By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
The 49th Annual Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl kicked off after a B-52 flyover and despite sloppy play for much of the first three quarters, delivered an exciting finish as Louisiana Tech beat Coastal Carolina 23-14 Tuesday.
The flyover, provided by Barksdale AFB crews and officials, was the only Air Force flyover scheduled during the bowl season this year.
FLAG DAY: Coastal Carolina and Louisiana Tech combined for 17 first-half penalties, putting bowl statisticians on record watch. The flags flew often in the final two quarters, but several were off-setting and others declined, keeping the teams from topping the I-Bowl record of 27 enforced walk-offs.
Their 25 combined penalties were the second most in 49 Independence Bowls. The 228 combined penalty yards were the most ever in the local bowl’s history.
Coastal interim head coach Jeremiah Johnson said some of the problem was the month-long gap between games, but put more of the blame on an overly-sensitive Mountain West Conference officiating crew.
“It’s two teams that haven’t played in 30 days, so there’s that. It was two teams that competed, and there was a lot of emotion on that football field, because of the situation with us being there last year (he was Tech’s defensive coordinator in 2024). There were a lot of guys on both sides who wanted to prove that they were really good and excited to be there.
“There was a lot of emotion, but those kids on both teams played good and hard. It never got dirty. They talked a lot, and apparently the officials didn’t like the talking. Even the stuff they were calling unsportsmanlike, it wasn’t like anybody was throwing punches,” said Johnson.
PUNT TEAMS WORK OT: The 17 combined punts were the second most in Independence Bowl history, following the 18 in 2019 between Louisiana Tech and Miami. Coastal’s Emilo Sebafundi, an Australian, had nine boots for a 43.2 average. Tech punter John Hoyet Chance, the hometown kid from Captain Shreve, punted eight for a 42.6 norm.
ON A BRIGHTER NOTE: Louisiana Tech made I-Bowl history in a better way than sharing the penalty record and coach Sonny Cumbie was pleased to find out about it. The Bulldogs’ victory made it the second program to capture four Independence Bowl victories, joining Ole Miss.
“I really appreciate you bringing it my attention without prefacing it with the penalty record. I wasn’t aware of that one, either. I know we had a lot of them,” he said. “You look at the players, the coaches, and the teams that have played in this illustrious bowl game over 49 years … Ole Miss, now we’re tied to them, in terms of four wins, and, you know, hopefully we’ll have a great opportunity in the future to win a lot of games, and to break that record also.”
TILTING THE SCALES: Tech became the 12th team to lose three fumbles in an Independence Bowl, but countered by blocking a field goal (Kenyatta McNeese) and coming up with three turnovers — a fumble recovery by I-Bowl defensive MVP Sifa Leota, who led all players with 10 tackles including two sacks; and pivotal interceptions by Jakari Foster and Jordan McRae. McRae’s ignited a 17-point fourth quarter.
Foster, a first-team AP All-American, made his eighth pickoff to halt Coastal’s last possession in the final minute. He took a couple steps and slid to the turf, heeding instructions.
“My coaches said that ‘if you get an interception here, it is down time.’ I looked ahead of me, and I could’ve scored a pick six,” he said, smiling, “but I couldn’t.”
HE’S BEEN AROUND A WHILE: Louisiana Tech senior defensive back Cedric Woods played in his 58th career game for the Bulldogs Tuesday, the third-most games played in Tech football history.
The Monroe-Carroll product, hoping to keep playing in the NFL next season, looked back fondly at his days with the ‘Dogs.
“It has been a wild journey especially during Coach Cumbie’s tenure. We had two 3-9 seasons, a 5-7 season last year, and finally capping it off with an 8-5 season this year. It has been amazing to have been a part of that,” he said.
“When you lose, you learn more lessons than when you are winning. I can wholeheartedly say that. I want to give a special shoutout to Coach Cumbie. This is a good dude and a good person.”
ATTENDANCE: The paid attendance Tuesday was announced at 30,298, although it appeared more than half that number chose not to brave the brisk weather – 48 degrees, with a mild 7 mph wind. It was much more pleasant than the near freezing wind chill for Monday night’s Rally on the Red events in Bossier City.
The figure topped 30,000 for a fourth straight year, but didn’t match up to last year’s 34,283 who paid for the Army-Tech contest played at night. The Tech fans were boisterous as their team rallied to win this year’s edition.
- Bowl staff contributed to this story.