# 2022 Birmingham Bowl

The 2022 Birmingham Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2022, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. The 16th annual Birmingham Bowl, the game featured Coastal Carolina of the Sun Belt Conference and East Carolina of the American Athletic Conference. The game began at 5:50 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by ticket sales company TicketSmarter, the game was officially known as the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl.

## Teams

This was the first time that Coastal Carolina and East Carolina faced each other.

### Coastal Carolina

Coastal Carolina compiled a 9–2 regular season record, 6–2 in conference play. They had a non-conference game against Virginia canceled. The Chanticleers qualified for the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game, which they lost to Troy, thus entered the bowl with a 9–3 overall record. Coastal Carolina did not face any ranked opponents during the season.

### East Carolina

East Carolina played to a 7–5 regular-season record, 4–4 in conference play. They faced one ranked opponent during the season, losing to NC State in their first game. The Pirates played in, and lost, the January 2015 edition of the Birmingham Bowl. They also played in, and lost, the December 2006 edition of the game, when it was known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl. They played in the 2022 Birmingham Bowl and defeated Coastal Carolina University, securing their first bowl victory since 2013.

### Officials

The officials for the game were from the Big 12 Conference and were:
Referee: Tutashinda Salaam
Umpire: Sheldon Davis
Head Line Judge: Bradford Edwards
Line Judge: David Young
Field Judge: Ed Vinzant
Side Judge: Rick Ockey
Back Judge: Joel Wetzel
Center Judge: Darren Winkley
Alternate: Marvel July
Replay Official: Dee Anderson
Communicator: Terry Porter

## Game summary

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Coastal Carolina | 0 | 14 | 7 | 8 | 29 |
| East Carolina | 10 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 53 |
at Protective Stadium • Birmingham, Alabama
* Date: Tuesday, December 27, 2022
* Game time: 5:45 p.m. CST
* Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: not reported • Wind: 8 mph (13 km/h) southwest
* Game attendance: 15,901
* Referee: Tuta Salaam
* TV announcers (ESPN): Tiffany Greene (play-by-play), Jay Walker (analyst), and Jalyn Johnson (sideline)
* Box score
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | Coastal Carolina | East Carolina |
| 1 | 10:52 | 10 | 70 | 4:08 | East Carolina | 28-yard field goal by Andrew Conrad | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | 3:47 | 5 | 77 | 2:22 | East Carolina | Isaiah Winstead 15-yard touchdown reception from Holton Ahlers, Andrew Conrad kick good | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | 14:38 | 9 | 60 | 4:09 | Coastal Carolina | Reese White 1-yard touchdown run, Kade Hensley kick good | 7 | 10 |
| 2 | 8:52 | 7 | 68 | 2:46 | Coastal Carolina | Grayson McCall 9-yard touchdown run, Kade Hensley kick good | 14 | 10 |
| 2 | 6:37 | 6 | 53 | 2:15 | East Carolina | Isaiah Winstead 11-yard touchdown reception from Holton Ahlers, Andrew Conrad kick good | 14 | 17 |
| 2 | 1:44 | 8 | 64 | 3:17 | East Carolina | Keaton Mitchell 1-yard touchdown run, Andrew Conrad kick good | 14 | 24 |
| 3 | 11:13 | 6 | 27 | 3:07 | East Carolina | Jaylen Johnson 2-yard touchdown reception from Holton Ahlers, Andrew Conrad kick good | 14 | 31 |
| 3 | 9:46 | 3 | 79 | 1:27 | Coastal Carolina | Tyler Roberts 47-yard touchdown reception from Jarrett Guest, Kade Hensley kick good | 21 | 31 |
| 3 | 2:36 | 7 | 61 | 2:51 | East Carolina | Holton Ahlers 1-yard touchdown run, Andrew Conrad kick good | 21 | 38 |
| 4 | 13:45 | 6 | 43 | 2:23 | East Carolina | C.J. Johnson 15-yard touchdown reception from Holton Ahlers, Andrew Conrad kick good | 21 | 45 |
| 4 | 6:07 | 4 | 12 | 1:06 | Coastal Carolina | CJ Beasley 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point run good (Bryce Archie) | 29 | 45 |
| 4 | 2:14 | 6 | 47 | 3:53 | East Carolina | Shane Calhoun 15-yard touchdown reception from Holton Ahlers, 2-point pass good (Ahlers to Mitchell) | 29 | 53 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 29 | 53 |

## Statistics

Team statistical comparison :
| Statistic | Coastal Carolina | East Carolina |
| First downs | 20 | 24 |
| First downs rushing | 8 | 5 |
| First downs passing | 8 | 13 |
| First downs penalty | 4 | 6 |
| Third down efficiency | 5–12 | 5–11 |
| Fourth down efficiency | 0–1 | 2–4 |
| Total plays–net yards | 63–337 | 71–486 |
| Rushing attempts–net yards | 38–125 | 32–172 |
| Yards per rush | 3.3 | 5.4 |
| Yards passing | 212 | 314 |
| Pass completions–attempts | 17–25 | 27–39 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 0 |
| Punt returns–total yards | 1–12 | 1–0 |
| Kickoff returns–total yards | 7–108 | 5–145 |
| Punts–average yardage | 4–38.3 | 1–0.0 |
| Fumbles–lost | 4–3 | 0–0 |
| Penalties–yards | 11–98 | 11–130 |
| Time of possession | 27:45 | 32:15 |
Coastal Carolina statistics :
| Chanticleers passing ||||||
| | C–A | Yds | TD–INT |
| Jarrett Guest | 6–11 | 136 | 1–0 |
| Grayson McCall | 10–12 | 67 | 0–0 |
| Bryce Archie | 1–2 | 9 | 0–0 |
| Chanticleers rushing ||||||
| | Car | Yds | TD |
| Reese White | 11 | 67 | 1 |
| Braydon Bennett | 4 | 29 | 0 |
| CJ Beasley | 5 | 13 | 1 |
| Grayson McCall | 4 | 12 | 1 |
| Bryce Archie | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Logan Adkins | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Jarrett Guest | 10 | -6 | 0 |
| Chanticleers receiving ||||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD |
| Sam Pinckney | 4 | 79 | 0 |
| Tyler Roberts | 1 | 47 | 1 |
| TJ Ivy Jr. | 2 | 29 | 0 |
| Reese White | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Tyson Mobley | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| Dami'on Thompson | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Patrick McSweeney | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Jared Brown | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| CJ Beasley | 1 | 6 | 0 |
East Carolina statistics :
| Pirates passing ||||||
| | C–A | Yds | TD–INT |
| Holton Ahlers | 26–38 | 300 | 5–0 |
| C.J. Johnson | 1–1 | 14 | 0–0 |
| Pirates rushing ||||||
| | Car | Yds | TD |
| Keaton Mitchell | 22 | 127 | 1 |
| Holton Ahlers | 7 | 48 | 1 |
| Kamarro Edmonds | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| Pirates receiving ||||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD |
| C.J. Johnson | 7 | 83 | 1 |
| Isaiah Winstead | 6 | 72 | 2 |
| Jaylen Johnson | 5 | 66 | 1 |
| Shane Calhoun | 2 | 37 | 1 |
| Taji Hudson | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Keaton Mitchell | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| Holton Ahlers | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| Brock Spalding | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Kamarro Edmonds | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Tyler Savage | 1 | 3 | 0 |