The 2021 Quick Lane Bowl was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

played on December 27, 2021, with kickoff at 11:00 a.m. EST, televised on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. It was the 7th edition of the Quick Lane Bowl (after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

), and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. The game's title sponsor was

Quick Lane Quick Lane Tire and Auto Center is a global automotive chain that provides oil changes, tire rotation, multi-point inspections and other express services. Currently headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, Quick Lane is owned by Ford Motor Company, the ...

Tire and auto centers.

Teams

While the bowl had tie-ins with the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) and the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

, the actual participants were from the MAC and

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

(MWC). This was the first time that Western Michigan and Nevada ever played each other.

Western Michigan Broncos

Western Michigan finished its regular season with a 7–5 record (4–4 in MAC games). The Broncos won four of their first five games, then lost four of their final six. The team was 1-1 in games against ranked opponents, with a loss to #2

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and a shocking win over #12 Pitt.

Nevada Wolf Pack

Nevada finished their regular season with an 8–4 record (5–3 in Mountain West games). The Wolf Pack played to a 5–1 record in their first six games, then went 3–3 in their final six games. The team played one ranked opponent, losing by two points to

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

in mid-November. Following the regular season, head coach Jay Norvell, offensive coordinator Matt Mumme, and multiple other coaches left the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

program to take jobs at Colorado State. The team was coached by running backs/interim head coach Vai Taua. Starting quarterback

Carson Strong Carson Brown Strong (born September 14, 1999) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, and was also a member of the Arizona Cardinals and Michigan Panthers. He played ...

, who won back-to-back

Offensive Player of the Year awards in 2020 and 2021, opted out of the game in order to prepare for the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

. Multiple other athletes, including starting wide receivers

Tory Horton Tory Horton (born November 29, 2002) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Colorado State Rams. Horton was s ...

and Melquan Stovall, transferred to Colorado State to remain with Norvell and did not play in the game.

Game summary

Statistics

References

Externals links

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{Nevada Wolf Pack bowl game navbox Quick Lane Bowl GameAbove Sports Bowl Western Michigan Broncos football bowl games Nevada Wolf Pack football bowl games Quick Lane Bowl Quick Lane Bowl 2021 in Detroit