2015 Independence Bowl

Last updated

2015 Camping World Independence Bowl
40th Independence Bowl
1234Total
Tulsa211061552
Virginia Tech24217355
DateDecember 26, 2015
Season 2015
Stadium Independence Stadium
Location Shreveport, Louisiana
Favorite Va. Tech by 13½ [1]
Referee Cooper Castleberry (Big XII)
Attendance31,289 [2]
Payout US$TBD
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN/Sports USA
Announcers Dave LaMont, Ray Bentley, & Jane Slater (ESPN)
Eli Gold, Phil Savage, & Darrell Rebouche (Sports USA)
Independence Bowl
 < 2014   2016 > 

The 2015 Independence Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on Saturday, December 26, 2015 at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana in the United States. The 40th annual Independence Bowl featured the Virginia Tech Hokies of the Atlantic Coast Conference against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane of the American Athletic Conference. Sponsored by Camping World, the game was officially known as the Camping World Independence Bowl. [3] The first half of the game, in which 76 points were scored, was the highest scoring half in college football bowl history until the second half of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl the next year. [4] [5]

Contents

Team selection

The game was to feature a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference against a team from the Southeastern Conference. However, college football analyst Phil Steele projected prior to the game that neither an ACC nor an SEC team would be selected for the game, projecting that the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten Conference and the San Jose State Spartans of the Mountain West Conference would be selected for the game instead. [6] Virginia Tech was chosen from the ACC, and Tulsa was chosen after the SEC did not have enough eligible teams.

Virginia Tech Hokies

With the announcement that he would retire after the season, Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer took the field one last time to coach the Hokies in the Independence Bowl. Beamer has led the Hokies to 23 straight bowl appearances in 25 seasons as an FBS team (Beamer has coached at VT for a total of 29 seasons). He held a 10–12 career bowl record going into this game. The Hokies won their final game of the season over rival Virginia on a last-second INT, gaining bowl eligibility and extending Beamer's career one more game.

Tulsa Golden Hurricane

This was Tulsa's first bowl appearance since a 31–17 win over Iowa State in the 2012 Liberty Bowl. It was also the first career bowl appearance for first-year head coach Philip Montgomery. The Golden Hurricane program was 9–10 all-time in bowl games but was 5–3 since 2003.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
QuarterTime Drive TeamScoring informationScore
Plays Yards TOP TLSVT
114:144750:46TLS D'Angelo Brewer 48-yard touchdown run, Redford Jones kick good70
112:533631:21VTTravon McMillian 51-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good77
111:545750:59TLSZack Langer 2-yard touchdown run, Redford Jones kick good147
111:421750:12VT Isaiah Ford 75-yard touchdown reception from Michael Brewer, Joey Slye kick good1414
19:53440:56VT27-yard field goal by Joey Slye1417
15:288762:48VT Sam Rogers 14-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good1424
12:199753:09TLSBishop Louie 9-yard touchdown reception from Dane Evans, Redford Jones kick good2124
213:0910754:10VT Bucky Hodges 16-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good2131
29:097803:05VTTravon McMillian 1-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good2138
27:11VT Greg Stroman 67 yard punt return for a touchdown, Joey Slye kick good2145
22:2612654:45TLS29-yard field goal by Redford Jones2445
20:206640:45TLSD'Angelo Brewer 10-yard touchdown run, Redford Jones kick good3145
37:3815817:22VT Trey Edmunds 1-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good3152
34:11190:04TLSDane Evans 9-yard touchdown run, Redford Jones kick failed3752
411:096382:32VT41-yard field goal by Joey Slye3755
47:359753:34TLSJosh Atkinson 21-yard touchdown reception from Dane Evans, 2-point pass from Dane Evans to Keyarris Garrett good4555
43:477762:08TLSKeyarris Garrett 36-yard touchdown reception from Dane Evans, Redford Jones kick good5255
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.5255

[2]

Statistics

Statistics [2] TLSVT
First Downs2730
Total offense, plays - yards83–56381–598
Rushes-yards (net)39–18943–254
Passing yards (net)374344
Passes, Comp-Att-Int27–44–023–38–1
Time of Possession26:2033:40

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References

  1. Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2015
  2. 1 2 3 "2015 Independence Bowl: Tulsa vs. Virginia Tech". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  3. "Independence Bowl Confirms Camping World Is New Title Sponsor", KSLA News, July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  4. , Saturday Down South, December 27, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  5. "Idaho outscores Colorado State in Potato Bowl". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  6. Steele, Phil. "2015–2016 Bowl Projections". PhilSteele.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.