2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl (December)

August 2023 March 2026 Heart of Dallas Bowl 5th Heart of Dallas Bowl Zaxby's December 26 2014 2014 Cotton Bowl Fair ParkDallas, Texas University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Illinois Fighting Illini 6–6 Big Ten Tim Beckman 3 6 6 3 Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 8–5 C-USA Skip Holtz 14 7 0 14 Louisiana Tech by 7Odds Houston Bates (LB, Louisiana Tech)http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/sports/college/louisiana-tech/2014/12/26/techs-bates-wins-mvp-former-team/20927877/ Tech's Bates wins MVP against former team Isabella Sean December 26, 2014 thenewsstar.com December 27, 2014 Land Clark (Pac-12) 31,297 ESPN & RedVoice LLC Mike Corey, Charles Arbuckle, & Kayce Smith (ESPN)Brian Estridge, John Denton, Rob Best, and Landry Burdine (RedVoice LLC) Jan 2014 The 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 26, 2014, at the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The fifth edition of the Heart of Dallas Bowl featured the Illinois Fighting Illini against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.Ryan, Shannon (December 7, 2014). "Illinois Will Face Louisiana Tech in Heart of Dallas Bowl", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 16, 2014. The game was played at 1:00 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season. The game is sponsored by the Zaxby's chicken restaurant franchise and is officially known as the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl. Louisiana Tech beat Illinois by a score of 35–18.Ryan, Shannon (December 26, 2014). "Illinois Fumbles Away Huge Opportunity in Bowl Loss to Louisiana Tech", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 27, 2014. This was the second overall meeting between these two teams, with the Bulldogs winning the first matchup in 2012. Illinois Illinois Fighting Illini football 2014 Illinois Fighting Illini football team Illinois came as a team on a series of streaks throughout the season. On the season the Illini had averaged 26.6 points per game but gave up an average of 34 points per game. Illinois can easily be summarized as a Jekyll and Hyde team. During their 6 wins the Illini scored an average of 33.8 points per game, but in their 6 losses they've gave up an average of 41.67 points per game. This was the Illini's first bowl game since 2011. Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football 2014 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team Louisiana Tech entered the bowl game as the C-USA West Division champs. The Bulldogs won six of their last eight games giving up an average of 20.5 points per game during that stretch. 3 of the Bulldogs five losses come to Top 25 teams. Game summary With the win, the Bulldogs won their first bowl game since 2008. Scoring summary ILL La. Tech 1 7:29 La. Tech 6 63 1:26 RushTD Jarred Craft 16 good Jonathan Barnes 0 7 1 3:46 ILL 8 65 3:43 FG 27 Taylor Zalewski 3 7 1 3:28 La. Tech 1 80 0:18 RecTD Kenneth Dixon Cody Sokol 80 good Jonathan Barnes 3 14 2 11:15 ILL 5 65 1:30 RecTD Jon Davis Reilly O'Toole 25 failed Taylor Zalewski 9 14 2 7:20 La. Tech – – – IntTD Xavier Woods 69 good Jonathan Barnes 9 21 3 6:04 ILL 9 72 4:17 RushTD Donovonn Young 3 pass incomplete 15 21 4 14:01 ILL 10 49 3:59 FG 43 David Reisner 18 21 4 6:15 La. Tech 5 74 2:20 RushTD Kenneth Dixon 1 good Jonathan Barnes 18 28 4 3:43 La. Tech 6 49 1:36 RushTD Blake Martin 28 good Jonathan Barnes 18 35 18 35 Source: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=68605 2014 December Heart of Dallas Bowl Game Stats Stat Broadcast December 26, 2014 December 26, 2014 Statistics Fighting Illini 3 6 6 3 Bulldogs 14 7 0 14 Statistics ILL La. Tech First downs 26 16 Plays–yards 80–451 59–361Rushes–yards 33–122 31–114 Passing yards 329 247Passing: Comp–Att–Int 28–47–1 14–28–0 Time of possession 35:00 25:00 Team Category Player Statistics ILL Passing Reilly O'Toole 24/39, 295 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Josh Ferguson 7 car, 50 yds Receiving Malik Turner 6 rec, 84 yds La. Tech Passing Cody Sokol 14/28, 247 yds, 1 TD Rushing Kenneth Dixon 13 car, 63 yds, 1 TD Receiving Carlos Henderson 4 rec, 93 yds References External links Game summary at ESPN Heart of Dallas Bowl Category:First Responder Bowl Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football bowl games Category:Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football bowl games Heart of Dallas Bowl (December) Heart of Dallas Bowl 12 Heart of Dallas Bowl (December) Category:2014 in Texas