2009 Holiday Bowl
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Holiday Bowl
was the thirty-second edition of the college football
bowl game
and was played at Qualcomm Stadium
in San Diego, California. The game started at 5:00 PM US PST
on Wednesday, December 30, 2009. The game was telecast on ESPN
. The Nebraska Cornhuskers
defeated the Arizona Wildcats
33–0 for the first shutout in the history of the bowl. This was a rematch of the two teams, who faced each other in the 1998 Holiday Bowl
, where Arizona
defeated Nebraska
23–20.
The game featured the 2nd pick from the Pac-10 and the 3rd pick from the Big 12
. The game had recently become a type of "upset" bowl. In previous years, teams rejected by the BCS had lost to heavy underdogs. In 2005
, a 10–1 Oregon team
(favored by 3 points while ranked 6th in the nation) playing without its star quarterback Kellen Clemens
lost 17–14 to a surging Oklahoma squad that had won six out of its last seven. In 2004
, one-loss was defeated by Big 12 Texas Tech, 45–31. In 2003
, Big 12 representative Texas
was knocked off by Pac-10 representative Washington State
, led by Matt Kegel.
The Wildcats drew the bid the day they wrapped up an 8-4 season with a 21–17 victory at USC
, a win that gave Arizona a share of second place (along with Oregon State
and Stanford
) in the Pac-10 with a 6–3 conference record. Nebraska lost a 13–12 heartbreaker to Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game
. The Cornhuskers won the conference's North Division with a 6–2 record. The 1998 meeting
between the two teams was the only time that either school had appeared in the Holiday Bowl. The only other meeting between the two schools was a 14–14 tie in 1961.
On December 8, 2009, the Holiday Bowl committee announced a marketing campaign with fast food franchise Jack in the Box where Jack Box, the fictional Chairman and CEO of the company and star of its marketing campaigns, would be the Honorary Chairman of the game and the Grand Marshal of the Port of San Diego
Big Bay Balloon Parade.
Nebraska's 33–0 defeat of Arizona was the first and, to date, only shutout
victory in the Holiday Bowl. Prior to the 2009 Holiday Bowl no team had scored fewer than 10 points in a game. The Wildcats were held to just 109 total yards of offense and just 6 first downs. The Cornhuskers were led on offense by wide receiver
Niles Paul
who hauled in 4 catches for 123 yards, including a touchdown, which accounted for 74 of his receiving yards. Quarterback
Zac Lee threw for 173 yards and the TD to Paul. Rex Burkhead of Nebraska led all rushers with 89 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. This also marked the first time in Nebraska's 46 game, bowl game history that it has shut out a team in postseason. However, this was the third time in Arizona's bowl history that they have been shut out, the second time in a game in San Diego. The Wildcats lost the 1921 San Diego East-West Christmas Classic
to Centre College
38–0 and the 1990 Aloha Bowl
to Syracuse
28–0. The game also marked Nebraska's first 10-win season since 2003
.
Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that has been played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, since 1978. Beginning with the 2010 playing the bowl will officially be known as the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl after...
was the thirty-second 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 Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area....
in San Diego, California. The game started at 5:00 PM US 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 Wednesday, December 30, 2009. 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....
. The Nebraska Cornhuskers
2009 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
The 2009 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cornhuskers played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska and were led by head coach Bo Pelini...
defeated the Arizona Wildcats
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....
33–0 for the first shutout in the history of the bowl. This was a rematch of the two teams, who faced each other in the 1998 Holiday Bowl
1998 Holiday Bowl
The 1998 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played December 30, 1998 in San Diego, California. It was part of the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the Arizona Wildcats, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers....
, where Arizona
1998 Arizona Wildcats football team
The 1998 Arizona Wildcats football team represented University of Arizona during the 1998 NCAA college football season.-Regular season:*In the Territorial cup, the Wildcats beat Arizona State by a score of 50-42.-Team Players drafted into in the NFL:...
defeated Nebraska
1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
The 1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Frank Solich and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.-Schedule:...
23–20.
The game featured the 2nd pick from the Pac-10 and the 3rd pick from the Big 12
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
. The game had recently become a type of "upset" bowl. In previous years, teams rejected by the BCS had lost to heavy underdogs. In 2005
2005 Holiday Bowl
The 2005 Holiday Bowl was the third bowl game played of the game of the 2004-2005 bowl season. The game was held at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on December 29, 2005, with the Big 12's Oklahoma Sooners defeating the Pac-10's Oregon Ducks, 17-14.-Team selection:The Ducks were playing to show that...
, a 10–1 Oregon team
2005 Oregon Ducks football team
In 2005, Oregon had success behind senior quarterback Kellen Clemens and a new spread offense. During a game at Arizona, Clemens suffered a broken ankle. At that point Oregon was 8-1 , and still in the hunt for a BCS game...
(favored by 3 points while ranked 6th in the nation) playing without its star quarterback Kellen Clemens
Kellen Clemens
Kellen Clemens is an American football quarterback who is currently a member of the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft...
lost 17–14 to a surging Oklahoma squad that had won six out of its last seven. In 2004
2004 Holiday Bowl
The 2004 Holiday Bowl was the third bowl game played of the 2004-2005 bowl season on December 30, 2004. The game was held at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, pitting the Pac-10's and the Big 12's Texas Tech Red Raiders...
, one-loss was defeated by Big 12 Texas Tech, 45–31. In 2003
2003 Holiday Bowl
The 2003 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played December 30, 2003 in San Diego, California. It was part of the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the Washington State Cougars against the Texas Longhorns. Washington State pulled off a major upset by winning 28-20.The...
, Big 12 representative Texas
2003 Texas Longhorns football team
The 2003 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by head football coach Mack Brown and led on the field by redshirt fresman quarterback Vince Young....
was knocked off by Pac-10 representative Washington State
2003 Washington State Cougars football team
The 2003 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University in the college football season of 2003-2004. The team was led by first-year head coach Bill Doba, and played its home games at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington....
, led by Matt Kegel.
The Wildcats drew the bid the day they wrapped up an 8-4 season with a 21–17 victory at 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...
, a win that gave Arizona a share of second place (along with Oregon State
2009 Oregon State Beavers football team
The 2009 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State University in the college football 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach, in his second stint with the Beavers, was Mike Riley who was in his seventh straight season and ninth overall with the football...
and 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 Pac-10 with a 6–3 conference record. Nebraska lost a 13–12 heartbreaker to Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game
2009 Big 12 Championship Game
The 2009 Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game was held on December 5, 2009 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The divisional winners from the Big 12 Conference squared off in the 14th edition of the game. The Texas Longhorns represented the South Division and the Nebraska Cornhuskers...
. The Cornhuskers won the conference's North Division with a 6–2 record. The 1998 meeting
1998 Holiday Bowl
The 1998 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played December 30, 1998 in San Diego, California. It was part of the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the Arizona Wildcats, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers....
between the two teams was the only time that either school had appeared in the Holiday Bowl. The only other meeting between the two schools was a 14–14 tie in 1961.
On December 8, 2009, the Holiday Bowl committee announced a marketing campaign with fast food franchise Jack in the Box where Jack Box, the fictional Chairman and CEO of the company and star of its marketing campaigns, would be the Honorary Chairman of the game and the Grand Marshal of the Port of San Diego
Port of San Diego
The Port of San Diego is a self-supporting public benefit corporation established in 1962 by an act of the California State Legislature. In 2007, The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics ranked the Port of San Diego as one of America's top 30 U.S. containership ports bringing in nearly of...
Big Bay Balloon Parade.
Game summary
Nebraska wore their home red jerseys, and Arizona wore their white away jerseys with their newly introduced white helmets.Nebraska's 33–0 defeat of Arizona was the first and, to date, only shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
victory in the Holiday Bowl. Prior to the 2009 Holiday Bowl no team had scored fewer than 10 points in a game. The Wildcats were held to just 109 total yards of offense and just 6 first downs. The Cornhuskers were led on offense by wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
Niles Paul
Niles Paul
Niles Paul is an American football wide receiver for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Nebraska.-College career:...
who hauled in 4 catches for 123 yards, including a touchdown, which accounted for 74 of his receiving yards. 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...
Zac Lee threw for 173 yards and the TD to Paul. Rex Burkhead of Nebraska led all rushers with 89 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. This also marked the first time in Nebraska's 46 game, bowl game history that it has shut out a team in postseason. However, this was the third time in Arizona's bowl history that they have been shut out, the second time in a game in San Diego. The Wildcats lost the 1921 San Diego East-West Christmas Classic
San Diego East-West Christmas Classic
The San Diego East-West Christmas Classic was an annual series of two post-season college American football bowl games played at Balboa Stadium in San Diego, California, in 1921 and 1922.-Game results:...
to Centre College
Centre College
Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, USA, a community of approximately 16,000 in Boyle County south of Lexington, KY. Centre is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution. Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders, with whom it maintains a loose...
38–0 and the 1990 Aloha Bowl
Aloha Bowl
The Aloha Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played in Honolulu, Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. With the exception of the 1983-86 playings, the Aloha Bowl was traditionally played on Christmas morning in Honolulu. For most of its...
to Syracuse
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
28–0. The game also marked Nebraska's first 10-win season since 2003
2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
The 2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Frank Solich and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.-Schedule:...
.
Scoring summary
| Scoring Play | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter | |||
| NE — Zac Lee 4 yard rush (Alex Henery kick), 13:45 | NE 7–0 | ||
| NE — Alex Henery 47 yard field goal, 8:53 | NE 10–0 | ||
| 2nd Quarter | |||
| NE — Rex Burkhead 5 yard rush (Alex Henery kick), 11:57 | NE 17–0 | ||
| NE — Alex Henery 50 yard field goal, 8:25 | NE 20–0 | ||
| NE — Alex Henery 41 yard field goal, 0:35 | NE 23–0 | ||
| 3rd Quarter | |||
| NE — Alex Henery 22 yard field goal, 10:07 | NE 26–0 | ||
| NE — Niles Paul 74 yard pass from Zac Lee (Alex Henery kick), 3:39 | NE 33–0 | ||
| 4th Quarter | |||
| None | |||