The 1977 Independence Bowl featured the Louisville Cardinals and the Southland Conference champion Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Louisville struck first on a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown by Kevin Miller in the first quarter. Louisiana Tech answered with a 1-yard touchdown run by Lewis to tie the game. The Bulldogs scored another touchdown on a 41-yard Keith Thibodeaux pass to Pree. Still in the first quarter, Thibodeaux threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to McCartney to increase LA Tech's lead to 21-7. In the second quarter, Swiley connected on a 21-yard field goal to give the Dawgs a 24-7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Kevin Miller scored his second touchdown of the game on a 13-yard run to close the gap to 24-14, which would end up being the final score.