TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl is homecoming for Cincinnati, Boston College players
Cincinnati Bearcats coach Luke Fickell, right, and linebacker Perry Young, a Spain Park High School alumnus, pose with the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl trophy. The No. 21 Bearcats face the Boston College Eagles in the Jan. 2 game at Legion Field. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr./Alabama NewsCenter)
Mark Meadows didn’t have to praise the attributes of Boston College and Cincinnati coming to town for the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl.
He did, of course. That’s what the bowl’s executive director does every year. But this year Meadows had homegrown help from Bearcats linebacker Perry Young, a 2014 product of Hoover’s Spain Park High School.
“It (has) good weather, good food and there’s good football down here,” Young said following a Thursday press conference in advance of the 2 p.m. Central game on Jan. 2 on ESPN. “The most important thing is just the environment the city’s going to provide us.
“The competition we’re going to have with Boston College is going to be really good,” the senior continued. “I’m excited to play them. Watching them on film, their record doesn’t do them quite as much justice. They’re a lot better football team than what their record says.”
The Eagles bring a 6-6 record to Legion Field. They became bowl eligible with their 26-19 victory over Pittsburgh in their Atlantic Coast Conference finale.
The Bearcats (10-3) are ranked No. 21 in the College Football Playoff ranking.
Cincinnati, Boston College coaches talk about playing in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
While the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl will be a homecoming for Young, it will be his first time playing at historic Legion Field. His younger brother did play there in the Shug-Bear Bowl, a youth football title contest.
“I came to a lot of games here, like the (Magic City) Classic and all those other events,” he said, acknowledging the history of the Old Gray Lady on Graymont Avenue. “Alabama and Auburn were there. It even used to host (high school) football championships there. Growing up around it and seeing it from the outside in, you imagine yourself on the field, scoring touchdowns, tackling or catching an interception.
“Being on the field for my last collegiate game, it’s going to be a wonderful experience. It’s going to be a memory that I never forget.”
As the Bearcat linebacker spoke, his father, Kerry Young, and mother, Stephanie Young, soaked up the moment. They later posed for pictures with their son in front of the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl backdrop. Each plans to be in the stands and they expect to have a lot of company, with upward of 200 ticket requests from family and friends.
“It’s very special,” Kerry Young said, estimating the ticket requests at 250 to 300.
“He’s home. He’s home to play in front of the hometown. He’s like a hometown hero. He’s got a lot of fans and a lot of people follow him on Twitter. He’s ready to go for the city.”
Young isn’t the only bowl participant with Birmingham ties. Boston College junior defensive tackle T.J. Rayam played at Thompson High School in Alabaster before spending a year at The Peddie School in New Jersey.
Rayam missed Thursday’s press conference because of an academic conflict.
The press conference in the East Meeting Room of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex marked the first visit to Birmingham for Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell and Boston College interim coach Rich Gunnell.
The bowl game won’t be the first trip to the Magic City for either football program.
The Bearcats were in town for the second edition of the Birmingham Bowl game, downing Southern Miss 31-21 when it was the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Boston College beat Alabama 20-13 in 1983 and 38-31 in 1984. Each victory was led by Doug Flutie, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1984.
