1977 Independence Bowl
The 1977 Independence Bowl featured the Louisville Cardinals and the Southland Conference champion Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Louisville struck first on a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown by Kevin Miller in the first quarter. Louisiana Tech answered with a 1-yard touchdown run by Lewis to tie the game.[1] The Bulldogs scored another touchdown on a 41-yard Keith Thibodeaux pass to Pree. Still in the first quarter, Thibodeaux threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to McCartney to increase Louisiana Tech's lead to 21–7. In the second quarter, Swiley connected on a 21-yard field goal to give the Dawgs a 24-7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Kevin Miller scored his second touchdown of the game on a 13-yard run to close the gap to 24–14, which would end up being the final score.[2]
| 1977 Independence Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 17, 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | State Fair Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Shreveport, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | QB Keith Thibodeaux, La. Tech (Offensive) LB Otis Wilson, UL (Defensive) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 22,223 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$75,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
Game summary
Scoring summary
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Statistics
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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| Cardinals | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Bulldogs | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Statistics | UL | La. Tech |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 11 | 25 |
| Total offense, yards | 161 | 335 |
| Rushes-yards (net) | 44–100 | 44–48 |
| Passing yards (net) | 61 | 287 |
| Passes, Comp-Att-Int | 9–23–1 | 19–39–2 |
| Time of Possession | ||
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| UL | Passing | Stu Stram | 7/18, 61 yds, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Nathan Poole | 17 car, 50 yds | |
| Receiving | Mark Besanceney | 2 rec, 25 yds | |
| La. Tech | Passing | Keith Thibodeaux | 19/39, 287 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Charlie Lewis | 17 car, 39 yds, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Rod Foppe | 4 rec, 78 yds |