The 2000 Motor City Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association bowl game in which the Marshall Thundering Herd of the MAC defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats of the Conference USA 25–14. It was played on December 27, 2000 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. The Beracats were C-USA runner-ups fresh off the wins from five of their last six games, which included Syracuse and #20 Southern Mississippi. Marshall however was the four-time MAC champion who had also won five of their last six games, one of which was against Western Michigan, who had defeated them earlier in the season, in the MAC Championship Game.
Cincinnati kicker Jonathan Ruffin was an All-America and had won the Lou Groza Award as the nation's best placekicker. Quarterback Deontey Kenner led the Bearcat offense, while 330 lb defensive tackle Mario Monds led the defense.
Marshall's offense was led by future NFL quarterback Byron Leftwich, its defense was led by four-year starter Paul Toviessi. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the tragic 1970 plane crash which took the lives of 75 Marshall football players, coaches, administrators, and boosters on November 14.
Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich was named the game's MVP.
The game was the 4th installment of the Motor City Bowl, matching the Conference USA against the Mid-American Conference for the first time in its history.
Read more about 2000 Motor City Bowl: Scoring Summary
Famous quotes containing the words motor, city and/or bowl:
“The motor idles.
Over the immense upland
the pulse of their blossoming
thunders through us.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“half-way up the hill, I see the Past
Lying beneath me with its sounds and sights,—
A city in the twilight dim and vast,
With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights,—
And hear above me on the autumnal blast
The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“Fill high the bowl with Samian wine!
Our virgins dance beneath the shade—
I see their glorious black eyes shine;
But gazing on each glowing maid,
My own the burning tear-drop laves,
To think such breasts must suckle slaves.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)