2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl (December)

2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl
1234 Total
Illinois 3663 18
Louisiana Tech 147014 35
Date December 26, 2014
Season 2014
Stadium Cotton Bowl
Location Fair Park
Dallas, Texas
MVP Louisiana Tech LB Houston Bates[1]
Favorite Louisiana Tech by 7[2]
Referee Land Clark[3] (Pac-12)
Attendance 31,297[3]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN & RedVoice LLC
Announcers Mike Corey, Charles Arbuckle, & Kayce Smith (ESPN)
Brian Estridge, John Denton, Rob Best, and Landry Burdine (RedVoice LLC)

The 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 26, 2014 at the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The fifth edition of the Heart of Dallas Bowl featured the Illinois Fighting Illini against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.[4] The game was played 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. The game is sponsored by the Zaxby's chicken restaurant franchise and is officially known as the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Louisiana Tech beat Illinois by a score of 35–18.[5]

This was the second overall meeting between these two teams, with the Bulldogs winning the first matchup in 2012.

Illinois

Illinois came as a team on a series of streaks throughout the season. On the season the Illini had averaged 26.6 points per game but gave up an average of 34 points per game. Illinois can easily be summarized as a Jekyll and Hyde team. During their 6 wins the Illini scored an average of 33.8 points per game, but in their 6 losses they've gave up an average of 41.67 points per game. This was the Illini's first bowl game since 2011.

Louisiana Tech

Louisiana Tech entered the bowl game as the C-USA West Division champs. The Bulldogs won six of their last eight games giving up an average of 20.5 points per game during that stretch. 3 of the Bulldogs five losses come to Top 25 teams.

Game summary

With the win, the Bulldogs won their first bowl game since 2008.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP ILL LT
1 7:29 6 63 1:26 LT Jarred Craft 16-yard touchdown run, Jonathan Barnes kick good 0 7
1 3:46 8 65 3:43 ILL 27-yard field goal by Taylor Zalewski 3 7
1 3:28 1 80 0:18 LT Kenneth Dixon 80-yard touchdown reception from Cody Sokol, Jonathan Barnes kick good 3 14
2 11:15 5 65 1:30 ILL Jon Davis 25-yard touchdown reception from Reilly O'Toole, Taylor Zalewski kick failed 9 14
2 7:20 LT Interception returned 69 yards for touchdown by Xavier Woods, Jonathan Barnes kick good 9 21
3 6:04 9 72 4:17 ILL Donovonn Young 3-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass incomplete 15 21
4 14:01 10 49 3:59 ILL 43-yard field goal by David Reisner 18 21
4 6:15 5 74 2:20 LT Kenneth Dixon 1-yard touchdown run, Jonathan Barnes kick good 18 28
4 3:43 6 49 1:36 LT Blake Martin 28-yard touchdown run, Jonathan Barnes kick good 18 35
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 18 35

Source: [3]

Statistics

Statistics[3] ILL LT
First downs 26 16
Plays–yards 80–451 59–361
Rushes–yards 33–122 31–114
Passing yards 329 247
Passing: Comp–Att–Int 28–47–1 14–28–0
Time of possession 35:00 25:00

References

  1. Isabella, Sean (December 26, 2014). "Tech's Bates wins MVP against former team". thenewsstar.com. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  2. Odds
  3. 1 2 3 4 "2014 December Heart of Dallas Bowl Game Stats". Stat Broadcast. December 26, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  4. Ryan, Shannon (December 7, 2014). "Illinois Will Face Louisiana Tech in Heart of Dallas Bowl", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  5. Ryan, Shannon (December 26, 2014). "Illinois Fumbles Away Huge Opportunity in Bowl Loss to Louisiana Tech", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
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