2017 Cure Bowl

The 2017 Cure Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 16, 2017, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, with kickoff at 2:30 p.m. local time. The third annual edition of the Cure Bowl, the game was one of the 2017–18 bowl games that concludes the 2017 FBS football season. Sponsored by automotive retailer AutoNation, the game was officially known as the AutoNation Cure Bowl.

2017 AutoNation Cure Bowl
3rd Cure bowl
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Georgia State Panthers (6–6) (6–5) C-USA Sun Belt 17 27 Head coach:  Mike Sanford Jr. Head coach:  Shawn Elliott
1 2 3 4 Total Western Kentucky 7 3 0 7 17 Georgia State 10 3 7 7 27
Date	December 16, 2017
Season	2017
Stadium	Camping World Stadium
Location	Orlando, Florida
MVP	Georgia State QB Conner Manning
National anthem	Girl Scouts Citrus Singers
Referee	Mike Roche (American)
Attendance	19,585
United States TV coverage
Network	CBSSN
Announcers	Carter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor and Jenny Dell

The game featured Georgia State Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers of Conference USA. Georgia State beat Western Kentucky by a score of 27–17.

Teams

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

See also: 2017 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team and 2017 Conference USA football season

This was the Hilltoppers' fifth bowl game and their fourth consecutive. They previously won the 2014 Bahamas Bowl, 2015 Miami Beach Bowl and 2016 Boca Raton Bowl. This was their first Cure Bowl appearance.

Georgia State Panthers

See also: 2017 Georgia State Panthers football team and 2017 Sun Belt Conference football season

This was the Panthers' second bowl and second Cure Bowl appearance in school history. They previously lost to San Jose State in 2015.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP WKU GSU 1 8:07 10 40 4:57 GSU 42-yard field goal by Brandon Wright 0 3 1 7:29 2 75 0:38 WKU Deon Yelder 54-yard touchdown reception from Mike White, Ryan Nuss kick good 7 3 1 6:18 3 85 1:11 GSU Demarcus Kirk 26-yard touchdown run, Brandon Wright kick good 7 10 2 14:18 4 5 1:36 WKU 38-yard field goal by Ryan Nuss 10 10 2 9:07 10 55 5:11 GSU 37-yard field goal by Brandon Wright 10 13 3 5:55 5 80 1:46 GSU Roger Carter 42-yard touchdown reception from Conner Manning, Brandon Wright kick good 10 20 4 5:50 16 74 9:01 GSU Kyler Neal 1-yard touchdown run, Brandon Wright kick good 10 27 4 2:34 11 87 3:16 WKU Deon Yelder 4-yard touchdown reception from Mike White, Ryan Nuss kick good 17 27 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 17 27

Statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	7	3	0	7	17
Panthers	10	3	7	7	27

Statistics	WKU	GSU
First downs	17	21
Plays–yards	61–349	71–419
Rushes–yards	21– -2	43–143
Passing yards	351	419
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	26–40–2	20–28–0
Time of possession	24:39	35:21

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Kentucky	Passing	Mike White	26/39, 351 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Jakairi Moses	7 car, 19 yds
	Receiving	Deon Yelder	5 rec, 112 yds, 2 TD
Georgia State	Passing	Conner Manning	20/28, 276 yds, 1 TD
	Rushing	Glenn Smith	23 car, 73 yds
	Receiving	Roger Carter	4 rec, 85 yds, 1 TD