1985 Independence Bowl

August 2023 March 2026 August 2015 Independence Bowl December 21 1985 1985 Clemson Tigers 6–5 ACC Danny Ford 0 6 7 0 QB Rickey FoggieLB Bruce Holmes Minnesota Golden Gophers 6–5 Big Ten John Gutekunst (interim) 3 7 3 7 Mizlou Howard DavidBob CasciolaSteve Grad bg Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana James Sprenger (Pac-10) 42,845 The 1985 Independence Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Clemson Tigers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Background The Gophers finished in 6th place in the Big Ten Conference while the Tigers finished 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference. This was the first Independence Bowl for either team. Gutekunst was the interim head coach after Lou Holtz left for Notre Dame. This was Minnesota's first bowl game since 1977 and Clemson's first since 1982. Game summary Minnesota's Valdez Baylor scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter to lead the Golden Gophers to the victory over Clemson, who committed four turnovers. Foggie went 9-of-12 for 123 yards and 60 yards rushing on 18 carries, en route to being named MVP. Valdez Baylor rushed for 98 yards on 12 carries. In a losing effort, Kenny Flowers ran for 148 yards on 27 carries.http://independencebowl.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2014-IBowl-Media-Guide.pdf Archived copy August 10, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150719000404/http://independencebowl.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2014-IBowl-Media-Guide.pdf July 19, 2015 dead Aftermath Gutekunst would become the full-time head coach for Minnesota starting the following year, which culminated in an appearance in the Liberty Bowl, their last appearance for 13 years. Clemson kept rolling, making four more bowl games in the decade. Neither team has returned to the Independence Bowl since this game. Statistics Statistics Minnesota ClemsonFirst downs 19 18Rushing yards 257 211Passing yards 123 162Interceptions 0 1Total yards 380 373Fumbles–lost 1–1 5–3Penalties–yards 6–50 5–51Punts–average 6–37.5 4–41.5 References Independence Bowl Category:Independence Bowl Category:Clemson Tigers football bowl games Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers football bowl games Category:December 1985 sports events in the United States Category:1985 in sports in Louisiana