LAKE CHARLES - The famous headline in the Shreveport Times read "McNeese Had Not 16 but did have Hadnot."
 
On December 13, 1976, McNeese running back Oliver Hadnot scored on a 25-yard run with 37 seconds to play to lift McNeese to a 20-16 upset win over Tulsa and capturing the championship in the inaugural Independence Bowl.
 
Fifty years later, members of that '76 team will reunite this Saturday for a tailgate and recognition at halftime of the Cowboys' game against East Texas A&M.
 
"It doesn't seem like it's been 50 years," said Alan Heisser who played tight end for the Cowboys that season and is one of 14 members of that team who are in the McNeese Sports Hall of Fame. "But when you say it, it takes on a different meaning. But it doesn't feel like it's been 50 years."
 
The Independence Bowl, now known as the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, was established in 1976 and is college football's 11th most historic bowl game. During the early years of the Independence Bowl, the Southland Conference provided its conference champion as the host for the event. McNeese appeared in three bowl games in 1976, 1979, and 1980.
 
That 1976 Cowboys' team won the program's first Southland Conference championship which now sits at a league-record 14. Representing the league in the inaugural Independence Bowl, which was one of just 16 bowl games played that year, was quite an honor said Heisser.
 
"It was a big deal for us to play in one of 16 bowls in the country. And then to go there and be a 36-point underdog and win the game, made it even better."
 
The huge underdog status took shape due to 16 Cowboy players being ruled ineligible, six of those starters, due to standard eligibility rules regarding fifth-year redshirt seniors which the NCAA rules prohibited such players from participating in postseason play. Conference officials even suggested McNeese bypass the bowl game entirely but the Cowboys, under head coach Jack Doland, refused and played the game anyway.
 
Things started shaky for the Cowboys early when starting quarterback Jim Morvant was injured in the first few plays of the game. Terry McFarland took over behind center for the remainder of the game, earning Offensive MVP honors.
 
McNeese trailed 7-6 at the half with the scoring coming on field goals of 42 and 34 yards by Jan Peebles who was kicking for the first time on the season after the starting kicker was injured. A 1-yard touchdown run by Mike McArthur then a 2-point conversion gave McNeese a 14-7 lead early in the third quarter.
 
Tulsa scored the next nine points off a blocked field goal return for a touchdown then a 38-yard field goal to put the Golden Hurricanes on top 16-14 with 4:22 to play.
 
With under two minutes remaining, McNeese launched an 80-yard drive which stayed alive by a couple of crucial Tulsa penalties, a roughing the passer and pass interference call. This helped set up Hadnot's 25-yard run with 37 seconds remaining to pull the upset.
 
When asked about the significance of winning the very first Independence Bowl game, Heisser commented, "it means everything," he said. "Because nobody can ever take it away."
 
Players, coaches, and staff of that team who are now in the McNeese Hall of Fame includes Heisser, Bryan Hicks, Jim Pousson, John Miller, Bill Moseley, Charles Jefferson, Doug Fruge, Bob Howell, Richard Ellender, assistant coaches Rocke Fournet and Hubert Boales, head coach Jack Doland, athletic trainer Jim Murphy, and sports information director Louis Bonnette.