- The Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field is a postseason collegiate football bowl game sponsored by Ford Motor Company’s Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center.
- The bowl game will air nationally on ESPN2 on Monday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m.
- A press conference with both head coaches and athletic directors will be held Wednesday, Dec. 9 at approximately 10:30 a.m. at the Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park.
The University of Minnesota and Central Michigan University will play in the 2015 Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on Monday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. The game will air nationally on ESPN2.
Tickets start as low as $29 are available at quicklanebowl.com, by phone at (877) 212-8898 and in-person at the Ford Field Ticket Office Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Fans can follow the official twitter account of the Quick Lane Bowl @quicklanebowl for the most current game information.
A press conference with both head coaches and athletic directors will be held Wednesday, Dec. 9 at approximately 10:30 a.m. at the Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park.
Minnesota, which played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, finished the season with a 5-7 record. The Gophers have played four teams with at least 10 wins and that number could raise to six if Wisconsin and Michigan win their bowl games.
The Gophers are coached by Tracy Claeys who took over for former head coach Jerry Kill who resigned his position on Oct. 28 due to health reasons. Claeys led the Gophers against Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin to end the season.
Minnesota is led on offense by quarterback Mitch Leidner. The junior signal-caller started all 12 games and set a program record for a junior with 218 completions. He also tied a program record when he passed for at least 250 yards in four straight games. Leidner’s main target is senior receiver KJ Maye. The Alabama native caught 65 passes for 706 yards and four touchdowns. His 65 catches rank fourth all-time and are the second-most ever for a senior.
On defense, the Gophers are led by senior corners Eric Murray and Briean Boddy-Calhoun. Murray has 64 tackles this year, one interception and has broken up six passes and forced three fumbles. Boddy-Calhoun is tied for the team lead with three interceptions and has broken up four passes. Senior safety Antonio Johnson leads the Gophers with 99 tackles and is followed by linebacker Cody Poock who has 95.
Central Michigan wrapped up the 2015 season with a 7-5 overall record, 6-2 in the MAC and a share of the MAC West Division title. First-year head coach John Bonamego led the Chippewas to a first-place tie in the tough West Division and ended the year by winning their final two games and five of the last six regular season games.
The Chippewas will be making their second consecutive bowl appearance, its third in the last four years and the seventh in the last 10 seasons. In 2012, Central Michigan defeated Western Kentucky, 24-21, in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, while last year Western Kentucky defeated the Chippewas 49-48 in the 2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl.
This will be the second year of a multiyear agreement for Ford’s Quick Lane Tire and Auto Center as the title sponsor of an annual college football bowl game at Ford Field.
The Detroit Lions are the only NFL team to own, host and operate a college football bowl game. The team’s entertainment division, DLI Entertainment, has promoted multiple large-scale shows and events at Ford Field including eight consecutive sold-out Kenny Chesney concerts, Taylor Swift, the 2003 Basketbowl, 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball Regionals, 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four and the 2010 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Frozen Four.