Mississippi State Bulldogs Bite Illinois to Take The Inaugural ReliaQuest Bowl

“Low scoring but action packed”

Tampa has been the home to a historic bowl game for the last 37 years. For the last 26 years, the 1st or 2nd of January (depending on the calendar) the Outback Bowl has welcomed an SEC and Big Ten college football team to Tampa, FL. To trim costs, Outback ended its partnership with the Tampa Bay Bowl Association, and Tampa’s own cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest stepped up to sponsor the traditional bowl game. For a first outing, they nailed this one.

Kicking off their run as sponsors, they brought in the Mississippi State Bulldogs to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini. With MS losing their beloved Coach Leach back on December 12th due to a heart condition, and former defensive coordinator Zach Arnett stepping up as head coach, they would be running a rather different scheme than they had all season, and it showed. Interestingly, the Broadway production of Hamilton was in town, with three of their actors singing the National Anthem for the opening of the game.

Defensively MS showed up from the opening kickoff, and never let up. Offensively, they didn’t seem to fully connect at various points throughout the game but had the better passing game. Illinois on the other hand was also defensively minded but they pushed the run more often as a way to try and push them around.

The opening quarter started with MS receiving the kick-off and going three and out, which was a rhythm that made up much of the game. It was until ¾ through the first quarter before the first field goal was attempted, and unfortunately for IL, Caleb Griffin went wide right following the sack of their QB Tommy DeVito. As time ticked away, this marked only the 4th time that nobody had scored during the opening quarter of the bowl game. 

After flipping sides, MS seemed sparked to drive down the field. Unfortunately, they were intercepted at the goal line by IL’s Griffin. QB Tommy DeVito saw this as an opportunity to get IL rolling back down the field, and that they did until they hit midfield. As if the MS 40 yd line had a forcefield on it, they just couldn’t get past it despite a fast drive to midfield. The forced punt went nowhere quickly for MS, as Will Rogers was intercepted by IL’s Kendall Smith intercepted the ball at the IL 23.

Driving back up the field quickly, DeVito’s passing found great success in the No Huddle-Shotgun. Driving the ball 77 yards over 10 plays in just under 5 minutes, he scored the first touchdown and score of the game on a 2-yard QB rush, for some of his only productive yards of the day.

Leaving only 2:49 on the game clock, MS came back out and answered back with an 8-play, 55-yard field goal. While it didn’t knot the game up, it gave the fans something to cheer for, and with both sidelines jam-packed (with somewhat empty endzones), people were back on their feet to end the quarter.

IL started off the second half receiving the ball, and right off the bat the teams went back to trading three-and-outs. It seemed as if any lessons either team had learned during the first half were forgotten about, but once IL got the ball back they found their rhythm once again. This time going on an 11-play 45-yard drive before Griffin nailed a 52-yard field goal with 6:57 left in the quarter.

MS took the ball back over and returned to the No Huddle-Shotgun offense. While a few penalties and a timeout slowed their tempo, they drove the ball back down the field to the IL 8 just as the 3rd quarter ended. This tempo was much faster than IL could keep up with, and it was not something their defense could handle.

The first play of the 4th saw MS notch a quick touchdown on 4th down to capture a 10-all score, which represented the lowest score in the bowl game’s history. While both IL and MS attempted to drive the ball back down the field more, both teams found themselves plagues by penalties, missed passes, and blocks they didn’t pick up. As time wound down, MS drove back down the field slowly, milking the clock mixed with some deep plays.

A missed pass to Lideatrick Griffin that would have put the final nail in the coffin caused an uproar from the MS side as both the coach and fans were looking for a pass interference flag that didn’t fly. Will Rogers had put the pass right on the money, but Griffin just didn’t have the hands to secure the catch. Simeon Price instead picked up 28 yards on the following run, taking MS all the way to the IL 2.

After a time-out, MS ran the ball around for a 9-yard loss but chewed up just enough clock to get Massimo Biscardi out there to nail the 27-yard field goal, giving MS a 13-10 lead.

Getting the ball back, IL captured the ball at their own 29, and it was up to Tommy DeVito. After nailing the 16-yard pass to Casey Washington, the last-ditch effort laterals began flying across the field. Making its way back to DeVito, he fumbled which allowed Marcus Banks to secure the football for a touchdown, giving MS a 19-10 victory. This was still the lowest-scoring game in bowl history.

Will Rogers spoke to ESPN after the game about their efforts. “Football isn’t always a pretty game. I know Coach Leach would probably be a little upset at some of the decisions, but we fought hard and stayed together as a team. He was with us all the way. He’s been with me all the way. I really, really miss him.” This mindset was visible in the fans, and in the way the team played. They wanted to show up for Coach Leach and did they ever.

The ReliaQuest Bowl is a phenomenal event. Drawing just under 36k people, the stadium was just over half full. Tickets were reasonably priced for the game, and the efforts of the players made it worth every penny spent. Many in the stands were the friends and family of the players on the field. As the trophy was presented, many of the MS family came down onto the field to celebrate with their team, and to mourn Coach Leach. This yearly bowl game isn’t going anywhere soon, and it is a beautiful thing for the players and the community.