2017 Independence Bowl

{{Infobox NCAA football yearly game

| game_name = Independence Bowl

| subheader = 42nd Independence Bowl

| title_sponsor = Walk-On's

| image = WalkOnsIndependenceBowl.png

| caption =

| date_game_played = December 27

| year_game_played = 2017

| football_season = 2017

| stadium = Independence Stadium

| city = Shreveport, Louisiana

| visitor_school = University of Southern Mississippi

| visitor_name_short = Southern Miss

| visitor_nickname = Golden Eagles

| visitor_record = 8–4

| visitor_conference = C-USA

| visitor_rank_AP =

| visitor_rank_coaches =

| visitor_rank_CFP =

| visitor_coach = Jay Hopson

| visitor_1q = 6

| visitor_2q = 0

| visitor_3q = 7

| visitor_4q = 0

| home_school = Florida State University

| home_name_short = Florida State

| home_nickname = Seminoles

| home_record = 6–6

| home_conference = ACC

| home_rank_AP =

| home_rank_coaches =

| home_rank_CFP =

| home_coach = Odell Haggins
(Interim)

| home_1q = 7

| home_2q = 16

| home_3q = 10

| home_4q = 9

| odds =

| MVP = James Blackman (QB, Florida State) & Nate Andrews (DB, Florida State){{cite web |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/florida-state-seminoles/chopping-block/os-sp-fsu-news-1228-story.html |title=FSU's Cam Akers, James Blackman shine in freshman finales in Independence Bowl |first=Safid |last=Deen |newspaper=Orlando Sentinel |date=December 27, 2017 |access-date=December 27, 2017}}

| anthem =

| referee = Greg Sujack (MAC)

| halftime =

| attendance = 33,601

| payout = 1,466,200[http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bowl_games_bowl_schedule.html Bowl payout]

| us_network = ESPN

| us_announcers = Dave LaMont, Ahmad Brooks, Roddy Jones

}}

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.

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, {{no wrap|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.[http://www.winsipedia.com/florida-state/vs/southern-miss Florida State Seminoles vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles series history]

=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.{{cite web|title=FSU may not be bowl eligible|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/7lac2l/fsu_may_not_be_bowl_eligible/?rdt=58553|work=Reddit.com/r/CFB/|date=December 21, 2017|access-date=December 21, 2017}} 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.{{cite web|title=Florida State defies internet detectives and says that it is in fact bowl eligible in a statement|url=https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/12/21/16805816/florida-state-independence-bowl-eligible-ncaa|work=SBNation.com|date=December 22, 2017}} The confirmation officially gave Florida State bowl eligibility, and allowed the team to play in the Independence Bowl.

Game summary

=Scoring summary=

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryStart|VisitorName=USM|HomeName=FSU|state=}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=1

| Time=11:05

| Team=USM

| DrivePlays=8

| DriveLength=78

| DriveTime=3:55

| Type=RushTD

| Runner=Kwadra Griggs

| yards=5

| kickresult=no good

| Kicker=Parker Shaunfield

| Visitor=6

| Home=0

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=1

| Time=5:20

| Team=FSU

| DrivePlays=12

| DriveLength=75

| DriveTime=5:45

| Type=RecTD

| Receiver=Auden Tate

| QB=James Blackman

| yards=20

| kickresult=good

| Kicker=Ricky Aguayo

| Visitor=6

| Home=7

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=2

| Time=12:38

| Team=FSU

| DrivePlays=9

| DriveLength=80

| DriveTime=4:59

| Type=RecTD

| Receiver=Cam Akers

| QB=James Blackman

| yards=14

| kickresult=no good

| Kicker=Ricky Aguayo

| Visitor=6

| Home=13

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=2

| Time=7:48

| Team=FSU

| DrivePlays=8

| DriveLength=58

| DriveTime=2:51

| Type=FG

| yards=29

| Kicker=Ricky Aguayo

| Visitor=6

| Home=16

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=2

| Time=1:33

| Team=FSU

| DrivePlays=4

| DriveLength=24

| DriveTime=1:30

| Type=RecTD

| Receiver=Auden Tate

| QB=James Blackman

| yards=10

| kickresult=good

| Kicker=Ricky Aguayo

| Visitor=6

| Home=23

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=3

| Time=10:45

| Team=FSU

| DrivePlays=10

| DriveLength=43

| DriveTime=4:15

| Type=FG

| yards=39

| Kicker=Ricky Aguayo

| Visitor=6

| Home=26

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=3

| Time=3:25

| Team=FSU

| DrivePlays=9

| DriveLength=85

| DriveTime=4:40

| Type=RushTD

| Runner=Jacques Patrick

| yards=2

| kickresult=good

| Kicker=Ricky Aguayo

| Visitor=6

| Home=33

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=3

| Time=0:44

| Team=USM

| DrivePlays=6

| DriveLength=75

| DriveTime=2:41

| Type=RecTD

| Receiver=Korey Robertson

| QB=Kwadra Griggs

| yards=13

| kickresult=good

| Kicker=Parker Shaunfield

| Visitor=13

| Home=33

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=4

| Time=13:34

| Team=FSU

| DrivePlays=5

| DriveLength=30

| DriveTime=2:10

| Type=RecTD

| Receiver=Auden Tate

| QB=James Blackman

| yards=17

| kickresult=no good (snap fumbled)

| Kicker=Ricky Aguayo

| Visitor=13

| Home=39

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=4

| Time=7:32

| Team=FSU

| DrivePlays=8

| DriveLength=13

| DriveTime=3:54

| Type=FG

| yards=39

| Kicker=Ricky Aguayo

| Visitor=13

| Home=42

}}

=Statistics=

{{Linescore Amfootball|

|Road=Golden Eagles

|R1=6 |R2=0 |R3=7 |R4=0

|Home=Seminoles

|H1=7 |H2=16|H3=10|H4=9 }}

class="wikitable" ! Statistics !! style="{{NCAA color cell\|Southern Miss Golden Eagles}}"\|USM !!style="{{NCAA color cell\|Florida State Seminoles}}"\|FSU
First downs	12 \| 25
Plays–yards	55–260 \| 74–452
Rushes–yards	28–131	45–214
Passing yards	129	238
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	15-27-0 \| 19-29-0
Time of possession	22:52	37:08

class="wikitable" ! Team !! Category !! Player !! Statistics
rowspan=3 style="{{NCAA color cell\|Southern Miss Golden Eagles}}; text-align:center;"\|Southern Miss	Passing	Kwanda Griggs \| 13-25, 86 yds., 1 TD
Rushing	Ito Smith	16 carries, 92 yds.
Receiving	Korey Robertson	4 rec., 36 yds., 1 TD
rowspan=3 style="{{NCAA color cell\|Florida State Seminoles}}; text-align:center;"\|Florida State	Passing	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

Category:2017–18 NCAA football bowl games

2017

Category:2017 in sports in Louisiana

Category:December 2017 sports events in the United States