The Montgomery Bowl was unique to the 2020-21 college football season because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events. Of the 13 bowl games put on by ESPN Events this past season, the Montgomery Bowl was the only addition. It was completely new and unique. It effectively replaced the cancelled Fenway Bowl, which was planned to debut in 2020, pitting a team from the ACC against a team from the American Athletic Conference at Fenway Park in Boston. Instead, what college football fans got was a matchup between a team from Conference USA versus a team from the American at the old Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. Better than nothing.
This was actually one of two bowl games held at Cramton Bowl in 2020. The Camellia Bowl, which has been held at Cramton Bowl since 2014, was played on Christmas Day 2020 (Buffalo 17, Marshall 10). The Montgomery Bowl was held two days prior on December 23, 2020. Kickoff was at 6:00 PM local time and the game was televised nationally on ESPN. Memphis from the American (8-3, 5-3) topped Florida Atlantic (5-4, 4-2) from C-USA, 25-10. Due to COVID-19, attendance at both the Montgomery and Camellia Bowls was reduced to under 3,000 fans per event in the 25,000-seat Cramton Bowl. The official attendance for the Montgomery Bowl was 2,979. Owned by the City of Montgomery, Cramton Bowl first opened in 1922 as a baseball stadium, but is mainly used for college football now.
Johnny Williams, Executive Director of the Camellia Bowl, also served as Executive Director of the Montgomery Bowl. Despite an unusual season, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Montgomery County Commission Chairman Elton Dean, along with Williams, were probably glad to have the opportunity to host a second FBS postseason game in the state capital.
Memphis QB and 2020 William Campbell Trophy winner Brady White was named MVP of the Montgomery Bowl after passing for 284 yards and three touchdowns. As a nationally-ranked top-10 quarterback coming out of Santa Clarita's Hart High School in 2015, White has been a member of teams (Arizona State, Memphis, and Team Kai in the 2021 Hula Bowl) that have appeared in *six* different bowl games every year from 2016 through 2021 (if you count the Hula Bowl, an all-star game, as a bowl game). The latter was broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network. read more