| Game Name: | Birmingham Bowl |
| Subheader: | 13th Birmingham Bowl |
| Title Sponsor: | Jared |
| Date Game Played: | December 22 |
| Year Game Played: | 2018 |
| Football Season: | 2018 |
| Stadium: | Legion Field |
| City: | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Visitor School: | University of Memphis |
| Visitor Name Short: | Memphis |
| Visitor Nickname: | Tigers |
| Visitor Record: | 8–5 |
| Visitor Conference: | The American |
| Visitor Coach: | Mike Norvell |
| Visitor 1Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 6 |
| Home School: | Wake Forest University |
| Home Name Short: | Wake Forest |
| Home Nickname: | Demon Deacons |
| Home Record: | 6–6 |
| Home Conference: | ACC |
| Home Coach: | Dave Clawson |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 17 |
| Home 3Q: | 6 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Mvp: | Jamie Newman (QB, Wake Forest) |
| Odds: | Memphis by 4.5[1] |
| Referee: | Rodney Burnette (Conference USA) |
| Attendance: | 25,717 |
| Payout: | 1,650,000 [2] |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Dave Neal, D.J. Shockley and Dawn Davenport |
| Different Next: | 2020 |
The 2018 Birmingham Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 22, 2018.[3] It was the 13th edition of the Birmingham Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Jared brand of Sterling Jewelers, the game was officially named the Jared Birmingham Bowl.
The bowl was slated to invite teams from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the American Athletic Conference (The American). However, with four SEC teams selected for New Year's Six games, the Birmingham Bowl matchup announced on December 2 featured Wake Forest from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), rather than an SEC team, to face Memphis from The American.[4] The two programs previously met four times, each team winning twice, between 1964 and 1967.[5]
See main article: 2018 Memphis Tigers football team. Memphis was defeated in the 2018 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game played on December 1; they received and accepted a bid to the Birmingham Bowl on December 2.[4] The Tigers entered the bowl with a 8–5 record (5–3 in conference).
See main article: 2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team. Wake Forest received and accepted a bid to the Birmingham Bowl on December 2.[4] The Demon Deacons entered the bowl with a 6–6 record (3–5 in conference).
| Statistics | MEM | WF | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 22 | 26 | |
| Plays–yards | 82–378 | 90–529 | |
| Rushes–yards | 53–207 | 50–201 | |
| Passing yards | 171 | 328 | |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 15–29–1 | 22–40–1 | |
| Time of possession | 30:38 | 29:22 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | Passing | 15/27, 171 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT | |
| Rushing | 30 car, 110 yds, 1 TD | ||
| Receiving | 6 rec, 70 yds | ||
| Wake Forest | Passing | 22/40, 328 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT | |
| Rushing | Jamie Newman | 23 car, 91 yds, 3 TD | |
| Receiving | 7 rec, 171 yds |