Nonstop snow, a wild overtime and a near-death experience: When a Shreveport blizzard produced bowl immortality – The Athletic

Editors note:This is part ofThe AthleticsTales from Bowl Season seriesexploring some of the best and quirkiest stories from past bowl games.

In the 20 years since it happened, many fans have brought up the game when they see him out. Former Mississippi State quarterback Wayne Madkin asks them all the same question: Did you stay or did you go?

Some people will confess to it, Madkin said. Some people wont.

The ones who do often have a compelling epilogue to their story after trying to escape a rare blizzard that dumped nearly 6 inches of snow in northwest Louisiana, the largest overnight snowfall since 1985. Mississippi State fell behind Texas A&M 14-0 in the first quarter, leaving Bulldogs fans with a difficult choice: Give up and try to get home or try to stick it out and cheer for a rally.

For many, Mother Nature forced them to choose a third option.

Some people tell me they tried to make it back, ended up sliding into a ditch and ended up listening to us come back and win that game while their car was stuck on the interstate with several hundred other cars, Madkin said. Some of them ended up sleeping in their cars.

In the almost five-decade history of the Independence Bowl, no game has been anything like the one Shreveport hosted in 2000.

Ive been to Vermont in the wintertime. Ive been to Colorado, then-Texas A&M head coach RC Slocum said. Ive never seen it snow any harder than it did that night.

The day before the game, a warning persisted throughout the city: Snow might be coming. But snow as Shreveport natives defined it and what fell from the sky a day later were two different things.

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Nonstop snow, a wild overtime and a near-death experience: When a Shreveport blizzard produced bowl immortality - The Athletic