2017 Independence Bowl

Last updated

2017 Walk-On's Independence Bowl
42nd Independence Bowl
WalkOnsIndependenceBowl.png
1234Total
Southern Miss607013
Florida State71610942
DateDecember 27, 2017
Season 2017
Stadium Independence Stadium
Location Shreveport, Louisiana
MVP James Blackman (QB, Florida State) & Nate Andrews (DB, Florida State) [1]
Referee Greg Sujack (MAC)
Attendance33,601
Payout US$1,466,200 [2]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN
Announcers Dave LaMont, Ahmad Brooks, Roddy Jones
Independence Bowl
 < 2016   2018 > 

The 2017 Independence Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2017, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The 42nd annual Independence Bowl featured the Southern Miss Golden Eagles of Conference USA against the Florida State Seminoles of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Sponsored by Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar, the game was officially known as the Walk-On's Independence Bowl.

Contents

The contest was televised on ESPN, with kickoff at 1:30 p.m. (EST). It was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. Florida State defeated Southern Miss, 42–13.

Team selection

The game featured the Southern Miss Golden Eagles against the Florida State Seminoles.

This was the twenty-third meeting between the schools, with Florida State holding a 13–8–1 advantage. They had most recently played in 1996, when the Seminoles defeated the Golden Eagles by a score of 54–14. [3]

Southern Miss

Florida State

On December 21, 2017, an unofficial report was published on Reddit claiming that the Seminoles were not bowl eligible due to an NCAA rule stating that for an FCS opponent to be countable towards bowl eligibility, the FCS program must have awarded 90% of the FCS scholarship limit. [4] Delaware State, an FCS team that lost to FSU earlier in the season, did not meet the 90% threshold set by the NCAA. Without this win, FSU stood at 5–6 on the season. However, on December 22, 2017, Florida State addressed the issue and stated that Delaware State verified its scholarship situation as eclipsing the 90-percent threshold. This, FSU claims, is due to an alleged established NCAA rule interpretation, allowing academic and other non-athletic scholarships to count towards the required threshold, however they did not reference the interpreted rule. [5] The confirmation officially gave Florida State bowl eligibility, and allowed the team to play in the Independence Bowl.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
QuarterTime Drive TeamScoring informationScore
Plays Yards TOP USMFSU
111:058783:55USMKwadra Griggs 5-yard touchdown run, Parker Shaunfield kick no good60
15:2012755:45FSU Auden Tate 20-yard touchdown reception from James Blackman, Ricky Aguayo kick good67
212:389804:59FSU Cam Akers 14-yard touchdown reception from James Blackman, Ricky Aguayo kick no good613
27:488582:51FSU29-yard field goal by Ricky Aguayo616
21:334241:30FSUAuden Tate 10-yard touchdown reception from James Blackman, Ricky Aguayo kick good623
310:4510434:15FSU39-yard field goal by Ricky Aguayo626
33:259854:40FSUJacques Patrick 2-yard touchdown run, Ricky Aguayo kick good633
30:446752:41USM Korey Robertson 13-yard touchdown reception from Kwadra Griggs, Parker Shaunfield kick good1333
413:345302:10FSUAuden Tate 17-yard touchdown reception from James Blackman, Ricky Aguayo kick no good (snap fumbled)1339
47:328133:54FSU39-yard field goal by Ricky Aguayo1342
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.1342

Statistics

1234Total
Golden Eagles607013
Seminoles71610942
StatisticsUSMFSU
First downs1225
Plays–yards55–26074–452
Rushes–yards28–13145–214
Passing yards129238
Passing: Comp–Att–Int15-27-019-29-0
Time of possession22:5237:08
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
Southern MissPassingKwanda Griggs13-25, 86 yds., 1 TD
Rushing Ito Smith 16 carries, 92 yds.
Receiving Korey Robertson 4 rec., 36 yds., 1 TD
Florida StatePassing James Blackman 18-26, 233 yds., 4 TD
Rushing Cam Akers 13 carries, 94 yds.
Receiving Auden Tate 5 rec., 84 yds., 3 TD

References

  1. Deen, Safid (December 27, 2017). "FSU's Cam Akers, James Blackman shine in freshman finales in Independence Bowl". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  2. Bowl payout
  3. Florida State Seminoles vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles series history
  4. "FSU may not be bowl eligible". Reddit.com/r/CFB/. December 21, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  5. "Florida State defies internet detectives and says that it is in fact bowl eligible in a statement". SBNation.com. December 22, 2017.