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. 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.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Statistics

StatisticsULLa. Tech
First Downs1125
Total offense, yards161335
Rushes-yards 44–10044–48
Passing yards 61287
Passes, Comp-Att-Int9–23–119–39–2
Time of Possession

TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
ULPassingStu Stram7/18, 61 yds, 1 INT
ULRushingNathan Poole17 car, 50 yds
ULReceivingMark Besanceney2 rec, 25 yds
La. TechPassingKeith Thibodeaux19/39, 287 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
La. TechRushingCharlie Lewis17 car, 39 yds, 1 TD
La. TechReceivingRod Foppe4 rec, 78 yds