2000 Motor City Bowl

March 2024 March 2026 August 2023 2000 Motor City Bowl 2000 Cincinnati Bearcats University of Cincinnati Marshall Thundering Herd Marshall University 7–4 C-USA 7–5 MAC Rick Minter Bob Pruett 7 7 0 0 9 0 13 3 December 27 Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, Michigan Byron Leftwich QB Marshall Joe Rider (ACC) 52,911 ESPN List of announcers of major college bowl games Pam Ward, Don McPherson, and Holly Rowe The 2000 Motor City Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association bowl game in which the Marshall Thundering Herd of the MAC defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats of the Conference USA 25–14.Brown Kyle Cincinnati Bearcats bowl history: From the Sun Bowl in 1947 to the Cotton Bowl in 2021 https://eu.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/university-of-cincinnati/2021/12/07/uc-bowl-games-record-opponents-orange-sugar-peach-cotton-virginia-tech-florida-georgia-alabama/6410417001/ eu.cincinnati.com 28 February 2024 It was played on December 27, 2000, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. The Bearcats were C-USA runners-up fresh off the wins from five of their last six games, which included Syracuse and #20 Southern Mississippi. Marshall however was the four-time MAC champion who had also won five of their last six games, one of which was against Western Michigan, who had defeated them earlier in the season, in the MAC Championship Game. Cincinnati kicker Jonathan Ruffin was an All-America and had won the Lou Groza Award as the nation's best placekicker. Quarterback Deontey Kenner led the Bearcat offense, while 330 lb defensive tackle Mario Monds led the defense. Marshall's offense was led by future NFL quarterback Byron Leftwich, its defense was led by four-year starter Paul Toviessi. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the tragic 1970 plane crash which took the lives of 75 Marshall football players, coaches, administrators, and boosters on November 14. Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich was named the game's MVP. The game was the 4th installment of the Motor City Bowl, matching the Conference USA against the Mid-American Conference for the first time in its history. Scoring summary Scoring play Score 1st QuarterMU– Watts 77-yard TD pass from Leftwich (Jenkins kick), 12:48MU 7–0UC– McCleskey 2-yard TD run (Ruffin kick), 8:28Tie 7–7MU– Safety Owens, 2:35MU 9–7 2nd QuarterUC– McCleskey 2-yard TD run (Ruffin kick), 1:44UC 14–9 3rd QuarterMU– Leftwich 1-yard TD run (Leftwich pass failed), 12:01MU 15–14MU– Wallace 4-yard TD run (Jenkins kick), 7:24MU 22–14 4th QuarterMU – Jenkins 25-yard FG, 00:43MU 25–14 References Motor City Bowl Category:Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Category:Cincinnati Bearcats football bowl games Category:Marshall Thundering Herd football bowl games Motor City Bowl Motor City Bowl Category:Organized events in Pontiac, Michigan Category:Sports in Pontiac, Michigan