2023 LA Bowl
Postseason college football bowl game
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The 2023 LA Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 16, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The third annual LA Bowl featured the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference and the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 Conference. The game began at approximately 4:30 p.m. PST and was aired on ABC.[5][6] The LA Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by former National Football League player Rob Gronkowski and Starco Brands, and was officially known as the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk.[7]
| 2023 Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 3rd LA Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 16, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | SoFi Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Inglewood, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Ethan Garbers (QB, UCLA) & Darius Muasau (LB, UCLA)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | UCLA by 2.5[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Rob Gronkowski and the New Directions Veterans Choir[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Gary Patterson (ACC)[4] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 32,780 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Brock Osweiler (analyst), and Kayla Burton (sideline) (ABC) Mike Couzens (play-by-play) and Tom Ramsey (analyst) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Vinicius Moura (play-by-play) and Deivis Chiodini (analyst) | ||||||||||||||||||
Teams
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured the Boise State Broncos from the Mountain West Conference and the UCLA Bruins from the Pac-12 Conference.
This was the second meeting between Boise State and UCLA, as well as both teams' first appearance in the LA Bowl. The Bruins won their only prior meeting, defeating the Broncos, 38–7, on September 4, 1999.[8]
Boise State
After losing their first two games to a pair of Power Five opponents, including eventual College Football Playoff qualifier Washington, the Broncos alternated wins and losses to reach a record of just 4–5 after the first week of November. However, Boise State won their final three games in Mountain West play, which set up a three-way tie between them, UNLV, and San Jose State. Per Mountain West tiebreaker rules, an aggregate of different computer rankings were used to determine who would play in the Mountain West Championship, with UNLV and Boise State making the cut and San Jose State being left out.[9] Boise State soundly defeated UNLV, 44–20, to win the 2023 Mountain West conference title. The Broncos entered the LA Bowl with a record of 8–5.
UCLA
This was UCLA's final game as a member of the Pac-12, as the Bruins committed to join the Big Ten Conference for the 2024 season.[10]
Led by true-freshman QB Dante Moore, the Bruins won their first three regular-season games, but suffered a 14–7 loss to Utah in their Pac-12 opener. Moore struggled mightily as the Bruins continued in Pac-12 play, throwing just three touchdowns vs. six interceptions. This led to his benching by head coach Chip Kelly in favor of junior Ethan Garbers.[11] UCLA went just 4–5 in Pac-12 play, although they did earn a 38–20 win over their traditional rival, USC, with Garbers at quarterback. After the conclusion of the regular season, Moore announced his intention to enter the NCAA transfer portal. UCLA entered the LA Bowl with a record of 7–5.
Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 7 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 35 |
| Boise State | 6 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 22 |
at SoFi Stadium • Inglewood, California
- Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023
- Game time: 4:30 p.m. PST
- Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 68 °F (20 °C)
- Game attendance: 32,780
- Referee: Gary Patterson
- TV announcers (ABC): Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Brock Osweiler, and Kayla Burton (sideline)
- Box score
| Game information |
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Statistics
| Statistics | BSU | UCLA |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 15 | 18 |
| Plays–yards | 58–332 | 64–510 |
| Rushes–yards | 37–215 | 36–280 |
| Passing yards | 117 | 230 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 12–21–1 | 20–28–0 |
| Time of possession | 31:33 | 28:27 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boise State | Passing | CJ Tiller | 12/21, 117 yards, INT |
| Rushing | George Holani | 17 carries, 138 yards, 2 TD | |
| Receiving | George Holani | 1 reception, 45 yards | |
| UCLA | Passing | Ethan Garbers | 9/12, 152 yards, 2 TD |
| Rushing | Collin Schlee | 7 carries, 127 yards | |
| Receiving | J. Michael Sturdivant | 4 receptions, 142 yards, TD |