1997 Carquest Bowl

1997 Carquest Bowl
1234 Total
West Virginia 77106 30
Georgia Tech 141407 35
Date December 27, 1997
Season 1997
Stadium Pro Player Stadium
Location Miami Gardens, Florida
MVP QB Joe Hamilton
Attendance 28,262
United States TV coverage
Network TBS
Announcers Bob Neal and Mark May

The 1997 Carquest Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the West Virginia Mountaineers. It was the final year of the sponsorship between this bowl and Carquest, and after this the sponsorship was not renewed.

Background

The Yellow Jackets tied for third in the Atlantic Coast Conference while West Virginia finished 3rd in the Big East Conference. Georgia Tech went from 4-1 to going 2-4 in their last six, including a loss to Georgia. The Mountaineers went from #22 ranked after nine games to losing two straight games, including the Backyard Brawl. The two had just met one previous time in the postseason, the 1954 Sugar Bowl, which Georgia Tech won 42-19.

Game summary

Quarterback Joe Hamilton went 19 for 36 and threw for 274 yards while running for 82 yards with two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown as he led Georgia Tech to a 35-30 win over West Virginia. Hamilton drove the Yellow Jackets 80 yards on the opening drive to set up fullback Ed Wilder’s one-yard scoring run. The Mountaineers answered 6 plays later with running back Amos Zereoue and his run of 14 yards to the end zone to tie the score. Tech scored on its next two drives as Hamilton connected with tailback Charlie Rogers for a 17-yard catch, and tight end Mike Lillieon a three-yard pass to go up 21-7 with 10:11 remaining. West Virginia quarterback Marc Bulger threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jerry Porter with 4:45 remaining to make it 21-14, but Hamilton ran from nine yards out in the closing seconds to give the Jackets a 28-14 halftime lead. Zereous ran for his second touchdown in the third quarter on a State of Liberty play to narrow the lead five minutes into the quarter, and Jay Taylor's field goal made it 28-24 going into the fourth quarter. Charles Wiley scored the go ahead touchdown from 5 yards out to make it 35-24 with 4:44 to go. Porter caught another pass from Bulger for a touchdown with less than three minutes to go, but the conversion attempt failed, and the Mountaineers did not get the ball again, with the Jackets in Mountaineer territory by the time they rran out the clock. Derrick Steagall had seven receptions for 112 yards. Bulger was 25-of-40 for a career-high 353 yards with 2 touchdowns and one interception. This was West Virginia's seven straight bowl loss and Georgia Tech's fourth straight win. [1][2][3][4][5]

Aftermath

Georgia Tech has returned just once to this bowl, in 2004. West Virginia however, has not.

Statistics

Statistics Georgia Tech West Virginia
First Downs 28 24
Yards Rushing 210 56
Yards Passing 274 353
Total Yards 484 409
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Interceptions 0 1
Punts 4-42.03-43.3
Penalties-Yards 10-86 9-75

References

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