Shreveport, La. ? Alabama wants to prove it can live up to its glorious bowl history.
Oklahoma State wants to keep building one.
Today’s Independence Bowl provides the next step for one of them.
The Crimson Tide will be making its third straight bowl appearance, and 54th overall. It has won six national championships and more bowl victories than any other school in NCAA history with a 30-20-3 record.
Beating a team with that history would be a thrill, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said.
“Our players are aware of Alabama,” Gundy said. “Anybody that follows college football, they’re aware of who Alabama is.”
But things are not what they should be with ‘Bama.
Alabama (6-6) barely made it to postseason play, and arrived with an interim coach. Mike Shula was fired Nov. 26, and the search for a permanent replacement is underway for the fourth time since 2000.
Running back Kenneth Darby, who is wrapping up his college career at the Independence Bowl, doesn’t see what’s happened this year as a distraction.
“We haven’t let any of this stuff get to us whatsoever,” Darby said. “We’re still focusing on the main goal, and that’s to win this ball game. I’m pretty sure these guys are going to come out fired up to play this game but also be ready to win this game.”
