2024 Boca Raton Bowl
| 2024 Boca Raton Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 11th Boca Raton Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 18, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | FAU Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Boca Raton, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Off.: JC Evans (QB, James Madison) Def.: DJ Barksdale (NB), James Madison) Special Teams: Ryan Hanson (P, James Madison)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Nolan Dumas (Mountain West)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 15,808 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst), and Coley Harvey (sideline) (ESPN) Chris Carlin (play-by-play) and Freddie Coleman (analyst) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2024 Boca Raton Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 18, 2024, at FAU Stadium located in Boca Raton, Florida. The 11th annual Boca Raton Bowl game featured the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers from Conference USA against the James Madison Dukes from the Sun Belt Conference. The game began at approximately 5:30 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN.[3][4] The Boca Raton Bowl was one of the 2024–25 bowl games concluding the 2024 FBS football season.
Teams
[edit]The game featured the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers against the James Madison Dukes. This was the first time that the two programs ever played each other.[5]
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
[edit]Western Kentucky finished their season with an 8–5 overall record and a 6–2 record in Conference USA play. Tied with Sam Houston for second place in the conference, the Hilltoppers' win over the Bearkats on October 16 gave them the tiebreaker and the berth in the 2024 Conference USA Football Championship Game, where they lost to Jacksonville State.
This was Western Kentucky's third Boca Raton bowl, the most appearances in the game to this point; the 2017 Hilltoppers won the 2016 edition over Memphis, and the 2021 Hilltoppers won the 2021 edition over Appalachian State.
James Madison Dukes
[edit]James Madison finished their season with an 8–4 overall record and a 4–4 record in SBC play, tied for third place in the East Division with archrival Old Dominion. This was James Madison's first Boca Raton Bowl. Starting quarterback Alonza Barnett was unable to play due to injury, resulting in backup Billy Atkins getting the start.[6]
Game summary
[edit]| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky | 0 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| James Madison | 7 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 27 |
at FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, Florida
- Date: Wednesday, December 18, 2024
- Game time: 5:32 p.m. EST
- Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 77 °F (25 °C) • Wind: 8 mph (13 km/h) north
- Game attendance: 15,808
- Referee: Nolan Dumas
- TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst), and Coley Harvey (sideline)
- Box score
| Game information |
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Statistics
[edit]| Statistics | WKU | JMU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 14 | 19 |
| Plays–yards | 59–318 | 70–394 |
| Rushes–yards | 20–16 | 46–212 |
| Passing yards | 302 | 182 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 25–39–0 | 17–24–0 |
| Time of possession | 23:28 | 36:32 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky | Passing | Caden Veltkamp | 25/39, 302 yds, 2 TD |
| Rushing | Elijah Young | 11 rushes, 37 yds | |
| Receiving | Dalvin Smith | 2 receptions, 76 yds | |
| James Madison | Passing | Billy Atkins | 16/23, 181 yds, TD |
| Rushing | George Pettaway | 14 rushes, 100 yds | |
| Receiving | Omarion Dollison | 6 receptions, 82 yds |
References
[edit]- ^ Paul, Ben (December 18, 2024). "James Madison 24-17 Western Kentucky, Boca Raton Bowl 2024". bocaratonbowl.com. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
- ^ Austro, Ben (December 9, 2024). "2024-25 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
- ^ Cobb, David. "2024-25 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, locations, kickoff times, TV channels". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Kelley, Kevin. "College football bowl schedule for 2024-25 season released". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ "Winsipedia - Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs. James Madison Dukes football history". Winsipedia. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
- ^ "James Madison secures its first bowl victory after topping Western Kentucky in Boca Raton". The Washington Times. AP. December 18, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
External links
[edit]- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com