| 2021 LendingTree Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 23rd LendingTree Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 18, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Hancock Whitney Stadium[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Mobile, Alabama | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Malik Willis (QB, Liberty)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Liberty by 8.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Trennis Livingston (Sun Belt) [3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 15,186 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst), and Jalyn Johnson (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
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The 2021 LendingTree Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 18, 2021, and televised on ESPN.[4] It was the 23rd edition of the LendingTree Bowl, and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. Online lending marketplace LendingTree was the game's title sponsor. This was the first LendingTree bowl to be played at Hancock Whitney Stadium, following 22 editions at Ladd–Peebles Stadium.
Originally scheduled to kickoff at 5:45 p.m. EST (4:45 p.m. local CST), the start of the game was pushed back 15 minutes due to local weather conditions.[5] Liberty defeated Eastern Michigan, 56–20, to claim their third consecutive bowl victory.[6][7][8][9]
This will be the second meeting between Eastern Michigan and Liberty; the Flames defeated the Eagles (then known as the Hurons), 25–24, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on October 14, 1989.[10]
2021 LendingTree Bowl
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Michigan | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| Liberty | 13 | 20 | 16 | 7 | 56 |
atHancock Whitney Stadium • Mobile, Alabama
| Game information |
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| Statistics | EMU | LIB |
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| First downs | 23 | 21 |
| Plays–yards | 84–379 | 61–528 |
| Rushes–yards | 39–125 | 35–223 |
| Passing yards | 254 | 295 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 28–44–1 | 14–26–1 |
| Time of possession | 37:23 | 22:37 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Michigan | Passing | Ben Bryant | 23/36, 200 yards, INT |
| Rushing | Samson Evans | 13 carries, 52 yards, TD | |
| Receiving | Hassan Beydoun | 11 receptions, 83 yards | |
| Liberty | Passing | Malik Willis | 13/24, 231 yards, 3 TD |
| Rushing | T.J. Green | 8 carries, 88 yards, TD | |
| Receiving | Kevin Shaa | 3 receptions, 94 yards, TD |
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