Escambia grad Reggie Smith cherishes finale In South Alabama bowl game
The idea of a college football bowl game in Mobile was formulated decades ago with a simple presumption.
Why not bring together a community’s love for football, along with its know-how on throwing a party as the origination of Mardi Gras, for a bowl game to celebrate the region’s festive spirit?
It’s been an enduring connection.
The 68 Ventures Bowl featuring Eastern Michigan (6-6) and South Alabama (6-6) celebrates a 25th anniversary of bowl history in Mobile on Saturday night at Hancock-Whitney Stadium. The milestone moment, televised on ESPN, reinforces the efforts to keep this event as part of college football’s now extensive bowl game lineup.
“We’re certainly proud of it. We’ve had a really good run,” said Jerry Silverstein, the co-founder of the bowl game, who has been the bowl president since the inaugural game on Dec. 22, 1999, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. “We thought it would be successful, but like any new venture, you just never know and it exceeded our expectations.”
The event features South Alabama playing for the first time in this bowl since the Jaguars started a football team 14 years ago. It’s also being staged at USA’s on-campus Hancock Whitney Stadium (24,450 capacity).
The Jaguars' roster includes starting senior center Reggie Smith, an Escambia High graduate, who has not missed an offensive line start in the past two years.
In what might be his final football game, Smith is embracing the moment.
“I’m taking it as a blessing, man,” said Smith, speaking to AL.com in a recent story. “As a senior getting to play one more time in our home stadium and just to getting to soak all that in. Being with our fan base, my teammates, being at home, there’s just no better feeling.”
South Alabama was a fledgling athletic program in 1999 – a full 10 years from launching football – when this bowl was created without a sponsor and simply titled, “The Mobile Alabama Bowl.”
The following year, General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) began as title sponsor for the next 12 years.
“Well, my first thought is that it’s amazing how time flies,” said South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann, laughing. He joined the school’s athletic department administration in 1997 and has been the Jaguars' director of athletics since 2009, coinciding with the football team’s first season.
“I remember I used to help with the bowl game operations when it first began in 1999,” Erdmann said. “The bowl game back then – and still is today – a great bowl game which has been embraced by the city and is known for its great student-athlete and fan experience.
“I think the bowl folks and the people in our community, who helped make it happen, capitalized on the rich history of the city of Mobile and the options for entertainment for everyone involved during the week. It has been fun to see it grow and have great games and provide national exposure for the city of Mobile.”
This year’s game is a first-time matchup between the teams. The Jaguars earned their way by winning two of their final three Sun Belt Conference games. They are seeking their first bowl win after three prior losses.
“That’s the main priority, to do something the school has never done and to keep setting the program to a higher level than what it was when we got here,” said Smith, speaking to AL.com.
He’s one of two northwest Florida starters in the game. Starting free safety Jaden Voisin is a Crestview High grad. Backup linebacker Khalil Jacobs is a Niceville grad.
Under third-year coach Kane Wommack, the Jaguars are seeking back-to-back winning seasons for the first time as a Division I member.
“Our best days are ahead of us and we look forward to using this bowl game as an opportunity to show all the great things that Mobile has to offer,” Wommack said at a recent news conference. “This bowl game is really special to the city of Mobile.
“It is a great partnership to be able to utilize Hancock Whitney Stadium. It is something we take great pride in. This community and the University of South Alabama continue to pull the rope in the same direction.”
It’s the first year of a partnership with 68 Ventures, a real estate company based in Daphne, which will celebrate its involvement as the first local presenting sponsor in the bowl’s history.
The company located on the Eastern Shore has grown into one of the nation’s top 100 private home builders with more than $250 million in assets in its company portfolio.
This bowl game holds special distinctions. The highest-scoring bowl game in college football history was played in Mobile on Dec. 19, 2001.
That night, the Marshall Thundering Herd rallied behind quarterback Byron Leftwich from a 38-8 halftime deficit to beat East Carolina, 64-61, in double overtime in front of a sellout crowd of 40,139 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
“I would say that has to be our all-time game,” said Silverstein, who joined with former college football coach and ESPN analyst Mike Gottfried to lead the effort in bringing a bowl game to Mobile. “People still talk about that game and it remains a record for combined points.”
It was one of two double-OT games in the bowl’s history. The other was Central Michigan’s 44-41 win against Troy in the 2010 game.
Fast forward to a year ago. Southern Mississippi running back Frank Gore Jr., son of the former five-time NFL All-Pro running back by the same name, rushed for a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) record 327 yards in the Eagles’ 38-24 victory against Rice.
Gore and Leftwich are among a large number of star college players and future NFL stars who played in the game. The second year of the bowl game featured TCU’s LaDanian Tomlinson, who was inducted in 2017 into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a stellar career with the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, soon-to-be Hall of Famer, played in the 2003 game as quarterback for Miami (Ohio) University, leading the team to a 49-28 win against Louisville in a game that attracted the second largest crowd (40,620) in the bowl’s history.
“A couple years ago we looked at this and we had 51 or 52 players who had played in this game who were on active NFL rosters,” Silverstein said. “And for a small game like ours, that is a lot of good players and it shows you that great players come from over.”
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com
WANT TO GO/WATCH?
WHAT: 68 Ventures Bowl
WHO: Eastern Michigan vs. South Alabama
WHEN: Saturday, 6 p.m.
WHERE: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile.
TV: ESPN
TICKETS: Prices range from $15 to $65.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: South Alabama, Escambia's Reggie Smith gearing up for 68 Ventures Bowl
