2023 AutoZone Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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65th Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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Date | December 29, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
Season | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Memphis, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Seth Henigan (QB, Memphis) | ||||||||||||||||||
Favorite | Iowa State by 10.5 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
Referee | Matt Loeffler (SEC) [2] | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 48,789 | ||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | ESPN ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | John Schriffen (play-by-play), Rocky Boiman (analyst), and Dawn Davenport (sideline) (ESPN) Jorge Sedano (play-by-play) and Orlando Franklin (analyst) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2023 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 2023, at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 65th annual Liberty Bowl featured Iowa State from the Big 12 Conference and Memphis from the American Athletic Conference (The American). The game began at approximately 2:30 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. [3] [4] The Liberty Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by automotive retailer AutoZone and was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The bowl featured the Iowa State Cyclones of the Big 12 Conference and Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference (The American). While the Liberty Bowl has a tie-in with the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the SEC did not have enough bowl-eligible members to supply a team.
This was the second meeting between Iowa State and Memphis; the teams previously met in the 2017 Liberty Bowl, won by Iowa State, 21–20. [5]
While Iowa State was the designated home team for the game, it was a de facto home game for Memphis, as Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, the site of the Liberty Bowl, is also the Tigers' home field.
The Cyclones entered the game with a 7–5 record (6–3 in the Big 12), tied for fourth place in their conference.
This was Iowa State's fourth Liberty Bowl; the Cyclones were 1–2 in prior editions of the game, their sole win coming in the aforementioned 2017 game, along with losses in the 1972 edition and 2012 edition.
The Tigers entered the game with a 9–3 record (6–2 in the American), having finished in fourth place in their conference.
This was Memphis' second Liberty Bowl, after the aforementioned 2017 game.
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Memphis | 19 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 36 |
Iowa State | 0 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 26 |
at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee
Game information |
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Statistics | MEM | ISU |
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First downs | 22 | 19 |
Plays–yards | 66–530 | 60–446 |
Rushes–yards | 32–166 | 20–0 |
Passing yards | 364 | 446 |
Passing: comp–att–int | 24–34–0 | 22–40–0 |
Time of possession | 34:24 | 25:36 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Memphis | Passing | Seth Henigan | 24/34, 364 yards, 4 TD |
Rushing | Blake Watson | 15 carries, 107 yards | |
Receiving | Roc Taylor | 8 receptions, 102 yards | |
Iowa State | Passing | Rocco Becht | 22/38, 446 yards, 3 TD |
Rushing | Abu Sama III | 12 carries, 4 yards | |
Receiving | Jayden Higgins | 9 receptions, 214 yards, TD |
The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City Convention Hall in 1964. Since 1965, the game has been held at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. Because of the scheduling of the bowl game near the end of the calendar year, no game was played during calendar years 2008 or 2015, while two games were played in calendar years 2010 and 2016.
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The stadium is the site of the annual Liberty Bowl, the annual Southern Heritage Classic, and is the home field of the University of Memphis Tigers football team of the American Athletic Conference. It has also been the host of several attempts at professional sports in the city, as well as other local football games and other gatherings.
The Memphis Tigers football team represents the University of Memphis in college football in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The Tigers play in the American Athletic Conference as an all-sports member. They play home games at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The team's head coach is Ryan Silverfield. Since their inaugural season in 1912, the Memphis Tigers have won over 500 games and appeared in seventeen bowl games.
The 2012 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game held on December 31, 2012, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 54th edition of the Liberty Bowl began at 2:30 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It featured the Iowa State Cyclones from the Big 12 Conference against the Conference USA champion Tulsa Golden Hurricane. It was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. With sponsorship from AutoZone, the game was officially the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2014 Liberty Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 29, 2014, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 56th edition of the Liberty Bowl featured the Texas A&M Aggies of the Southeastern Conference and the West Virginia Mountaineers of the Big 12 Conference. It began at 1:00 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season. Sponsored by automobile parts and accessories store AutoZone, it was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2015 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium, in Manhattan, Kansas as they have done since 1968. The Wildcats were led by head coach Bill Snyder in his 24th overall and seventh straight season since taking over for his second tenure in 2009. 2015 was the 120th season in school history. K-State was a member of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 6–7, 3–6 in Big 12 play to finish in eighth place. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they lost to Arkansas.
The 2016 Liberty Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on January 2, 2016, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 57th edition of the Liberty Bowl featured the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference against the Arkansas Razorbacks of the Southeastern Conference. It began at 2:20 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2015–16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season. Sponsored by automobile parts and accessories store AutoZone, it was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2017 Liberty Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 30, 2017, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 59th edition of the Liberty Bowl featured the Iowa State Cyclones of the Big 12 Conference against the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference. It was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. Sponsored by automobile parts and accessories store AutoZone, it was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2018 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game between the #24 Missouri Tigers of the Southeastern Conference and the unranked Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 Conference. The 60th edition of the Liberty Bowl took place on December 31, 2018 at 2:45 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2018–19 bowl games that concluded the 2018 FBS football season. Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, hosted the game for the 54th straight year. The game was sponsored by automobile parts and accessories store AutoZone and was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
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The 2019 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2019, with kickoff at 3:45 p.m. EST on ESPN. It was the 61st edition of the Liberty Bowl, and one of the 2019–20 bowl games concluding the 2019 FBS football season. Sponsored by automotive retailer AutoZone, the game was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2020 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2020, with kickoff at 4:00 p.m. EST on ESPN. It was the 62nd edition of the Liberty Bowl, and was one of the 2020–21 bowl games concluding the 2020 FBS football season. Sponsored by automotive retailer AutoZone, the game was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2021 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2021, with kickoff at 6:45 p.m. EST and televised on ESPN. It was the 63rd edition of the Liberty Bowl, and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. Sponsored by automotive retailer AutoZone, the game was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2022 First Responder Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2022, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas. The 13th annual First Responder Bowl, the game featured Memphis of the American Athletic Conference and Utah State of the Mountain West Conference. The game began at 2:20 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by cleanup and restoration company Servpro, the game was officially known as the Servpro First Responder Bowl.
The 2023 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University in the Big 12 Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cyclones were led by Matt Campbell in his eighth year as their head coach.
The 2023 Memphis Tigers football team represented the University of Memphis in the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, and competed in the American Athletic Conference. They were led by fourth-year head coach Ryan Silverfield. The Memphis Tigers football team drew an average home attendance of 29,782 in 2023.
The 2023 Music City Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2023, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The 25th annual Music City Bowl featured Auburn of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Maryland of the Big Ten Conference. The game began at approximately 1:00 p.m. CST and was aired on ABC. The Music City Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by translation and language services company TransPerfect and was officially known as the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.
The 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 2023 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The 88th annual Cotton Bowl Classic featured Missouri of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Ohio State of the Big Ten Conference—teams selected at-large by the College Football Playoff selection committee. The game began at approximately 7:00 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. The Cotton Bowl Classic was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and was officially known as the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
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The 2024 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2024, at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium located in Memphis, Tennessee. The 66th annual Liberty Bowl game featured Texas Tech and Arkansas. The game began at approximately 6:05 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. The Liberty Bowl was one of the 2024–25 bowl games concluding the 2024 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by automotive retailer AutoZone and was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.