2020 LendingTree Bowl

The 2020 LendingTree Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 6, 2020, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. EST (6:30 p.m. local CST) on ESPN.[5] It was the 21st edition of the LendingTree Bowl,[lower-alpha 1] and was the last of the 2019–20 bowl games concluding the 2019 FBS football season, with only the National Championship and all-star games to follow. The game's title sponsor was online lending marketplace LendingTree.

2020 LendingTree Bowl
21st LendingTree Bowl
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Miami RedHawks
(10–3) (8–5)
Sun Belt MAC
27 17
Head coach: 
Billy Napier		 Head coach: 
Chuck Martin
1234 Total
Louisiana 010143 27
Miami 0737 17
DateJanuary 6, 2020
Season2019
StadiumLadd–Peebles Stadium
LocationMobile, Alabama
MVPLevi Lewis (QB, Louisiana)[1]
FavoriteLouisiana by 15[2]
RefereeMike Roche (AAC)[3]
Attendance29,212
PayoutUS$1,500,000[4]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
AnnouncersDave LaMont (play-by-play), Gene Chizik (analyst) and Lauren Sisler (sideline)

Teams

The game matched the Mid-American Conference (MAC) champions Miami RedHawks and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference. This was the third meeting between the two programs; the RedHawks had won both of the prior meetings.[7]

Miami RedHawks
Main article: 2019 Miami RedHawks football team

Miami entered the game with an 8–5 record (6–2 in conference). They finished atop the MAC's East Division, then won the MAC Championship Game over Central Michigan, 26–21. The RedHawks lost to both ranked opponents they faced, Iowa and Ohio State. After starting their season 2–4, Miami had a five-game winning streak before losing to Ball State in their regular season finale.

This was Miami's third LendingTree Bowl. The RedHawks had won both of their previous appearances; the 2003 GMAC Bowl (over Louisville) and the 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl (over Middle Tennessee), when the bowl operated under different names.

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Main article: 2019 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team

Louisiana entered the game with a 10–3 record (7–1 in conference). The finished atop the West Division of the Sun Belt, then lost the Sun Belt Championship Game to Appalachian State, 45–38. Along with a regular season loss to Appalachian State, the only other team to defeat the Ragin' Cajuns was Mississippi State. This was the first LendingTree Bowl appearance for Louisiana.

This was Louisiana's seventh bowl game in program history; in their prior six bowls, they had an official record of 2–2, as two other bowl wins were later vacated. The Cajuns won four consecutive New Orleans Bowls under head coach Mark Hudspeth. In the 2011 edition, the 8–4 Cajuns beat San Diego State, 32–30, on a game-winning field goal. In the 2012 edition, the 8–4 Cajuns defeated East Carolina, 43–34. In the 2013 edition, the 8–4 Cajuns defeated the hometown Tulane Green Wave, 24–21. In the 2014 edition, the 8–4 Cajuns defeated Nevada, 16–3. Subsequently, the Cajuns had to the vacate their 2011 and 2013 wins, due to NCAA violations.[8] The team returned to play in the 2016 New Orleans Bowl, with the 6–6 Cajuns losing to Southern Miss, 21–28, one of the closest games in rivalry history. In 2018, the Cajuns hired a new head coach, Billy Napier, who led the 7–6 Cajuns to the Sun Belt West Divisional Championship and the 2018 Cure Bowl, losing to Tulane, 24–41.

Game summary
2020 LendingTree Bowl
1 2 34Total
Louisiana 0 10 14327
Miami 0 7 3717

at Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, Alabama

Game information
First Quarter
No scoring
Second Quarter
  • (10:25) MIA – Jaylon Bester 5 yard rush, Sam Sloman kick (Drive: 10 plays, 66 yards, 4:36; Miami 7–0)
  • (6:32) LA – Stevie Artigue 33 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 59 yards, 3:53; Miami 7–3)
  • (1:05) LA – Elijah Mitchell 2 yard rush, Stevie Artigue kick (Drive: 7 plays, 57 yards, 3:02; Louisiana 10–7)
Third Quarter
  • (10:51) LA – Levi Lewis 9 yard pass to Ja'Mar Bradley, Stevie Artigue kick (Drive: 9 plays, 70 yards, 4:09; Louisiana 17–7)
  • (5:18) MIA – Sam Sloman 39 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 58 yards, 5:33; Louisiana 17–10)
  • (2:26) LA – Levi Lewis 12 yard pass to Ja'Mar Bradley, Stevie Artigue kick (Drive: 9 plays, 79 yards, 2:52; Louisiana 24–10)
Fourth Quarter
  • (11:35) MIA – Jaylon Bester 1 yard rush, Sam Sloman kick (Drive: 14 plays, 77 yards, 5:51; Louisiana 24–17)
  • (4:35) LA – Stevie Artigue 38 yard field goal (Drive: 6 plays, 27 yards, 2:50; Louisiana 27–17)

This was the first bowl win for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns program outside the state of Louisiana since 1944, when the team was known as Southwestern Louisiana and they won the Oil Bowl in Houston.[9] In additional to Louisiana quarterback Levi Lewis being named the game's overall MVP,[1] wide receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley, defensive back Eric Garror, and placekicker Stevie Artigue were recognized as offensive, defensive, and special teams MVPs, respectively.[10]

Statistics
StatisticsLAMIA
First downs1822
Total yards401351
Rushes–yards34–15537–103
Passing yards246248
Passing: Comp–Att–Int19–26–022–31–0
Time of possession28:1731:43
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
LouisianaPassingLevi Lewis19/26, 246, 2 TD
RushingLevi Lewis8 carries, 62 yards
ReceivingJa'Mar Bradley7 receptions, 88 yards
MiamiPassingBrett Gabbert22/31, 248 yards
RushingTyre Shelton6 carries, 59 yards
ReceivingJack Sorenson10 receptions, 107 yards

Notes
  1. The bowl has undergone various name changes during its history, with the prior three editions being contested as the Dollar General Bowl. Sponsorship by LendingTree was announced in November 2019.[6]
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References
  1. @iam_quick6 (January 6, 2020). "Lewis was selected as the Bowl's unanimous MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved January 6, 2020 – via Twitter.
  2. "Louisiana vs. Miami (OH) - Game Summary". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  3. "2019-20 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  4. "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  5. "2019-20 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, times, TV channels". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  6. "Mobile's college bowl game renamed LendingTree Bowl". WALA-TV. November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  7. "Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns vs. Miami (OH) RedHawks football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  8. Patterson, Chip (March 3, 2016). "Ragin' Cajuns vacate 2013 Sun Belt title, 22 wins due to NCAA violations". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  9. Embody, Billy (January 2, 2020). "Preview: UL takes on Miami (OH) in LendingTree Bowl". 247Sports.com. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  10. Buckley, Tim (January 6, 2020). "LendingTree Bowl victory gives Cajuns school-record 11th win". The Daily Advertiser. Lafayette, Louisiana. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
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