2025 First Responder Bowl (December)
| 2025 Servpro First Responder Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16th First Responder Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Date | December 26, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Gerald J. Ford Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dallas, Texas[a] | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Owen McCown (QB, UTSA)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | UTSA by 6[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Steven Robinson (Sun Belt) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 8,671 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), and Paul Carcaterra (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN Deportes | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2025 First Responder Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 26, 2025, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas. The 16th annual First Responder Bowl began at approximately 7:00 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN.[3][4] It was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season. Sponsored by cleanup and restoration company Servpro, the game was officially known as the Servpro First Responder Bowl.
In the 2025 First Responder Bowl, the UTSA Roadrunners beat the FIU Panthers by a score of 57–20.[5]
Teams
The FIU Panthers (7–5, 5–3 Conference USA) and UTSA Roadrunners (6–6, 4–4 American) accepted invitations to play in the First Responder Bowl. FIU became a first-time participant in the game; UTSA had played in the 2020 edition. The two once spent time together in the Conference USA. FIU and UTSA had previously faced off four times, with each team winning twice. The Roadrunners won their most recent prior meeting, 30–10, in 2022, at Pitbull Stadium (then FIU Stadium) in Miami.[6]
FIU
The Panthers entered the bowl led by Willie Simmons in his first year as the head coach. With a win over Jacksonville State on November 22, the Golden Panthers clinched bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019.[7] The following week, with a win over Sam Houston, they also clinched their first winning season since 2018.
UTSA
Entering the bowl, head coach Jeff Traylor had a 52–26 (.667) record through six seasons piloting the Roadrunners, with UTSA bowl-eligible each season. In its 15th year in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), this was the team's seventh all-time bowl game. The Roadrunners had a 2–4 record in previous bowls, including back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024.
Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIU | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| UTSA | 14 | 17 | 9 | 17 | 57 |
at Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, Texas
- Date: Friday, December 26, 2025
- Game time: 7:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Clear
- Game attendance: 8,671
- Referee: Steve Robinson
- TV announcers (ESPN): Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), and Paul Carcaterra (sideline)
- Box score
Statistics
| Statistics | FIU | UTSA |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 22 | 25 |
| Plays–yards | 78–255 | 71–481 |
| Rushes–yards | 29–79 | 40–186 |
| Passing yards | 176 | 295 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 21–49–2 | 18–31–0 |
| Time of possession | 28:54 | 31:06 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIU | Passing | Joe Pesansky | 11/31, 102 yards, 2 TD, INT |
| Rushing | Kejon Owens | 8 carries, 36 yards | |
| Receiving | JoJo Stone | 4 receptions, 28 yards | |
| UTSA | Passing | Owen McCown | 18/28, 295 yards, 3 TD |
| Rushing | Will Henderson III | 14 carries, 59 yards, 2 TD | |
| Receiving | Devin McCuin | 6 receptions, 73 yards, TD |
Footnotes
- ^ The stadium has a Dallas mailing address but is physically located in the separate city of University Park.
References
- ^ "UTSA QB Owen McCown wins MVP honors after passing for three touchdowns in First Responder Bowl". KENS. December 27, 2025. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
- ^ "Florida International vs. UTSA (Dec 26, 2025)". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "2025-26 College Football Playoff schedule, dates, TV channel, sites". NCAA.com. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "College Football Bowl Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "McCown, Henderson Lead UTSA's 57-20 Rout of Florida International at First Responder Bowl". ESPN. Associated Press. December 26, 2025. Retrieved December 27, 2025.
- ^ "FIU vs. UTSA football history". Winsipedia. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "FIU Football Is Bowl Bound For First Time Since 2019!". FIU Athletics. 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
External links
- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com