2008 Independence Bowl

2008 Independence Bowl
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Northern Illinois Huskies (7–5) (6–6) WAC MAC 17 10 Head coach:  Derek Dooley Head coach:  Jerry Kill
1 2 3 4 Total Louisiana Tech 7 7 3 0 17 Northern Illinois 7 0 3 0 10
Date	December 28, 2008
Season	2008
Stadium	Independence Stadium
Location	Shreveport, Louisiana
MVP	WR/KR Phillip Livas, La. Tech (Offensive) CB Weldon Brown, La. Tech (Defensive)
Referee	David Epperley (C-USA)
Attendance	41,567
Payout	US$1,650,000
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Pam Ward, Ray Bentley
Nielsen ratings	1.00

The 2008 Independence Bowl marked the thirty-third edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Game summary

The game was contested starting on Sunday, December 28, 2008, with a 7:15 p.m. CST kickoff, telecast on ESPN. the contest pitted the 2008 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team against the 2008 Northern Illinois Huskies football team. Both Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois were chosen because both of the contracted conferences – the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference – failed to produce enough bowl eligible teams as both had a pair of schools in the 2009 Bowl Championship Series. Prior to the game, citing financial difficulties stemming from the financial crisis of 2007–2008, PetroSun pulled out as title sponsor.

Both participants were football-only members of the Big West Conference in the mid-1990s. This was the 7th football game between Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois and the first since 1996. Tech now holds a 6–1 edge over Northern Illinois.

The game was Louisiana Tech's 4th appearance in the Independence Bowl and the first appearance since 1990 when Tech tied Maryland 34–34. The Bulldogs now hold an overall record of 2–1–1 in the Independence Bowl. The victory over Northern Illinois marked the first bowl game victory by the Bulldogs since their 1977 Independence Bowl victory over Louisville.

This was Northern Illinois' 1st appearance in the Independence Bowl and the 4th overall appearance in Division I FBS Bowl Games. Their previous appearances in bowl games include the 1983 California Bowl (20–13 victory over Cal State-Fullerton), 2004 Silicon Valley Classic (34–21 victory over Troy), and 2006 Poinsettia Bowl (37–7 loss to TCU).

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP La. Tech NIU 1 1:56 11 69 5:50 NIU Kyle Skarb 8-yard touchdown reception from Chandler Harnish, Mike Salerno kick good 0 7 1 1:43 La. Tech Phillip Livas 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Brad Oestriecher kick good 7 7 2 13:40 5 42 2:05 La. Tech Daniel Porter 11-yard touchdown run, Brad Oestriecher kick good 14 7 3 11:54 8 49 3:06 La. Tech 30-yard field goal by Brad Oestriecher 17 7 3 7:31 10 66 4:23 NIU 20-yard field goal by Mike Salerno 17 10 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 10 17

Statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	3	0	17
Huskies	7	0	3	0	10

Statistics	La. Tech	NIU
First Downs	12	17
Total offense, yards	236	339
Rushes-yards (net)	31–92	31–153
Passing yards (net)	144	186
Passes, Comp-Att-Int	12–27–0	20–41–2
Time of Possession	26:48	33:12

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
La. Tech	Passing	Ross Jenkins	12/27, 144 yds
	Rushing	Daniel Porter	18 car, 78 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Patrick Jackson	1 rec, 34 yds
NIU	Passing	Chandler Harnish	20/40, 186 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Chad Spann	14 car, 79 yds
	Receiving	Matt Simon	6 rec, 44 yds

External links

• Independence Bowl Guide Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine