| Game Name: | Liberty Bowl |
| Subheader: | 59th Liberty Bowl |
| Title Sponsor: | AutoZone |
| Date Game Played: | December 30 |
| Year Game Played: | 2017 |
| Football Season: | 2017 |
| Stadium: | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
| City: | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Visitor School: | Iowa State University |
| Visitor Name Short: | Iowa State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Cyclones |
| Visitor Record: | 7–5 |
| Visitor Conference: | Big 12 |
| Visitor Coach: | Matt Campbell |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home School: | University of Memphis |
| Home Name Short: | Memphis |
| Home Nickname: | Tigers |
| Home Record: | 10–2 |
| Home Conference: | The American |
| Home Rank Ap: | 18 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 19 |
| Home Rank Cfp: | 20 |
| Home Coach: | Mike Norvell |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 3 |
| Home 3Q: | 10 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Odds: | Memphis by 1.5 |
| Mvp: | Allen Lazard (WR, Iowa State)[1] |
| Referee: | Duane Heydt (ACC) |
| Halftime: | The Isley Brothers |
| Attendance: | 57,266[2] |
| Payout: | 4,700,000[3] |
| Us Network: | ABC/ESPN Radio |
| Us Announcers: | TV: Mike Patrick, Tommy Tuberville, Paul Carcaterra Radio: Bill Roth, Barrett Jones, Dawn Davenport[4] |
| Different Previous: | 2016 |
The 2017 Liberty Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 30, 2017, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 59th edition of the Liberty Bowl featured the Iowa State Cyclones of the Big 12 Conference against the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference. It was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. Sponsored by automobile parts and accessories store AutoZone, it was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The game featured conference tie-ins from the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12 Conference. However, the SEC did not have enough teams to fill its contractual obligations, so the bowl invited the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference, the team that occupies the Liberty Bowl during the regular season, thus making the contest—which was the Tigers' first appearance in this bowl—a Memphis home game. This is the third Liberty Bowl for Iowa State, having previously played in the 1972 and 2012 editions of the game.
See main article: 2017 Iowa State Cyclones football team and 2017 Big 12 Conference football season.
See main article: 2017 Memphis Tigers football team and 2017 American Athletic Conference football season.
| Statistics | ISU | MEM |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 22 | 17 |
| Plays–yards | 80-346 | 59-339 |
| Rushes–yards | 42-32 | 26-53 |
| Passing yards | 314 | 286 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 24-38-0 | 21-33-0 |
| Time of possession | 37:49 | 22:11 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISU | Passing | Kyle Kempt | 24/38, 314 yds |
| Rushing | 24 car, 52 yds | ||
| Receiving | 10 rec, 142 yds, 1 TD | ||
| MEM | Passing | 21/33, 286 yds | |
| Rushing | 17 car, 68 yds | ||
| Receiving | Phil Mayhue | 5 rec, 85 yds, 1 TD |