The 2003 Independence Bowl was a post-season

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 ...

between the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

and the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

on December 31, 2003, at

Independence Stadium Independence Stadium may also refer to: * Independence Stadium (Bakau) in Gambia * Independence Stadium (Namibia) in Windhoek * Independence Stadium (South Africa) in Mthatha, a List of football stadiums in South Africa, football stadium in South A ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. Missouri was making their first bowl appearance since 1998. This was Missouri's first bowl game under Head Coach

Gary Pinkel Gary Robin Pinkel (born April 27, 1952) is an American former college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Toledo from 1991 to 2000 and the University of Missouri from 2001 to 2015, compiling career record o ...

. Arkansas, on the other hand, made their sixth straight bowl appearance, but had lost the last three. Arkansas defeated Missouri 27–14, winning their first bowl game since the 2000 Cotton Bowl. It was Arkansas' first victory in the Independence Bowl. Missouri fell to (8–5) on the season, while Arkansas improved to (9–4). This was the Hogs second bowl victory under head coach

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is an American former college football coach and player. He formerly worked for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State Univer ...

. It would be the Hogs last bowl victory until

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when they won the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...

. The Tigers opened the game with a 7–3 lead after the first quarter, but Arkansas rallied back, scoring 18 unanswered points to take a 21–7 lead into halftime. Mizzou cut the Hogs lead to 21–14 with a third quarter touchdown. But Arkansas answered with two field goals, one in the third and one in the fourth, to seal the victory for the Razorbacks. The Hogs outdueled the Tigers in every facet of the game, to include a blocked punt against Missouri in the second half. Arkansas running back Cedric Cobbs was named the game's Offensive MVP, rushing for 141 yards and a touchdown. The game's Defensive MVP was Razorback linebacker Caleb Miller, who finished the game with 14 tackles and an interception.

References

{{Arkansas Razorbacks bowl game navbox

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bow ...

Independence Bowl Missouri Tigers football bowl games Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games December 2003 sports events in the United States 2003 in sports in Louisiana

See also

References