2016 New Orleans Bowl

The 2016 New Orleans Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 17, 2016 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 16th annual edition of the New Orleans Bowl was one of the 2016–17 bowl games that conclude the 2016 FBS football season. Sponsored by freight shipping company R+L Carriers, the game was officially known as the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Southern Miss won the game by a score of 28–21.

2016 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
16th New Orleans Bowl
Southern Miss Golden Eagles Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (6–6) (6–6) C-USA Sun Belt 28 21 Head coach:  Jay Hopson Head coach:  Mark Hudspeth
1 2 3 4 Total Southern Miss 14 0 7 7 28 Louisiana–Lafayette 7 7 0 7 21
Date	December 17, 2016
Season	2016
Stadium	Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Southern Miss WR Allenzae Staggers^[1]
Favorite	Southern Mississippi by 3.5^[2]
Referee	Tom Stapleton (MAC)^[3]
Attendance	35,061^[3]
Payout	US$500,000^[4]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN ESPN Radio
Announcers	Jason Benetti, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich (ESPN) Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Ian Fitzsimmons (ESPN Radio)
New Orleans Bowl  < 2015  2017 >

Team selection

The game featured the Southern Miss Golden Eagles against the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns.

This was the 51st meeting between the schools, with Southern Miss leading the all-time series 38–11–1. The previous meeting of the two teams was on August 30, 2008, where the Golden Eagles defeated the Ragin' Cajuns by a score of 51–21.^[5]

Southern Miss

See also: 2016 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team and 2016 Conference USA football season

Louisiana-Lafayette

See also: 2016 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team and 2016 Sun Belt Conference football season

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP USM LA 1 9:39 3 67 0:57 USM Ito Smith 11-yard touchdown run, Parker Shaunfield kick good 7 0 1 7:17 3 70 1:12 USM Ito Smith 6-yard touchdown reception from Nick Mullens, Parker Shaunfield kick good 14 0 1 3:15 9 66 3:55 LA Anthony Jennings 4-yard touchdown run, Stevie Artigue kick good 14 7 2 7:28 2 29 0:30 LA Dion Ray 12-yard touchdown run, Stevie Artigue kick good 14 14 3 10:42 11 75 4:18 USM Allenzae Staggers 5-yard touchdown reception from Nick Mullens, Parker Shaunfield kick good 21 14 4 12:26 14 83 6:14 USM Ito Smith 1-yard touchdown reception from Nick Mullens, Parker Shaunfield kick good 28 14 4 5:10 5 19 2:10 LA Anthony Jennings 3-yard touchdown run, Stevie Artigue kick good 28 21 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 28 21

Source: ^[3]

Statistics

Statistics^[3]	USM	LA
First downs	22	21
Plays–yards	74–481	69–252
Rushes–yards	32–135 (4.2)	47–157 (3.3)
Passing yards	346	95
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	25–42–1	8–22–1
Time of possession	30:34	29:26

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
USM	Passing	Nick Mullens	25/40, 346 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Ito Smith	26 car, 138 yds
	Receiving	Allenzae Staggers	11 rec, 230 yds, 1 TD
LA	Passing	Anthony Jennings	8/20, 95 yds, 1 INT
	Rushing	Elijah McGuire	17 car, 99 yds
	Receiving	Al Riles	5 rec, 64 yds

References

1. @NewOrleansBowl (18 December 2016). "Congrats to @SouthernMissFB's Allenzae Staggers - his #NewOrleansBowl record 230 receiving yards earns him the MVP!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
2. "College Bowl Game Odds". ESPN. December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
3. "2016 New Orleans Bowl Game Stats". Stat Broadcast. Stat Broadcast. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
4. Bowl payout
5. Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles series history

External links

• Official website