The 2023 Independence Bowl was a

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 ...

played on December 16, 2023, 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 47th annual

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 ...

game featured the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

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 ...

and the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

from the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. The game began at approximately 8:15 p.m. CST and was aired on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. The Independence Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding 2023 FBS football season. The bowl game was sponsored by engineering services company Radiance Technologies and was officially known as the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.

Teams

Based on conference tie-ins, the game featured the

of the

and the

of the

. This was the second meeting between California and Texas Tech. The Red Raiders won their only previous meeting, defeating the Golden Bears, 45–31, in the 2004 Holiday Bowl.

California

This was California's first Independence Bowl. It was also the Golden Bears' final game as a member of the Pac-12, as they committed to join the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

for the 2024 season. Cal opened their 2023 season by winning three of their first five games, with the losses coming to Auburn and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. However, Cal lost each of their subsequent four games, all to ranked Pac-12 foes. This caused them to fall to a record of 3–6, which meant that they would be eliminated from bowl contention with any further losses. However, the Golden Bears managed to win each of their final three games, with running back Jaydn Ott rushing for over 400 yards in the three wins. This allowed them to clinch bowl eligibility in the final week of the season, with a record of 6–6.

Texas Tech

This was Texas Tech's third Independence Bowl. The Red Raiders were 0–2 in their previous appearances, having lost the 1986 edition and the 1998 edition, both to

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

. Texas Tech lost three of their first four games to open their 2023 campaign, with the sole victory coming against FCS Tarleton State. Combined with an injury to starting quarterback Tyler Shough, Texas Tech faced an uphill battle to clinch bowl eligibility. However, the Red Raiders rebounded by winning five of their next seven games in Big 12 play, with the last being a 24–23 victory over UCF to earn the team's sixth win and become bowl-eligible. Texas Tech closed their regular season with a 7–57 loss to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and entered the Independence Bowl with a record of 6–6.

Game summary

Statistics

References

External links

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{Texas Tech Red Raiders bowl game navbox

Independence Bowl

California Golden Bears football bowl games Texas Tech Red Raiders football bowl games