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By Andy Baeuerle
Every year, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl hosts the two top teams of the Sun Belt and Conference USA. Teams that were top but didn’t make it to the conference championship. South Alabama went to New Orleans with a 10-2 record and as one of the top teams in the Sun Belt Conference. Western Kentucky (8-4) came as one of the top Conference USA teams, looking to win their second bowl game in a row. With 4 conference bowl wins and their first bowl win on their shoulders, the South Alabama Jaguars had a lot on their shoulders in their first 10-win season as an FBS member. Western Kentucky dominated the first half of the game, leading USA 31-3 at the half. South Alabama’s only points in the first half came with a field goal and 1:38 left on the clock. The Hilltoppers came back out of the locker room still swinging, just not as hard as the first, scoring only 13 points. South Alabama came out to move the ball up and down the field, putting 20 more on the board, but not enough before WKU took a knee to defeat South Alabama 44-23.
If teams cannot get to the New Orleans Bowl, the Independence Bowl is another bowl that fans really look forward to. This year’s edition featured 6-6 Louisiana from the Sun Belt and 7-5 Houston from the American. The 2022 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl was either team’s first Indy Bowl appearance. Houston came in with one of the weakest defenses in FBS, while Louisiana had one of the strongest. Louisiana led the Cougars for much of the game, with the high point of the game coming early in the fourth when the scores were tied 16-16. After Louisiana’s backup quarterback Zeon Chriss fumbled the ball on the Houston 9-yard line, the Cougars recovered the ball and worked back down the field to score and win the game 23-16.
Let’s check out the other Bowl Scores from Week 2:
- Myrtle Beach Bowl: Marshall 28, UConn 14
- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: East Michigan 41, San Jose State 27
- RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl: Toledo 21, Liberty 19
- Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force 30, Baylor 15
- Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: Wake Forest 27, Missouri 17
- EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl: Middle Tennessee 25, San Diego State 23
Week 3 Bowl Schedule (* denotes games that will be written about):
- Quick Lane Bowl: New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green
- Camellia Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Buffalo
- SERVPRO First Responders Bowl: Memphis vs. Utah State
- TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl: East Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina
- Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State
- TaxAct Texas Bowl*: Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech
- Peraton Military Bowl: Central Florida (UCF) vs. Duke
- AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. Kansas
- San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl: #15 Oregon vs. North Carolina
- Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: Syracuse vs. Minnesota
- Cheez-It Bowl: #13 Florida State vs. Oklahoma
- Valero Alamo Bowl: #12 Washington vs. #20 Texas
- Tax Slayer Gator Bowl: #19 South Carolina vs. #21 Notre Dame
- Capital One Orange Bowl: #6 Tennessee vs. #7 Clemson
- Duke’s Mayo Bowl: #23 NC State vs. Maryland
- Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: #18 UCLA vs. Pittsburgh
- Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl: Ohio vs. Wyoming
- Allstate Sugar Bowl*: #5 Alabama vs. #9 Kansas State
- TransPerfect Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. Kentucky
- College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl*: #2 Michigan vs. #3 TCU
- College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl*: #1 Georgia vs. #4 Ohio State
MageeNews.com is a news source covering Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
