Small crowd at Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field

Ford Field was the host of the Quick Lane Bowl Game on the day after Christmas and wasn't very well attended.  In the match-up between the ACC and the Big Ten Conferences the game drew two .500 teams this year with Boston College taking on Maryland.   Both teams struggled this season finishing at 6-6 each.   The University of Maryland was favored by two points.

The announced crowd of 19,117 was actually a bit under 10,000 in this writer's eyes on a rainy day in downtown Detroit.   What hurt this day was there was no local draw to bring out the fans at Ford Field.   This Bowl needs to re-think what conferences that it will draw its teams from in order to get a better crowd in the stands.   Back in 2007 Purdue defeated Central Michigan in a high scoring contest that drew over 60,000 people in the stadium that holds 64,500 fans.  

Boston College took the early lead and was in control most of the day.  They would hang on at the very end of the game with Maryland failing to score from inside the five yard line trailing 36-30.    The Eagles defense held on and preserved the victory to move Boston College to a 7-6 mark on the season.    Now with 40 Bowl games allowed by the NCAA we are seeing teams that have no business playing in Bowl Game.   There are now teams that qualify with losing records based on because of their conference affiliation.    Not right or good for College Football.   But for the die-hard football fan it is another game to attend.   The NCAA needs to cut back on some of these games. 

Leading the way for the Boston College team was quarterback Pat Towles with a 10/22 passing performance with 151 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Maryland's quarterback Perry Hills was a little bit better with 15/35 and 229 yards and two touchdowns.   This Bowl Game needs to get back to its affiliation with the MAC (Mid American Conference) and the Big Ten match-ups.   This will provide the local draw at Ford Field for the game right after Christmas.   All in all for a true football fan it was nice to watch a game in 70 degree weather.