2022 LendingTree Bowl

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2022 LendingTree Bowl
24th LendingTree Bowl
Rice Owls Southern Miss Golden Eagles
(5–7) (6–6)
C–USA Sun Belt
24 38
Head coach: 
Mike Bloomgren		 Head coach: 
Will Hall
1234 Total
Rice 03210 24
Southern Miss 710714 38
DateDecember 17, 2022
Season2022
StadiumHancock Whitney Stadium
LocationMobile, Alabama
MVPFrank Gore Jr. (RB, Southern Miss)[1]
FavoriteSouthern Miss by 6.5
RefereeDavid Siegle (MAC)[2]
Attendance20,512
PayoutUS$1,500,000[3]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
AnnouncersMike Monaco (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), and Alyssa Lang (sideline)
LendingTree Bowl
 < 2021  2023 > 

The 2022 LendingTree Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 17, 2022, at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The 24th annual LendingTree Bowl, the game featured Southern Miss from the Sun Belt Conference and Rice from Conference USA (C-USA). The game began at 4:50 p.m. CST[4] and aired on ESPN.[5] It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. The game's title sponsor was online lending marketplace LendingTree.

Teams[edit]

Based on conference tie-ins, the game usually features teams from the Mid-American Conference and the Sun Belt Conference; however, the matchup for this edition features a team from Conference USA. This will be the thirteenth meeting between Rice and Southern Miss, with the all-time series currently tied at six wins each.[6] From 2005 to 2021, the Owls and Golden Eagles played together as members of Conference USA.[7]

This will be the Owls' first LendingTree Bowl, as well as their first bowl game appearance since the 2014 Hawaii Bowl, where they defeated Fresno State by a score of 30–6.[8] The Golden Eagles will make their third appearance in the LendingTree Bowl, though their first under its current name; they defeated TCU in the 2000 Mobile Alabama Bowl[9] and beat Ohio in the 2007 GMAC Bowl.[10] Their last bowl game appearance came in 2019, when they played Tulane in the Armed Forces Bowl.[11]

Rice[edit]

Main article: 2022 Rice Owls football team

The Rice Owls, representing Conference USA (C–USA), began Mike Bloomgren's fifth year as head coach with a road trip to Los Angeles and a game at No. 14 USC, which resulted in a 52-point loss.[12] They defeated FCS McNeese State by 42 points in their home opener[13] and followed that up with an 11-point defeat of Louisiana the next weekend.[14] They were defeated by crosstown rivals Houston by a touchdown to conclude their non-conference schedule,[15] and began C–USA play on October 1 with a home victory against UAB.[16] The Owls' first conference loss came following a bye week, as they traveled to play Florida Atlantic and fell by three points.[17] A one-point overtime win over Louisiana Tech[18] and a poor showing against Charlotte, resulting in a 33-point loss, took Rice into November with a 4–4 record.[19] After beating UTEP at home by virtue of a late-game touchdown,[20] the Owls traveled to face Western Kentucky, to whom they lost by five touchdowns.[21] Rice suffered a similar result in their final home game, against UTSA, which they lost by 41 points.[22] Their last regular-season game played out to a four-point defeat to North Texas, a game that sent the Mean Green to the conference championship game.[23]

Rice finished their regular season with an overall record of 5–7 and a 3–5 mark in conference play. Under normal circumstances, this means that Rice would not be eligible for a bowl; however, due to an insufficient number of standard bowl-eligible teams, Academic Progress Rate (APR) is used as a tiebreaker.[24] Rice, having the highest APR among 5–7 teams, became bowl eligible and accepted their bid to the LendingTree Bowl on December 4.[25]

See also: Bowl eligibility § Bowl teams with losing records

This was Rice's final game as a member of C–USA, as the Owls committed to join the American Athletic Conference in 2023.[26]

Southern Miss[edit]

Main article: 2022 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles, previously members of Conference USA, represented the Sun Belt Conference for the first time effective July 1, 2022.[27] Their second season under head coach Will Hall began with a home game against Liberty, which went to four overtimes before the Flames earned a two-point victory.[28] A second loss followed as the Golden Eagles were bested by No. 15 Miami (FL), 30–7.[29] They earned their first win of the season with a dominant showing against FCS Northwestern State,[30] and defeated Tulane on the road with the help of a fourth quarter pick-six the next week.[31] After a bye week, Southern Miss traveled to Troy, losing by 17 points,[32] before returning for homecoming and beating Arkansas State by one point.[33] This was the start of a three-game winning streak that went through the end of October and included further victories over Texas State, by six points,[34] and Louisiana, by fifteen.[35] November started much worse for the Golden Eagles, however, as they dropped a home game to Georgia State[36] before a road trip to Coastal Carolina ended in a three-point loss.[37] Southern Miss's losing skid extended to three games as they faltered in their home finale against South Alabama.[38] Needing a win in their final game against Louisiana–Monroe to achieve bowl eligibility, the Golden Eagles defeated the Warhawks by ten points to finish the regular season with an overall record of 6–6 and a Sun Belt record of 4–4.[39]

Game summary[edit]

The game's officiating crew, representing the Mid-American Conference, was led by referee David Siegle and umpire Ryan McClellan.[2]

2022 LendingTree Bowl
Period 1 2 34Total
Rice 0 3 21024
Southern Miss 7 10 71438

at Hancock Whitney Stadium • Mobile, Alabama

  • Date: Saturday, December 17, 2022
  • Game time: 4:45 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 47 °F (8 °C) • Wind: 6 mph (9.7 km/h) north
  • Game attendance: 20,512
  • Referee: David Siegle
  • TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Monaco (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), and Alyssa Lang (sideline)
  • Box score
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP Rice Southern Miss
1 12:20 6 75 2:40 Southern Miss Jakarius Caston 19-yard touchdown reception from Trey Lowe III, Briggs Bourgeois kick good 0 7
2 10:14 1 59 0:36 Southern Miss Frank Gore Jr. 59-yard touchdown run, Briggs Bourgeois kick good 0 14
2 6:04 8 59 4:10 Rice 59-yard field goal by Christian VanSickle 3 14
2 2:40 8 75 3:24 Southern Miss 18-yard field goal by Briggs Bourgeois 3 17
3 11:12 7 80 3:48 Rice Isaiah Esdale 26-yard touchdown reception from AJ Padgett, Christian VanSickle kick good 10 17
3 10:08 1 32 0:05 Rice Isaiah Esdale 32-yard touchdown reception from AJ Padgett, Christian VanSickle kick good 17 17
3 5:06 5 88 2:00 Rice Bradley Rozner 18-yard touchdown reception from AJ Padgett, Christian VanSickle kick good 24 17
3 3:52 4 67 1:14 Southern Miss Tiaquelin Mims 18-yard touchdown reception from Frank Gore Jr., Briggs Bourgeois kick good 24 24
4 14:18 5 98 2:04 Southern Miss Jason Brownlee 26-yard touchdown reception from Trey Lowe III, Briggs Bourgeois kick good 24 31
4 2:57 1 55 0:13 Southern Miss Frank Gore Jr. 55-yard touchdown run, Briggs Bourgeois kick good 24 38
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 24 38

Statistics[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Busby, Garrett (December 17, 2022). "Gore Jr.'s record night highlights Southern Miss' first bowl victory since 2016". WLBT.com. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Austro, Ben (December 4, 2022). "2022–23 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  3. ^ "2022 Bowl Schedule". College Football Poll. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d "2022 LendingTree Bowl Final Stats" (PDF). Statbroadcast. December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  5. ^ "2022 College Football Bowl Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  6. ^ "2022 Rice Football Fact Book" (PDF). Rice Football. Rice Owls Athletics. August 26, 2022. p. 132. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  7. ^ "Old C–USA foes Rice, Southern Miss meet in Lending Tree Bowl". Dothan Eagle. December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  8. ^ "Driphus Jackson, Rice win Hawaii Bowl; Jayson Carter has special run". ESPN. December 25, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  9. ^ "2000 Game Recap – Southern Miss 28, TCU 21". LendingTree Bowl. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  10. ^ "2007 Game Recap – Southern Miss 28, Ohio 7". LendingTree Bowl. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  11. ^ Smith, Guerry (January 4, 2020). "Tulane dominates Southern Miss in Armed Forces Bowl after early deficit". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  12. ^ Nhi Nguyen, Thuc (September 3, 2022). "No. 14 USC pummels Rice to kick off Lincoln Riley era with a bang". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  13. ^ Margolius, Justin (September 10, 2022). "McNeese vs Rice game recap". KPLC. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  14. ^ Dean, Richard (September 18, 2022). "Rice ends Louisiana's 15-game win streak". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  15. ^ "Houston's defense makes 2 big plays late in win over Rice". ESPN. September 24, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  16. ^ "UAB football falls to Rice on the road, 28–24". UAB Blazers Athletics. October 1, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  17. ^ Weinberger, Zach (October 15, 2022). "Three takeaways from Florida Atlantic's 17-14 victory over Rice". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Hernandez, Emely (October 22, 2022). "Louisiana Tech football falls to Rice 42-41 in overtime homecoming heartbreaker". The News-Star. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  19. ^ Bailey, Hunter (October 29, 2022). "Charlotte football unleashes offensive explosion in record-setting 56-23 win over Rice". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  20. ^ Dean, Richard (November 4, 2022). "Rice scores with 25 seconds left to top UTEP". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  21. ^ "Reed, Western Kentucky beat Rice 45-10, now bowl eligible". CBS Sports. November 12, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  22. ^ Whitaker, Stephen (November 19, 2022). "UTSA punishes Rice, wins another regular-season title". San Antonio Report. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  23. ^ "N. Texas stuffs Rice to set up UTSA rematch in title tilt". ESPN. November 26, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  24. ^ Schrager, Daniel (November 29, 2022). "Rice in line for bowl due to academics despite UNT loss, 5-7 record". The Rice Thresher. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  25. ^ Dean, Richard (December 4, 2022). "Rice to play Southern Miss in LendingTree Bowl". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  26. ^ "American announces entrance agreements with incoming members for 2023–24 season" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  27. ^ Jeyarajah, Shehan; Sallee, Barrett (March 31, 2022). "Southern Miss, Marshall, Old Dominion headed for Sun Belt in 2022 after resolution with Conference USA". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  28. ^ "Southern Miss Golden Eagles fall to the Liberty Flames". Sun Herald. September 4, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  29. ^ Reynolds, Tim (September 10, 2022). "No. 15 Miami pulls away in 2nd half, tops Southern Miss 30-7". AP News. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  30. ^ Eckert, David (September 17, 2022). "Southern Miss football obliterates Northwestern State for first win of season". Hattiesburg American. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  31. ^ "USM pulls off football stunner, 27-24, over Tulane". WDAM. September 24, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  32. ^ "Southern Miss drops its first Sun Belt bout on the road". Sun Herald. October 8, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  33. ^ "Gore, Dean rally Southern Miss past Arkansas State 20-19". CBS Sports. October 15, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  34. ^ Eckert, David (October 22, 2022). "Chandler Pittman and Zach Wilcke salvage Southern Miss football victory over Texas State". Hattiesburg American. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  35. ^ Diaz, Cory (October 28, 2022). "Den of nightmares: Louisiana football doomed by turnovers in loss to Southern Miss". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  36. ^ "Southern Miss football team dominated Saturday by Georgia State, 42-14". WDAM. November 5, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  37. ^ "Coastal Carolina holds off Southern Miss for 26-23 home win". WMBF. November 13, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  38. ^ Stephenson, Creg (November 19, 2022). "Instant analysis: South Alabama rallies for 27-20 win at Southern Miss". AL.com. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  39. ^ Eckert, David (November 26, 2022). "Southern Miss football beats ULM, earns bowl eligibility thanks to Frank Gore Jr.'s heroics". Hattiesburg American. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2022_LendingTree_Bowl&oldid=1191968543"