2010 Texas Bowl

The 2010 Texas Bowl was the fifth edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The game started at 5:00 PM US CST on Wednesday, December 29, 2010. The game was telecast on ESPN for the second time in bowl history after being televised by the NFL Network for the first three games. The bowl matched the sixth selection from the Big 12 Conference, Baylor, versus the sixth selection from the Big Ten Conference, Illinois.

2010 Texas Bowl
Illinois Fighting Illini Baylor Bears
(6–6) (7–5)
Big Ten Big 12
38 14
Head coach: 
Ron Zook		 Head coach: 
Art Briles
1234 Total
Illinois 610814 38
Baylor 0077 14
DateDecember 29, 2010
Season2010
StadiumReliant Stadium
LocationHouston, Texas
MVPRB Mikel Leshoure, Illinois
FavoriteBaylor by 1[1]
RefereeMichael Batlan (Pac-10)
Attendance68,211
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
AnnouncersDave Pasch, Bob Griese, Chris Spielman and Holly Rowe
Nielsen ratings2.7

Pre-game

By December 8, three days after the announcement of the participating teams, approximately 60,000 of the stadium's 70,000 seats had been purchased; bowl officials anticipated the bowl's first-ever sellout.[2] Baylor announced the same day that all but 400 of its 12,000-ticket allotment had been sold and that the athletics department had requested more tickets from the Texas Bowl.[3]

Teams

Illinois
See also: 2010 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

After a disappointing 7-6 season Illinois returns to a bowl game to face Baylor. Illinois boasts Mikel Leshoure who emerged as the Big Ten's best running back this season, ranking eighth nationally in rushing with 126.1 yards per game. Illinois has not won a bowl game since 1999 when they defeated Virginia in the MicronPC.com Bowl. The game will also mark the Fighting Illini's first appearance in the Texas Bowl.

Baylor
See also: 2010 Baylor Bears football team

Baylor enters the Texas Bowl with a 7-5 record. After a 7-2 start the Bears lost their last 3 contests. Baylor boasts 5 receivers with at least 40 catches in their high-powered offense. The Bears will be playing in their first Texas Bowl. This is their first bowl appearance since the 1994 Alamo Bowl where they lost to the high powered Washington State Cougars.

Game Summary

Scoring
Scoring Play Score
1st Quarter
ILL - Derek Dimke 38 yard kick, 11:03 ILL 3-0
ILL - Derek Dimke 28 yard kick, 3:45 ILL 6-0
2nd Quarter
ILL - Derek Dimke 43 yard kick, 13:51 ILL 9-0
ILL - Mikel Leshoure 5-yard run (Derek Dimke kick), 9:42 ILL 16-0
3rd Quarter
ILL - Mikel Leshoure 13-yard run (Two-point conversion), 11:40 ILL 24-0
BAY - Jay Finley 3-yard run (Aaron Jones kick), 8:03 ILL 24-7
4th Quarter
BAY - Robert Griffin III 39-yard pass to Kendall Wright (Aaron Jones kick), 13:43 ILL 24-14
ILL - Mikel Leshoure 5-yard run (Derek Dimke kick), 7:14 ILL 31-14
ILL - Nathan Scheelhaase 55-yard run (Derek Dimke kick), 0:41 ILL 38-14

[4]

Statistics
StatisticsIllinoisBaylor
First Downs2524
Total offense, plays-yards547434
Rushes-yards (net)306105
Passes, Comp-Att-Yds18-23-24132-44-329
Fumbles-Interceptions0-02-0
Time of Possession33:1526:45

Notes

This was the second time that the two programs have met in a game. Baylor was a 34-19 winner over Illinois in their only previous meeting at Champaign, Illinois on September 25, 1976.

References
  1. The Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 20, 2010
  2. Supinie, John (8 December 2010). "Texas Bowl: Baylor tickets already sold out; Illinois not sure yet on sales". GateHouse News Service (via Suburban Life Publications). Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  3. "Texas Bowl Ticket Sales Surging". Baylor Athletics (Baylor University). 2010-12-08. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  4. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=303630239
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.