Shreveport.com - Alabama holds off Colorado 30-24, in 2007 PetroSun I-Bowl

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Alabama holds off Colorado 30-24, in 2007 PetroSun I-Bowl

Alabama holds off Colorado 30-24, in 2007 PetroSun I-Bowl
Buffs ‘come-from-behind’ effort cuts ‘Bama lead to 27-14 at the Half

By: Tom Pace, Executive Editor, SBLive!
December 30th, 2007

47,043 rabid I-Bowl fans watched a real ‘barn-burner’ in the final quarter of the 2007 Petrosun Independence Bowl, in Shreveport, Louisiana, Sunday night.
The only bowl game on ESPN this Sunday night, started with Alabama running, and passing, rough-shod over Colorado.

Colorado spotted ‘Bama 27 points, before the Buffs found their stride, posting 14 points on two Cody Hawkins passes in the final 2 minutes of the first half.
The halftime score: Alabama 27-Colorado 14.

With a sea of Crimson on the west side of the stands, Tide-faithful outnumbered the Buffs by about 4-to-1. It’s estimated ‘Bama brought some 12,000-plus to Shreveport, while some 3,000 Colorado fans made the 1,500 mile trek to the Independence Bowl.

“We made some mistakes in the game, and let them (Colorado) come back,” said ‘Bama head coach Nick Saban, “We took the challenge, and actually competed and showed some great competitive character in the second half, to do the things we needed to do to win the game,” he concluded.

Colorado’s second-year head coach Dan Hawkins summed it up this way:
“You would have liked to win your last game and go 7-6, but I think this loss gives our guys a little juice going into the off-season workouts.”

When the second half began, the Buffs seems to play inspired. Redshirt freshman QB, Cody Hawkins found his groove, and spread his passes around.
Hawkins finished 24-40 with 2 int’s for 322 passing yards. Colorado rushed for 110 yards, compared t0 158 by Alabama.

Alabama’s Junior QB, John Parker Wilson, was voted Offensive MVP for the game. His final stats: 19-32 with 1 int. for 256 yards. It was quite an aerial show.

After Colorado scored a Lee Tiffin FG with 4:36 to play in the game…it seemed,
maybe, just maybe, the Buffs could pull this one out. And, sure enough, with 3:51 to go, Cody Hawkins finds Tyson Devree with a 14 yard TD-strike…that made the score: Alabama 30-Colorado 24.

But, alas, it was not meant to be- with 1.5 seconds to play, Colorado completed their pass, did the old “hook-and-ladder”, got tackled by ‘Bama as time expired.

Saban records his first bowl victory for Alabama: 30-24 over Colorado.

Attachment 2035

ran across this article tonight..

Shreveport: The Grandaddy of Bad Bowl Games

Quote:

The Location

Shreveport is located at the nexus of the Red River and the Texas Trail, meaning it was hot as long as everyone stuck to riverboats and covered wagons for transportation. I appreciate the pleasure of playing faro and smoking a cigar on a riverboat next to a guy named "Pappy" as much as the next man, but both modes of transportation left Shreveport bereft and stuck in the far northwest corner of Louisiana -- a region officially ranked 45th in the bestseller Places You Really Totally Shouldn't See Before You Die (No, Like Seriously Dude. FOR REAL).

This meant Shreveport now survives on what is politely called "a service economy," or more plainly put, "gambling." It's Biloxi-on-the-River, in other words, with a convention center and hotel paid for with public funds but curiously managed by the Hilton Corporation. It has little for 18- to 22-year olds -- no beach, no significant nightlife and no major tourist attractions that don't involve doubling-down or letting it ride.

Vegas has the fountains at the Bellagio. Boise has majestic scenery. In Shreveport, the most a bowl-bound player can hope for in the way of entertainment is watching the river for dead cattle floating by in between attempts to sneak into the casinos.

There is a good gender discrepancy, though, so the chances of "Bowl Romance" are (mathematically speaking) excellent for young, healthy men on the prowl: 87.4 men for every 100 women. (One stands a pretty good shot at finding a young lady with which to watch the dead cows float by in Shreveport.)

Oh, and Road House 2 and Blonde Ambition with Jessica Simpson were filmed there as part of Shreveport's pandering to the American film industry. Both are available at inexpensive prices in your local DVD bin, and both are awesome, I'm sure.

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Originally Posted by sbl_admin (Post 27064)

Good for Nick !! After all the mud slinging he is able to come to LA and win the last game of the season. I am sure there were many Tiger fans at that game I wonder if they would pull for a northern team over a SEC team just because they did not like Saban ?? Got to love those fair weather fans. :rolleyes:

I made the game. It was OK. The weather for the last couple years has been far better than the fiction article Latenight posted. No complaints here...

Quote:

Originally Posted by LateNight (Post 27066)

ran across this article tonight..

Shreveport: The Grandaddy of Bad Bowl Games

I looked up the guy that wrote this article. What a dork!

I went to this game and the people that were there were damn proud to be there. Alabama was loud and proud. I'm no Tide fan at all but I was impressed at the turn out 47,000 + that is awesome.

We are Damn lucky to have an SEC team come here at all. I can remember when teams would turn down this bowl game.

No we are not a top Bowl, but everyone that has been here has come away very impressed with the way they were treated. I personally gave away tickets and beer to folks that just came to be at a bowl game. Where else could you get that kind of hospitality.

We are lucky to have the Indy Bowl here.

I certainly meant no disrespect to our Independence Bowl.
But I've always asked myself, what these other teams thought about coming to shreveport for their bowl games. Just ran across that article.
I think it is a good thing for Shreveport.. and the national coverage that we get for the game.. Always thought it was odd though.. the "Poulan/Weed Eater Independence Bowl" LOL

It be 2008.

The convention center is not managed by Hilton. Even if it was, why is it curious to have a public venue managed by a company that provides that service?

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Originally Posted by joepole (Post 27105)

The convention center is not managed by Hilton. Even if it was, why is it curious to have a public venue managed by a company that provides that service?

I think their mistaken jp. That is the Hightower Hilton and managed by the fair share program of Shreveport. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Actually, the hotel is managed by Hilton and the convention center is managed by SMG, the same people that manage the CenturyTel Center. And the Baton Rouge Convention center. And the Superdome. And the Moscone Center in San Francisco. And about a billion other venues. They're not exactly rookies.

SMG is owned by Hyatt, so they're actually competitors of Hilton's.

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Originally Posted by joepole (Post 27159)

They're not exactly rookies..

I'm curious if either is turning a profit.... Any idea? Not all rookies are bad and not all old farts are good.....

No idea. SMG isn't itself a publicly-traded company, it's owned by a holding company.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joepole (Post 27187)

No idea. SMG isn't itself a publicly-traded company, it's owned by a holding company.

I really meant, either venue, not either company. We know the convention center is in the red. Do you know of the Shreveport Hilton is turning a profit yet? Its just hard for me to understand how these high ranking management companies get paid so well for loosing money on behalf of the owners. (you and me)