The 2012 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl was a post-season American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

held on December 22, 2012, at the

Mercedes-Benz Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 12th edition of the

New Orleans Bowl The New Orleans Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2001. It is normally held at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans; when the Superdome and the rest of the city suffered damage due to ...

began at 11:00 a.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It featured the

East Carolina Pirates The East Carolina Pirates are the athletic teams that represent East Carolina University (ECU), located in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams participate at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division ...

from

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

against the

Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns are the athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The college has been competing athletically since 1901. The Ragin' Cajuns compete in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams. Nickname The univ ...

from the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

and was the final game of the

2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 30, 2012 and ended on Dec ...

for both teams. The Ragin' Cajuns accepted their invitation after earning an 8–4 record in the regular season, while the Pirates advanced to the game through the C-USA's contingency plan after earning an 8–4 record. The 77 combined points scored by both teams set a New Orleans Bowl record.

Teams

Since 2002, the New Orleans Bowl has had its current setup with a team from Conference USA playing a team from the Sun Belt Conference. This was the eleventh meeting between the two teams. Louisiana–Lafayette leads the all-time record 6-4. The last time they played was in 1990.

East Carolina

The Pirates continued their winning history in Conference USA, becoming the East Division co-champions with a 7-1 conference record (though losing the championship game tiebreaker through their only conference loss to the UCF Knights). After said Knights lost the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of Tu ...

in the

2012 Conference USA Football Championship Game The 2012 Conference USA Football Championship Game was played on December 1, 2012 between the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, winners of the Conference USA West division and the UCF Knights, the winners of the East division. It was the third match-up be ...

, the conference's corresponding contingency plan for the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season put the Pirates in the 2012 New Orleans Bowl. This will be the Pirates' first-ever New Orleans Bowl.

Louisiana–Lafayette

The Ragin' Cajuns are the defending New Orleans Bowl champions, and their road to this year's game is similar to the previous year's. Although the Sun Belt has a record five bowl-eligible teams this year, the Ragin' Cajuns stood out amidst the competition by compiling a 5-2 conference record, including victories over fellow bowl-eligible teams the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. After defeating the South Alabama Jaguars to improve their regular-season record to 7-4, the Ragin' Cajuns accepted the fifth invitation of the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season to the 2012 New Orleans Bowl.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Statistics

References

{{Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns bowl game navbox

New Orleans Bowl East Carolina Pirates football bowl games Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football bowl games