| Game Name: | Independence Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 15 |
| Year Game Played: | 1979 |
| Football Season: | 1979 |
| Home Name Short: | McNeese State |
| Home Nickname: | Cowboys |
| Home Record: | 11–0 |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 0 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Mvp: | RB Joe Morris, Syracuse DT Clay Carroll, McNeese State |
| Visitor Name Short: | Syracuse |
| Visitor Nickname: | Orangemen |
| Visitor Record: | 6–5 |
| Visitor Conference: | Independent |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 21 |
| Us Network: | Channel 17 (Atlanta)[1] |
| Us Announcers: | Pete Van Wieren & Billy Kilmer |
| Type: | bg |
| Attendance: | 27,234 |
The 1979 Independence Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the McNeese State Cowboys and the Syracuse Orangemen.
This was McNeese State's 2nd Southland Conference title in three years. This was Syracuse's first bowl game since 1966.
Gary Anderson gave the Orangemen a 3–0 lead on his 40-yard kick in the second quarter that proved to be the halftime lead. Ken Mandeville made it 10–0 on his 1-yard run. McNeese State retaliated with a Chad Millet touchdown run to make it 10–7 going into the fourth quarter. A 15 play, 73 yard drive culminated with an Art Monk touchdown catch from Bill Hurley. Hurley added in a touchdown run to make it 24–7. Tom Matichak made it 31–7 on a touchdown run of his own to seal off the scoring and give the Orangement the win. Joe Morris ran for 155 yards on 33 carries for Syracuse in their first bowl win since 1961.[2] [3]
McNeese made one more bowl appearance in 1980, in the Independence Bowl. Syracuse made four more bowl appearances in the decade. They have not returned to the Independence Bowl since this game.
| Statistics | Syracuse | McNeese State |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 23 | 13 |
| Rushing yards | 276 | 127 |
| Passing yards | 51 | 102 |
| Interceptions | 0 | 3 |
| Total yards | 327 | 229 |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–0 | 5–1 |
| Penalties–yards | 2–10 | 1–3 |
| Punts–average | 4–36.0 | 3–43.7 |