Alabama’s Dave Rader gets fourth shot at Independence Bowl vs Oklahoma State

In the first Independence Bowl, held Dec. 13, 1976, the University of Tulsa fell to McNeese State, 20-16; with young quarterback Dave Rader sitting on the bench. Thirteen years later, in 1989, Rader returned to the sidelines of Independence Bowl Stadium as the head coach of Tulsa when the Golden Hurricane fell to Oregon, 27-24.

Now, 17 years later, Rader will return for a third time to the Independence Bowl, this time as an assistant, trying to break his winless streak in Shreveport.

When Alabama faces Oklahoma State Dec. 28 in the 31st Independence Bowl, Rader will not only face his third Independence Bowl opponent, but a familiar one in the Cowboys. In his 12 years as head coach at Tulsa, Rader faced Oklahoma State 11 times, compiling a 4-7 record.

Rader’s fourth trip to Shreveport will be different for the former Tulsa quarterback. With the current Alabama coaching staff in limbo, Rader’s responsibilities will most likely go beyond his familiar offensive coordinator duties, including calling the majority, if not all of Alabama’s offensive plays.

Even going back to his days as a head coach, Rader said he can’t remember having to handle all of the play calling duties.

Even with Rader’s familiarity with Alabama’s opponent, research for this year’s Oklahoma State team, which compiled a 6-6 record, has been done like all of Alabama’s other opponents, Rader said, which includes mainly copying the success other teams had against the Cowboys’ offensive attack.

The transition period for this year’s Alabama team and coaching staff has left many around the program with unanswered questions regarding the future.

Though Rader said he would like to coach again after his time at Alabama is done, he said it’s his family and life away from the program that provides perspective for what may happen next.

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Independence Bowl Prediction: Oklahoma State 27, Alabama 21.

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