1983 Independence Bowl

The 1983 Independence Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Ole Miss Rebels and the Air Force Falcons.

1983 Independence Bowl
Air Force Falcons Ole Miss Rebels (9–2) (6-5) WAC SEC 9 3 Head coach:  Ken Hatfield Head coach:  Billy Brewer AP Coaches 16 16
1 2 3 4 Total Air Force 3 3 3 0 9 Ole Miss 0 3 0 0 3
Date	December 10, 1983
Season	1983
Stadium	Independence Stadium
Location	Shreveport, Louisiana
MVP	QB Marty Louthan, Air Force DT Andre Townsend, Ole Miss
Referee	Raymond Bower (CIFOA)
Attendance	41,274
United States TV coverage
Network	Mizlou
Announcers	Howard David Ken Willard Steve Grad
Independence Bowl  < 1982  1984 >

Background

The Rebels tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference, in their first bowl appearance since 1971. The Falcons had finished 2nd in the Western Athletic Conference, but they were making their 2nd straight bowl game, the first time they had made consecutive bowl games in school history. This was the first Independence Bowl for either team.

Game summary

In a rain drenched game, the Falcons led 6-0 on two field goals by Sean Pavlich from 44 and 39 yards out. Ole Miss halved the lead on 39 yarder from Neil Teevan in the 3rd, but Pavlich's 27 yarder in the same quarter proved to be the last score of the game. Marty Louthan went 6-of-7 for 71 yards, and Mike Brown ran for 91 yards on 12 carries for the Falcons. In a losing effort, Buford McGee rushed 22 times for 111 yards and Kelly Powell threw 11-of-27 for 138 yards, with 2 interceptions.^[1]

Aftermath

Hatfield left for Arkansas after the bowl game, though the Falcons continued to prosper under new coach Fisher DeBerry, making four more bowl games in the decade. The Rebels made two more in the decade and two more before Brewer left due to violations in 1993. Air Force returned to the Independence Bowl the following year while Ole Miss returned in 1986.

Statistics

Statistics	Air Force	Ole Miss
First downs	18	11
Rushing yards	277	106
Passing yards	71	138
Interceptions	0	2
Total yards	348	244
Fumbles–lost	3–3	1–0
Penalties–yards	4–19	4–20
Punts–average	3–30.3	5–43.6

References

1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 19, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)