The 1997 Motor City Bowl was the inaugural edition of the new

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

, and was played at the

Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the fi ...

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

on December 26, 1997. The game featured the

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are memb ...

of the

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

and the

Ole Miss Rebels The Ole Miss Rebels are the 18 men's and women's College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that are funded by and represent the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford, Mississippi, Oxford. The first was the Ole ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Background

The Rebels finished third in the SEC Western Division in their first bowl game since

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. Marshall was champions of the MAC after beating

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

in the

1997 MAC Championship Game The 1997 MAC Championship Game was the inaugural conference championship game of the Mid-American Conference, and was played on December 5, 1997, at Marshall Stadium, now known as Joan C. Edwards Stadium, in Huntington, West Virginia. The game f ...

in their first ever season in Division I-A. This was their first bowl game since

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

Game summary

In a game with 1,018 yards of total offense,

Stewart Patridge Stewart Patridge (born December 6, 1974) is a former American football quarterback best known as the leader of the University of Mississippi Rebels from 1995 to 1997. He won the 1997 Conerly Trophy as the best college football player in the sta ...

threw 29-of-47 passes for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception to lead Ole Miss to victory.

Deuce McAllister Dulymus Jenod "Deuce" McAllister (born December 27, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons with the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

at running back.

Chad Pennington James Chadwick Pennington (born June 26, 1976) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He is currently the head football coach of the Sayre School in Lexington, Ke ...

threw 23-of-45 for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Randy Moss Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Tit ...

caught 6 passes for 173 yards.

Aftermath

This was the only Motor City Bowl featuring a team from the SEC. Marshall went to the next three Motor City Bowls. Ole Miss went to two more bowl games in the decade.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110608133202/http://www.mmbolding.com/bowls/Motor_City_1997.htm

Motor City Bowl The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (known as the Motor City Bowl until 2009) was a post-season college football bowl game that was played annually from 1997 to 2013. The first five games (1997–2001) were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, M ...

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Ole Miss Rebels football bowl games Marshall Thundering Herd football bowl games

Events in Pontiac, Michigan Sports in Pontiac, Michigan {{Michigan-sport-stub