The 2007 PetroSun

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 ...

, part of the 2007–08 NCAA football bowl season, took place on December 30, 2007 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 ...

. The competing teams were the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

, representing 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 ...

, and the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

, from the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. Alabama won the game, 30–24. This was the only 2007–08 bowl game in which both teams finished 6–6 on the regular season. At their current programs, it was also the first bowl game for both respective head coaches (

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

and

Dan Hawkins Dan, Danny or Daniel Hawkins may refer to: * Dan Hawkins (American football) (born 1960), American football coach and former player and sportscaster * Daniel Hawkins (politician) (born 1960), American politician in the Kansas House of Representat ...

Game summary

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

played

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the

on December 30, 2007. Alabama scored on their opening drive on a 41-yard

Leigh Tiffin Van Leigh Tiffin Jr. (born August 3, 1988) is an American former college football player who was a Placekicker, kicker for the Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama Crimson Tide. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns of the National Football Le ...

field goal to lead 3–0. Colorado's first offensive play of the game resulted in an

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

Rolando McClain Rolando Marquise McClain (born July 14, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, earning unanimous All-American ...

. Once again, Alabama relied on another field goal from Tiffin to push their lead to 6–0. Later in the quarter,

John Parker Wilson John Parker Wilson (born October 17, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Wilson played college football at the University of Alabama. He went undrafted during the 2 ...

threw touchdown strikes of 15-yards to Keith Brown and 34-yards to Matt Caddell to extend the Crimson Tide lead to 20–0 after one quarter. Early in the second quarter, Wilson connected with Nikita Stover on a 31-yard touchdown pass and the Crimson Tide lead 27–0. The Buffaloes controlled the majority of the second quarter after Wilson threw an interception to Ryan Walters with just under six minutes remaining in the half. Colorado cut the Alabama lead to 27–14 at the half on a pair of

Cody Hawkins Cody Norman Hawkins (born March 24, 1988) is an American college football coach and a former professional and college football player. Hawkins played as a quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes football, Colorado Buffaloes and professionally in S ...

touchdown passes. The first was a four-yard pass to Tyson DeVree and the second a 25-yard pass to Dusty Sprague. The only score in the third quarter would come from Kevin Eberhart on a 39-yard Colorado field goal. Tiffin kicked a field goal as the Crimson Tide lead 30–17 with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Colorado responded on the following drive with a 14-yard Hawkins touchdown pass to DeVree to cut the Alabama lead to 30–24 with 3:51 remaining in the game. Alabama was able to run the clock down, and after receiving the 49-yard P.J. Fitzgerald punt, only 0:01 remained in the game. On the final play of the game, Colorado attempted several

lateral pass In gridiron football, a lateral pass or lateral (officially backward pass in American football and onside pass in Canadian football), also called a pitch or a flip, occurs when the ball carrier throws or hands the football to a teammate in a dire ...

es but would fall short of midfield. The 30–24 victory sent Alabama to a 7–6 overall record as they avoided a second consecutive losing season.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Independence Bowl, 2007 2007–08 NCAA football bowl games

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

December 2007 sports events in the United States 2007 in sports in Louisiana