One of the country’s best players will be in action at the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile on Thursday, with former Alabama and Auburn assistants squaring off as head coaches.
Arkansas State (7-5) meets Bowling Green (7-5) at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Thursday, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. on ESPN. The headline player is Bowling Green All-America tight end Harold Fannin, whom Falcons head coach Scot Loeffler confirmed Sunday will play in the game rather than opt-out to prepare for the NFL draft.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Fannin has an even 100 receptions this season, good for 1,342 yards and nine touchdowns. The Canton, Ohio, native is just 10 yards behind the all-time FBS yardage record for a tight end (1,352), set by Texas Tech’s Jace Amaro in 2013; he has an outside shot of surpassing the tight end receptions record of 111, set by Rice’s James Casey in 2008.
“Harold’s a special kid to our program,” Loeffler said. “He was the epitome of a developmental guy. He had great talent, but watching him these last three years mature into the guy that he is has been unbelievable. … He does things the right way. He cares about his teammates.
“… He wants to play in this game, but most importantly he wants to play and finish his career with his teammates. And that just shows you what type of guy he is. He’s going to play in the NFL a long time. He’s an excellent player.”
Loeffler is in his sixth season at Bowling Green, having coached the Falcons to three straight bowl games. The former Michigan quarterback spent several years as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, with stops at Florida, Temple, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
Loeffler was Auburn’s offensive coordinator under Gene Chizik in 2012, when the Tigers finished 3-9. He said his first trip to Mobile came shortly after he was hired, not long after 5-star Daphne running back TJ Yeldon had flipped from Auburn to Alabama.
“I remember this is the first city that I flew into,” Loeffler said. “There was a running back that was committed to Auburn, and then three weeks before I walked in the door, Alabama flipped him and we tried to come down here and save the day and all that other stuff.
“But I love the state. I love the people. My time was short there. I wish it was different circumstances because I thought (Auburn) was a great place.”
Harold Fannin
Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin (0) has 100 receptions this season. He leads the Falcons into Thursday’s 68 Ventures Bowl vs. Arkansas State in Mobile.
Jones’ experience working in Alabama was a more positive one, three seasons as an offensive analyst and later special assistant to the head coach under Nick Saban with the Crimson Tide. He was part of a national championship team in his final season, and took the Arkansas State job shortly thereafter.
Jones is one of 16 former Saban staffers who are currently FBS head coaches. He said he took plenty of lessons away from his time as part of Saban’s “Coaches Career Rehab Program.”
“It was a great experience,” Jones said. “Some of the best three years I’ve had in my career, and really the last year and a half of being the special assistant to the head coach was really, really meaningful to me. Got a lot of valuable relationships there, relationships that will last a lifetime.
” … To be behind the curtain a little bit, but also to form lasting relationships, whether with players, administration, coaches — it’s kind of a fraternity. It’s a fraternity when you coach for (Saban), when you work for him. And you learn so much.”
Jones had success as a head coach at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee, though his time with the Volunteers ended badly. In four seasons, he’s improved the Red Wolves from 2-10 to 3-9 to 6-7 and 7-5 — with a shot at eight wins if his team can beat the Falcons on Thursday.
His 2009 Central Michigan team went 11-2 and was set to face Troy in that year’s GMAC Bowl in Mobile. Jones never made it, however, having left to take the Cincinnati job.
Ironically, current Bowling Green athletics director Derek van der Merwe was Central Michigan’s deputy AD at the time. He joked Sunday about being “jilted” by Jones some 15 years ago.
“I do have a relationship with Butch, and unfortunately this bowl is very personal for me,” van der Merwe said. “He was the coach in 2010 when he decided to leave Central Michigan University right before this bowl and go to the University of Cincinnati. I got to come here without Butch Jones. So for us to come back together in the place where he dumped me and reclaim a trophy is really important to me, right in front of who jilted me right there, Butch Jones.
“So, thank you, Butch, for this, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”
68 Ventures Bowl
Arkansas State head coach Butch Jones, left, and Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler share a laugh before the 68 Ventures Bowl Welcome Press Conference on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza in Mobile, Ala.
Mobile’s bowl game has undergone several name changes in its 26-year history, with Daphne-based real estate investment firm 68 Ventures — founded by former Alabama walk-on football player Nathan Cox — coming on as title sponsor in 2023. Arkansas State is in the game for the fifth time, having played in four consecutive GoDaddy.com or GoDaddy Bowls at Ladd-Peebles Stadium from 2012-15.
Bowling Green is in Mobile for a bowl game for the fourth time, having played at Ladd in the 2002 and 2008 GMAC Bowls and the December 2015 GoDaddy Bowl (Arkansas State participated in the previous season’s game, which took place in January 2015). The Falcons and Red Wolves have met just once in football, a 17-0 Bowling Green victory during the 1974 regular season.
Bowling Green is a 7.5-point favorite over Arkansas State in the 68 Ventures Bowl. Jones said playing in the Mobile bowl game was one of his team’s potential goals for the 2024 season.
“It means a lot in a lot of ways,” Jones said. “This is a big recruiting area for us, so a lot of our players get to come home for the holidays and play in this game. It’s a great honor to represent the Sun Belt Conference as well.
“… The 7 wins have only been done 10 times in 33 years at Arkansas State. If we win 8, I believe it would be the fourth-best record in the history of our program. So you can never take winning for granted. … Our players for the second time now get to experience a bowl game and all that comes with it. That’s what college football is all about.”
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