLA |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | ||
| Plays–yards | – | – |
| Rushes–yards | – | – |
| Passing yards | ||
| Passing: comp–att–int | –– | –– |
| Time of possession |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boise State | Passing | ||
| Rushing | |||
| Receiving | |||
| UCLA | Passing | ||
| Rushing | |||
| Receiving |
References
- ↑ Austro, Ben (December 3, 2023). "2023-24 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
- ↑ Straka, Dean. "2023-24 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, locations, kickoff times, TV channels". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ↑ Lewis, Barry. "2023-24 College Football Bowl Schedule, Dates, Times Announced". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ↑ Reedy, Joe (October 21, 2023). "Move over Jimmy Kimmel, it's now the LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk". Associated Press. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
- ↑ "Winsipedia - Boise State Broncos vs. UCLA Bruins". Winsipedia. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
- ↑ "Spartans left out of league championship game". The Mercury News. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ↑ McCollough, J. Brady; Plaschke, Bill; Kartje, Ryan; Bolch, Ben (June 30, 2022). "USC and UCLA rock college sports by leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
- ↑ "Dante Moore Entering Transfer Portal". The Daily Bruin. Retrieved December 6, 2023.