The 2021 Birmingham Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2021, with kickoff at 12:00 p.m. EST (11:00 a.m. local CST) and televised on ESPN. It was the 15th edition of the Birmingham Bowl (after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. Sponsored by the TicketSmarter ticket sales company, the game was officially known as the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. This was the first edition of the bowl played at Protective Stadium.
Teams
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the bowl features teams from the American Athletic Conference (AAC or "The American") and the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
This was the seventh meeting between Auburn and Houston; previous to the game, the Tigers led the all-time series, 5–1.
Auburn Tigers
Houston Cougars
Game summary
2021 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl
Period |
1 |
2 |
3 | 4 | Total |
No. 20 Houston |
7 |
3 |
0 | 7 | 17 |
Auburn |
0 |
3 |
10 | 0 | 13 |
at Protective Stadium • Birmingham, Alabama
- Date: Tuesday, December 28, 2021
- Game time: 11:00 a.m. CST
- Game attendance: 47,100
- TV announcers (ESPN): Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Eric Mac Lain (analyst), and Taylor Davis (sideline)
- Box score
Scoring summary
|
Quarter
|
Time
|
Drive
|
Team
|
Scoring information
|
Score
|
Plays
|
Yards
|
TOP
|
Houston
|
Auburn
|
1
|
8:46
|
12
|
87
|
6:14
|
Houston
|
Alton McCaskill 5-yard touchdown reception from Clayton Tune, Dalton Witherspoon kick good
|
7
|
0
|
2
|
6:58
|
9
|
44
|
4:10
|
Houston
|
52-yard field goal by Dalton Witherspoon
|
10
|
0
|
2
|
3:10
|
8
|
67
|
3:48
|
Auburn
|
27-yard field goal by Ben Patton
|
10
|
3
|
3
|
12:12
|
7
|
57
|
2:48
|
Auburn
|
35-yard field goal by Ben Patton
|
10
|
6
|
3
|
3:52
|
11
|
78
|
6:20
|
Auburn
|
Kobe Hudson 12-yard touchdown reception from T. J. Finley, Ben Patton kick good
|
10
|
13
|
4
|
3:27
|
8
|
80
|
3:20
|
Houston
|
Jake Herslow 26-yard touchdown reception from Clayton Tune, Dalton Witherspoon kick good
|
17
|
13
|
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.
|
|
|
|
Statistics
Team statistics
Team statistical comparison
Statistic
|
Houston
|
Auburn
|
First downs |
19 |
15
|
First downs rushing |
6 |
6
|
First downs passing |
12 |
8
|
First downs penalty |
1 |
1
|
Third down efficiency |
6–14 |
4–15
|
Fourth down efficiency |
1–2 |
1–3
|
Total plays–net yards |
67–398 |
66–352
|
Rushing attempts–net yards |
26–115 |
29–125
|
Yards per rush |
4.4 |
4.3
|
Yards passing |
283 |
227
|
Pass completions–attempts |
26–41 |
19–37
|
Interceptions thrown |
2 |
0
|
Punt returns–total yards |
0–0 |
0–0
|
Kickoff returns–total yards |
4–52 |
2–42
|
Punts–average yardage |
4–35.8 |
6–38.3
|
Fumbles–lost |
2–0 |
2–0
|
Penalties–yards |
6–34 |
3–35
|
Time of possession |
29:50 |
30:10
|
Individual statistics