Battle of Backbone Mountain

Edit links

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.

Teams

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.

Iowa State Cyclones

Memphis Tigers

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP ISU MEM
1 13:09 6 65 1:51 ISU Hakeem Butler 52-yard touchdown reception from Kyle Kempt, Garrett Owens kick good 7 0
1 06:00 2 40 0:16 MEM Anthony Miller 10-yard touchdown reception from Riley Ferguson, Riley Patterson kick good 7 7
2 04:28 12 55 6:05 ISU Joel Lanning 2-yard touchdown run, Garrett Owens kick good 14 7
2 00:00 8 49 1:18 MEM 34-yard field goal by Riley Patterson 14 10
3 13:22 4 66 1:38 MEM Phil Mayhue 36-yard touchdown reception from Riley Ferguson, Riley Patterson kick good 14 17
3 04:28 11 85 5:46 ISU Allen Lazard 5-yard touchdown reception from Kyle Kempt, Garrett Owens kick good 21 17
3 02:16 6 49 2:12 MEM 30-yard field goal by Riley Patterson 21 20
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 21 20

Statistics

1 2 3 4 Total
Cyclones 7 7 7 0 21
Tigers 7 3 10 0 20
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 David Montgomery 24 car, 52 yds
Receiving Allen Lazard 10 rec, 142 yds, 1 TD
MEM Passing Riley Ferguson 21/33, 286 yds
Rushing Patrick Taylor Jr. 17 car, 68 yds
Receiving Phil Mayhue 5 rec, 85 yds, 1 TD

References