SHREVEPORT, La. — Louisiana Tech took a short trip and won its first bowl game in a long time.
Phillip Livas returned a kickoff 97 yards, Daniel Porter rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown and the Bulldogs won the Independence Bowl by beating Northern Illinois 17-10 on Sunday.
It was Louisiana Tech’s first postseason win since the 1977 Independence Bowl and the Bulldogs’ seventh come-from-behind win of the season in what was essentially a home game. The Bulldogs (8-5), from nearby Ruston, haven’t won eight games since 1999.
The victory over Northern Illinois (6-7) marks a quick turnaround under coach Derek Dooley, former protege of Nick Saban and son of iconic Georgia coach and athletic director Vince Dooley.
As his father did, Dooley won his first bowl. And just like Dad, he used special teams, defense and the running game to prevail.
“They went out as champions,” Dooley said. “That was our goal, to go out as champions.”
Two seasons ago the Bulldogs won three games, but they earned their first bowl trip since the 2001 Humanitarian Bowl in a topsy-turvy season that started with an upset of Mississippi State and ended with a surprise trip to Shreveport when neither the Southeastern Conference nor the Big 12 could provide bowl-eligible teams.
Despite criticism of the matchup and a bloated bowl schedule, both teams were excited about the invitation and the chance to play the only college game of the day.
Much of the scoring and all the big plays came in the first half. Northern Illinois dominated the first quarter with advantages of 11:46 to 3:14 in time of possession and 125-23 in total yards in the first quarter. The Huskies scored on Chandler Harnish’s 8-yard pass to fullback Kyle Skarb in the left flat, his fifth straight completion for 53 yards on the drive.
But poor special teams helped erase the Huskies’ advantage.
First, Livas broke a tackle at midfield and shook Chase Carter at the 30 with a dynamic stop-and-go move on the ensuing kickoff. It was the eighth non-offensive touchdown of the season for the Bulldogs.
Northern Illinois 7 0 3 0 — 10
Louisiana Tech 7 7 3 0 — 17
First quarter: NIU — Skarb 8 pass from Harnish (Salerno kick), 1:56. LaT — Livas 97 kickoff return (Oestriecher kick), 1:43. Second quarter: LaT — Porter 11 run (Oestriecher kick), 13:41. Third quarter: LaT — FG Perkins 33, 11:54. NIU — FG Salerno 20, 7:31. A — 41,567. NIU LaT
First downs 17 12
Rushes-yards 31-153 31-92
Passing 186 144
Comp-att-int 20-41-2 12-27-0
Return yards 0 5
Punts-avg. 6-35.3 8-35.6
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 7-70 6-40
Time of possession 33:12 26:48
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Northern Illinois, Spann 14-79, Harnish 12-61, Palmer 1-12, M.Brown 1-2, Grady 2-1, team 1-(minus 2). Louisiana Tech. Porter 18-78, Livas 3-15, P.Jackson 5-9, Q.Harris 1-6, Jenkins 4-(minus 16).
PASSING — Northern Illinois, Harnish 20-40-2-186, Simon 0-1-0-0. Louisiana Tech, Jenkins 12-27-0-144.
RECEIVING — Northern Illinois, Simon 6-44, Perez 2-44, Cunningham 2-26, Cox 2-15, Spann 2-15, Turner 2-15, Flahive 1-8, Skarb 1-8. M.Brown 1-6, B.Davis 1-5. Louisiana Tech, Livas 4-18, Tuminello 2-30, Beck 2-17, P.Jackson 1-34, Porter 1-24, Morris 1-15, Womack 1-6.
