UTSA has been selected for its sixth straight and seventh overall bowl appearance. The Roadrunners will face Florida International University in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl on Friday, Dec. 26, in Dallas, Texas.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Fans can find out more information regarding tickets by visiting goUTSA.com/tickets. Purchasing tickets directly from UTSA Athletics ensures you have preferred seating options and financially supports the UTSA Athletics Department. (UTSA will be able to negotiate preferred bowl options in the future based on previous ticket sales numbers and fan attendance. Seating will be allocated in RAF Loyalty Points order.)
For more information about the bowl game, please visit UTSA’s Bowl Central website at goUTSA.com/bowlcentral. For the third straight year, Ancira Auto Group is the presenting sponsor of UTSA’s bowl game appearance and radio broadcast.
Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Jeff Traylor, the Roadrunners will make their second appearance in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, as they also played in the game in 2020. UTSA won two of its last three games to close out this regular season with a 6-6 overall record, including a 4-4 mark in the American Conference.
FIU will enter the bowl game at 7-5 overall. The Panthers are riding a four-game winning streak that helped them finish 5-3 in Conference USA.
This will mark UTSA’s fifth all-time meeting with FIU, as the two teams met four times as members of Conference USA. The series is tied at 2-2 with the Roadrunners registering a 30-10 triumph on Oct. 14, 2022, in Miami in their last matchup with the Panthers.
The Roadrunners will travel to Dallas in search of their third-straight bowl win. Last December, UTSA raced past Coastal Carolina, 44-15, in the Myrtle Beach Bowl in Conway, South Carolina, to improve to 2-4 all-time in bowl games. In 2023, the Roadrunners defeated Marshall, 35-17, in the Frisco Bowl for the program’s first-ever bowl victory.
Three years ago in the Cure Bowl, No. 22 UTSA built a 12-0 first-half lead, but No. 23 Troy rallied for an 18-12 win in Orlando, Florida.
In 2021, 24th-ranked UTSA met nationally ranked San Diego State in the Frisco Bowl. The Aztecs pulled away late for a 38-24 victory.
In Traylor’s first season at the helm, UTSA nearly completed a comeback against No. 16 Louisiana in the 2020 First Responder Bowl. The Roadrunners rallied from a 24-7 deficit to tie the game, only to see the Ragin’ Cajuns score a late touchdown and escape with a 31-24 victory.
UTSA made its first bowl appearance in just its sixth season of play at the 2016 New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque. New Mexico built a 10-point lead and held on for a 23-20 win over the Roadrunners on a cold and windy afternoon at University Stadium.
First played following the 2010 season, the annual bowl game in Dallas began honoring first responders for the 2014 game. First responders include police officers, firefighters, EMS workers, correctional officers, search and rescue, dispatchers, security guards, federal agents, border patrol agents and military personnel who have specialized training and are the first to arrive and provide assistance at the scene of an emergency.
In 2018, the game was officially renamed the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl to reflect the efforts to show appreciation to first responders. Tickets for first responders are underwritten by corporate partners.
Gerald J. Ford Stadium has served as the site of the last six contests, four of which have been decided by a touchdown or less. The game, previously known as the Heart of Dallas Bowl and TicketCity Bowl, was originally contested at Cotton Bowl Stadium.
The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl is one of 17 college football bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events. For additional information, please visit FirstResponderBowl.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter/X.
