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DALLAS, TEXAS (December 29, 2019) On Monday, December 30, the final football game of the decade at SMU's Gerald J. Ford Stadium (shown left) will see the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky University. (8-4, 6-2 C-USA) facing off the Broncos of Western Michigan (7-5, 5-3 MAC) in the 2019 Servpro Frist Responder Bowl.
This the first First Responder Bowl to be played at SMU's stadium. The previous nine contests were all contested at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. It is not the first bowl game ever played in Ford Stadium, however. The 2010 and 2011 Armed Forces Bowl games were played at SMU while renovations to TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium were made. The 2018 contest, scheduled between Boston College and Boise State, was cancelled due to weather. It is believed to be the first bowl game cancelled after kickoff.
WKU and Western Michigan are meeting for the first time since 1947. The programs have met 15 times prior, with Western Michigan leading the all-time series 11-3-1. Neither team has ever played in the city of Dallas prior to the bowl. Western Michigan did play in the 2017 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The Broncos were selected as an at-large as the highest ranked College Football Playoff (CFP) Group of Five team. Western Michigan dropped a 24-16 decision to Wisconsin in that contest.
This is the third time that Western Michigan has played a bowl game in the state of Texas. In addition to earning a trip to the 2017 Cotton Bowl, where the team lost 24-16 to Wisconsin, the Broncos also played in the Texas Bowl in Houston in 2008. WMU lost 38-14, to hometown Rice in that contest. In all, Western Michigan is 1-8 all time in bowl games
This marks WKU’s first bowl game played in the state of Texas. The Hilltoppers are 3-2 in its previous five all-time bowl appearances since joining the FBS ranks in 2009.
The WKU Hilltoppers and Western Michigan Broncos have played 15 times previously, and Western Michigan leads the series 11-3-1. The teams have not played in 72 years, however, as all 15 games were played between 1923-47. Ironically, WMU athletic teams were once known as the Hilltoppers, a reference to the school’s location on top of Prospect Hill, but changed their nickname in 1939 to the Broncos to avoid confusion with teams of other schools such as WKU.
This is the latest date that the SERVPRO First Responder game has been played since the 2013 contest was played between North Texas and UNLV on Jan. 1, 2014. All 10 games have been played between Dec. 26 and Jan. 2.
Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN.
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