Congrats to senior safety James Wiggins for accepting the invitation to play in the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Per GoBearcats:
University of Cincinnati senior S James Wiggins (Miami, Florida/South Dade) has accepted an invitation to the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
The 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game and practices throughout the week will be televised by NFL Network.
Wiggins is the 38th UC player to earn a spot in the prestigious showcase and the second in as many years after Josiah Deguara in 2020. Former Bearcats Jack Lee (1960) and Isaiah Pead (2011) were Senior Bowl Most Valuable Players.
He has helped lead UC defense which currently leads the American in total defense, passing defense, rushing defense and scoring defense. The Bearcats rank third nationally in scoring defense, allowing 12.4 ppg, holding its FBS opponents to 17 points or fewer. UC is fourth nationally in pass efficiency defense (91.41) and 10th in total defense (300.9 ypg).
Individually, Wiggins has 26 tackles, a sack and TFL along with six passes defended and an interception. He is also on the watch lists for the Nagurski Trophy and Thorpe Award and was named to Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks list for the third straight year.
Wiggins missed the 2019 season after suffering an injury two days before the Bearcats’ opening game against UCLA. The three-time nominee to Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks list was a Second-Team All-AAC honoree in 2018 after tallying 54 tackles and four game-changing interceptions while showing a big-play flair in the secondary. His first career interception was in the second quarter of the opener at UCLA, which led to a Warren TD, giving UC a lead it would not relinquish. Interception No. 2 came in the waning minutes against Ohio when he jumped a route on the goal line to end the Bobcats scoring threat and seal the win for UC. Wiggins’ third interception came in overtime at SMU, an 86-yard interception return for a TD which gave UC its first extra-period win since 2008. The 86-yard run back was the fourth longest in school history and longest since current UC CB coach Mike Mickens had a 79-yard INT return for a TD against USF in 2007. His final interception of the year came late in the fourth quarter of the Military Bowl when he tracked down and hauled in a Hokies pass to seal UC’s first bowl win since 2012.
Wiggins and the No. 7 Bearcats return to action on Saturday, starting a three-game road trip to close the regular season at UCF. Kickoff from the Bounce House is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and 700 WLW AM.
ABOUT THE SENIOR BOWL
The Reese’s Senior Bowl is the nation’s most prestigious college all-star game, as it annually serves as the first step of the NFL draft process, which explains our hashtag, #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE. The Reese’s Senior Bowl has had 93 total players and 40 selected in the first three rounds each of the past two years, including 10 first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. The 93 figure represents nearly 40% of the total draft these past two years. One thing that differentiates the Reese’s Senior Bowl from other all-star games is the participation of two full NFL coaching staffs. Last year, the two teams were coached by the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals and there were over 900 credentialed NFL personnel in Mobile, Ala for game week.
DATE: Saturday, January 30, 2021
TIME: 1:30pm CT
WHERE: Mobile, Alabama
STADIUM: University of South Alabama, Hancock Whitney Stadium
TELEVISION: NFL Network
TICKETS: TBA
