2009 Emerald Bowl
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Emerald Bowl
was the eighth edition of the college football
bowl game
, and was played at AT&T Park
in San Francisco, California
. The game started at 5:00 PM PST
on Saturday, December 26, 2009
. The game was telecast on ESPN
. USC
defeated Boston College
24–13.
The presenting sponsor of the 2009 Emerald Bowl was Diamond Foods, promoting its Emerald Nuts brand of snack foods. The company has served as title sponsor of the game for all eight years of the bowl's existence.
bowl game each of the past seven years and had hopes to make it back there again this season before dropping three of their last five games. First, Oregon
defeated USC 47–20, USC's worst loss under Pete Carroll
up to that time. This was followed by an even worse loss against Stanford
in the Coliseum
by a 55–21 margin that eliminated USC from Rose Bowl contention for the first time in seven years as well as its worst loss in 43 years while Stanford's 55 points were the most points ever scored by an opponent against USC. USC's final regular season game was a 21–17 loss to Arizona
. USC fell out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in eight years after the loss to Wildcats.
Boston College was making its 11th straight bowl appearance. The Eagles were the first team to play in the Emerald Bowl twice, beating 35–21 in the 2003 San Francisco Bowl (the former name of the Emerald Bowl). Boston College went 8–1 in bowl games in the first decade of the 21st century. This was the third meeting between the two schools and the first one in the post-season. USC had won both games in the series, a 23–17 victory in Los Angeles
in 1987 and a 34–7 win in Chestnut Hill
in 1988.
USC freshman
quarterback
Matt Barkley
threw touchdown passes to Stanley Havili
on the Trojans first two possessions and added a touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Barkley finished the game with a total of 350 yards passing. Of his 350 yards, Damian Williams
accounted for 189 of them on 12 catches. Williams was named the game's MVP for his efforts. Boston College was led by tailback Montel Harris
, who rushed for 102 yards and also added a touchdown run.
Emerald Bowl
The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually at 40,800-seat AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, in San Francisco, California, since 2002...
was the eighth edition of the college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
, and was played at AT&T Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. The game started at 5:00 PM PST
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
on Saturday, December 26, 2009
2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on September 2, 2009, progressed through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in Pasadena, California on January 7, 2010, featuring the...
. The game was telecast on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
. USC
2009 USC Trojans football team
The 2009 University of Southern California Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California during the college football season of 2009–2010. The team played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and was coached by Pete Carroll, who was in his ninth and final...
defeated Boston College
2009 Boston College Eagles football team
The 2009 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College in the 2009 season as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Eagles were led by first-year head coach Frank Spaziani. He replaced Jeff Jagodzinski who was fired after the 2008 season...
24–13.
The presenting sponsor of the 2009 Emerald Bowl was Diamond Foods, promoting its Emerald Nuts brand of snack foods. The company has served as title sponsor of the game for all eight years of the bowl's existence.
Teams
This marked the first time USC had played in the bowl. The Trojans had played in a BCSBowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
bowl game each of the past seven years and had hopes to make it back there again this season before dropping three of their last five games. First, Oregon
2009 Oregon Ducks football team
The 2009 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon in the college football season of 2009. The team was led by head coach Chip Kelly in his first season as a head coach at the Division I FBS level. Kelly was only the third Ducks head coach since 1977 and led the Ducks to a...
defeated USC 47–20, USC's worst loss under Pete Carroll
Pete Carroll
Peter Clay Carroll is the head coach and executive Vice-President of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He is a former head coach of the New York Jets, New England Patriots and the University of Southern California Trojans football team.-Early life:Carroll attended Redwood High...
up to that time. This was followed by an even worse loss against Stanford
2009 Stanford Cardinal football team
The 2009 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal was coached by third-year coach Jim Harbaugh and played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California....
in the Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
by a 55–21 margin that eliminated USC from Rose Bowl contention for the first time in seven years as well as its worst loss in 43 years while Stanford's 55 points were the most points ever scored by an opponent against USC. USC's final regular season game was a 21–17 loss to Arizona
2009 Arizona Wildcats football team
The 2009 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. The Wildcats, led by sixth-year head coach Mike Stoops, played their home games at Arizona Stadium....
. USC fell out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in eight years after the loss to Wildcats.
Boston College was making its 11th straight bowl appearance. The Eagles were the first team to play in the Emerald Bowl twice, beating 35–21 in the 2003 San Francisco Bowl (the former name of the Emerald Bowl). Boston College went 8–1 in bowl games in the first decade of the 21st century. This was the third meeting between the two schools and the first one in the post-season. USC had won both games in the series, a 23–17 victory in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1987 and a 34–7 win in Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill
-Geography:* Chestnut Hill, Cumbria, England* Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States* Chestnut Hill Cove, Maryland, United States* Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States* Chestnut Hill, West Virginia, United States...
in 1988.
Game summary
USC wore their home cardinal jerseys, and Boston College wore their away white jerseys.USC freshman
Freshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Matt Barkley
Matt Barkley
Matt Barkley is an American football quarterback and student athlete at the University of Southern California, playing for the Trojans football team. As a high school player, Barkley was named 2007 football Gatorade National Player of the Year, and then the 2007 Gatorade national male athlete of...
threw touchdown passes to Stanley Havili
Stanley Havili
Stanley Havili is an American football fullback who is currently a practice squad member for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Eagles in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern California.-Personal:Havili's...
on the Trojans first two possessions and added a touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Barkley finished the game with a total of 350 yards passing. Of his 350 yards, Damian Williams
Damian Williams
Damian Williams may refer to:* Damian Williams , participant in the 1992 Los Angeles Riots* Damian Williams , Tennessee Titans wide receiver...
accounted for 189 of them on 12 catches. Williams was named the game's MVP for his efforts. Boston College was led by tailback Montel Harris
Montel Harris
Montel Lamar Harris is a college football running back with the Boston College Eagles.-High School:Harris attended Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida along with tailback Jamie Harper...
, who rushed for 102 yards and also added a touchdown run.
Scoring summary
| Scoring Play | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter | |||
| USC - Stanley Havili Stanley Havili Stanley Havili is an American football fullback who is currently a practice squad member for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Eagles in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern California.-Personal:Havili's... 53 yard pass from Matt Barkley Matt Barkley Matt Barkley is an American football quarterback and student athlete at the University of Southern California, playing for the Trojans football team. As a high school player, Barkley was named 2007 football Gatorade National Player of the Year, and then the 2007 Gatorade national male athlete of... (Jordan Congdon kick), 6:01 |
USC 7–0 | ||
| 2nd Quarter | |||
| USC - Stanley Havili 5 yard pass from Matt Barkley (Jordan Congdon kick), 12:36 | USC 14–0 | ||
| BC - Montel Harris Montel Harris Montel Lamar Harris is a college football running back with the Boston College Eagles.-High School:Harris attended Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida along with tailback Jamie Harper... 7 yard rush (Steve Aponavicius Steve Aponavicius Steve Aponavicius is an American football kicker. In 2009, he became the leading scorer in the history of Boston College's football program. A left-footed soccer convert, Aponavicius made his first start of his career against Virginia Tech on October 12, 2006 and successfully kicked two field... missed kick), 9:54 |
USC 14–6 | ||
| BC - Rich Gunnell 61 yard pass from Dave Shinskie (Steve Aponavicius kick), 3:48 | USC 14–13 | ||
| 3rd Quarter | |||
| USC - Jordan Congdon 38 yard field goal, 9:08 | USC 17–13 | ||
| 4th Quarter | |||
| USC - Matt Barkley 1 yard rush (Jordan Congdon kick), 11:53 | USC 24–13 | ||