2022 Independence Bowl
The 2022 Independence Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 23, 2022, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The 46th annual Independence Bowl, it began at 2:04 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. The game featured the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference and the Houston Cougars from the American Athletic Conference. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by engineering services company Radiance Technologies, the game was officially known as the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.
| 2022 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 46th Independence Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
Independence Stadium during the first quarter | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 23, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Independence Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Shreveport, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Clayton Tune (QB, Houston) & Art Green (DB, Houston) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Houston by 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Scott Hardin (C–USA) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 23,410 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$2,200,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dave Neal (play-by-play), Deuce McAllister (analyst), and Harry Lyles Jr. (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN Deportes | ||||||||||||||||||
Louisiana started the game by scoring a touchdown on their first drive of the game, which took nearly half of the first quarter, and they extended their lead to 13–0 by successfully converting two field goals within the first eight minutes of the second quarter. Houston scored their first points with a 33-yard pass by quarterback Clayton Tune with three minutes remaining until halftime but the extra point was unsuccessful and the Ragin' Cajuns' lead remained seven points. Louisiana took a 16–6 lead into halftime with the help of a third made field goal with two seconds left in the half, but those were the last points recorded by the Ragin' Cajuns; another passing touchdown by Tune proved to be the only scoring play of the third quarter, a Cougars field goal tied the game at 16 points apiece early in the fourth quarter, and a touchdown with twenty seconds left in the game gave Houston their first lead and the win shortly thereafter.