TAMPA, Fla. — UTSA seniors Spencer Burford and Tariq Woolen have been invited to play in the 92nd East-West Shrine Bowl, which is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2022, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The game will be televised live on NFL Network at 7 p.m. CT.
Burford and Woolen join David Morgan II as the only Roadrunners to be invited to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl and the first to have the opportunity to participate in a postseason all-star game since first-round draft pick and current New Orleans Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport did so at the 2018 Reese's Senior Bowl.
Burford has started six games at left tackle this season to help UTSA to an 8-0 record and No. 16 national ranking. The San Antonio Wagner High School product owns 37 career starts and has played in 39 contests as a Roadrunner, earning second-team All-Conference USA honors in 2020 and honorable mention recognition as a sophomore in 2019. According to Pro Football Focus, he has yet to allow a sack or a hit on the quarterback in 375 offensive snaps this season. He has helped pave the way for an offense that is averaging 441.2 yards per game, including a ground game that is paced by Sincere McCormick's 891 rushing yards and six 100-yard performances.
Woolen has made 10 straight starts at cornerback including in all eight games in 2021. The Fort Worth native has registered 23 total tackles, 15 solo stops, 2.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, one interception and a quarterback hurry. He has helped the Roadrunners emerge as one of the top defenses in the nation when it comes to forcing turnovers with 16 to rank 16th in the FBS and in rushing defense, ranking third nationally by allowing just 79.4 yards per game. A former wide receiver who made the position switch late in the 2019 campaign, he landed at No. 6 out of 101 players on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List after posting testing numbers that included 11 feet, five inches in the broad jump and a time of 4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash in which he hit 23.33 miles per hour.
The longest running college all-star football game in the nation, the East-West Shrine Bowl is an important part of America's football tradition, giving top college players a chance to showcase their talents to NFL scouts and a national television audience. For more than 90 years, some of football's greatest athletes and coaches have contributed to the tradition of the East-West Shrine Bowl. Players like Gale Sayers, Tom Brady, John Elway, Allan Page, Dick Butkus, Brett Favre, Gino Marchetti and Walter Payton, along with coaches Don Shula, Dick Vermeil, Paul "Bear" Bryant and Jerry Glanville, to name a few, have supported the East-West Shrine Bowl.
UTSA will travel to El Paso to face UTEP (6-2, 3-1) this Saturday, Nov. 6. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:15 p.m. CT at the Sun Bowl and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
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