2006 Alamo Bowl
Encyclopedia
The 2006 Alamo Bowl Game was a college football
bowl game
, part of the 2006–2007 bowl season
of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The 2006 Alamo Bowl
was played in the 65,000-seat Alamodome
in San Antonio, Texas
on December 30.
The game matched the Texas Longhorns
versus the Iowa Hawkeyes
and was televised on ESPN
and ESPN-HD. It was the most watched bowl game in ESPN history.
Alamo Bowl officials announced that both schools sold their entire allotment of tickets, resulting in the fastest sellout in Alamo Bowl history. The attendance for the game was 65,875, which established a new record for the most people to gather in San Antonio to view a sporting event. Texas won the game 26–24.
Texas began the 2006 season as the defending national champions
but lost early in the season to #1 ranked Ohio State University
and finished the year with back-to-back losses to Kansas State University
and Texas A&M University
to end all hopes of repeating as national champions.
With their loss to Texas A&M, Texas looked north to the Oklahoma
vs. Oklahoma State
Bedlam Series
rivalry. If the Oklahoma State Cowboys had defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, then Texas would still have played in the Big 12
Championship Game with a chance to play in the Fiesta Bowl
. That is because both the Longhorns and the Sooners would have had a 6-2 conference record, but the Longhorns would have won the tie-breaker by virtue of winning the head-to-head game against Oklahoma. Oklahoma won the game, however, so the next game for Texas would be their bowl bid, with speculation originally centering around the Cotton Bowl Classic or Gator Bowl
on New Year's Day
. The Holiday Bowl
and the Alamo Bowl were also mentioned as possibilities.
The Longhorns' starting quarterback, Colt McCoy
, was injured on the first drive of the Kansas State game. He played against Texas A&M the following game, and final week of the regular season, and was injured after a controversial hit by Aggie defensive tackle Kellen Heard. Longhorns trainer Kenny Boyd said the injury was a severe pinched nerve in McCoy's neck. Boyd said that McCoy was expected to make a full recovery, but no timetable was initially set for McCoy to return to play and no announcement was initially made about his status for the bowl game.
Meanwhile, Longhorn defensive coordinator Gene Chizik
accepted the head coaching job at Iowa State University
and therefore could not be with the Longhorns for their bowl game. Also, on November 29 the Austin American-Statesman
cited un-named sources saying back-up quarterback Jevan Snead
would transfer from Texas and that his availability for the upcoming bowl game was also uncertain. On December 1, the Longhorns issued a statement confirming that Snead, along with sophomore defensive end Chris Brown and sophomore offensive tackle Greg Dolan, had left the team and would transfer to unspecified schools.
On December 3, Texas officially accepted a bid to play in the Alamo Bowl against the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, who finished the regular season at 6-6 overall and in eighth place in the Big 10. This was the first appearance for Texas in the Alamo Bowl, which is played only 75 miles from the University of Texas campus. On December 21, UT announced that McCoy was cleared to play in the bowl game. He did start at quarterback and played the entire game for Texas.
Texas and Iowa had only faced one another once before, in the inaugural playing of the Freedom Bowl
in 1984
. In the 1984 season, Texas had climbed as high as No. 1 in the rankings before losing the last two games of the season and falling to No. 19. In the Freedom Bowl, an unranked Iowa squad jumped out to a 14–0 first-quarter lead and ended up winning 55–17. Iowa quarterback Chuck Long
said, "That game didn't put us on the map, but it was the one that kept us on the map". The next year Iowa made it to the Rose Bowl
, and Long finished second to Bo Jackson
in the voting for the Heisman Trophy
.
For the Iowa Hawkeyes, the 2006 Alamo Bowl was the 22nd bowl game for the school (3rd most in the Big 10
) and continued a streak of six bowl game appearances. It was the fourth time for Iowa to play in the Alamo Bowl, with their most recent appearance being a 19-16 victory over Texas Tech
in 2001. The game was the second time in three years for Iowa to face the defending national champion in a bowl game; the Hawkeyes beat Louisiana State University
30–25 in the 2004 Capital One Bowl
in Orlando, Florida
.
Iowa had a 6-6 record for the 2006 season, after going 5-1 in the first half of the season but only 1-5 in the second half. They were ranked as high as fifteenth before the slide. The Hawkeyes were led on the field by quarterback Drew Tate
, who ranks second behind Chuck Long in most major school passing categories. In his senior season at Iowa (prior to the bowl), Tate had completed 58 percent of his passes for 2,349 yards and 16 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. This was a slightly disappointing performance since he had completed more than 60 percent of his passes his previous two years, throwing for more than 20 touchdowns each year. Tate attended high school in Texas.
In the Hawkeyes' final regular-season game November 18, 2006, Drew Tate completed 26 of 36 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns, but he also lost a fumble
and threw three interceptions in a 34–24 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers
. Iowa did not have a super-star receiver to catch Tate's passes. No player on the team had more than 46 receptions or 614 receiving yards.
Iowa coach Ferentz said the month off should give his team an opportunity to get healthy. The time off allowed for the return of starting cornerback Adam Shada and defensive end Kenny Iwebema after both missed most of the second half of the season.
The Alamo Bowl announced that both schools sold their entire allotment of tickets, resulting in the fastest sellout in Alamo Bowl history. The actual attendance for the game was 65,875, which established a new record for the most people to gather in San Antonio to view a sporting event. As of December 11, the betting line was Texas by 11 points.
to Iowa, who went on offense. The Hawkeyes drove 77 yards for a touchdown
. Texas was unable to score, and returned the ball to Iowa. Iowa's Drew Tate
threw a pass
to Andy Brodell, and he ran 63 yards for a touchdown. Texas was able to get some points on the board when walk-on placekicker
Ryan Bailey made a 27-yard field goal
to make the score 14–3 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Tate threw an apparent touchdown pass to tight end
Scott Chandler. Tate was seen celebrating by making an upside-down Hook 'em Horns
hand signal. However, the officials ruled that Chandler was an ineligible receiver. On the next play, Tate again tried to find Chandler in the end zone but instead threw an interception
to UT defensive back Aaron Ross. Texas got the ball at their own 20. Colt McCoy
capped an 80-yard scoring drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Limas Sweed
. This made the score 14–10 in favor of Iowa as the teams went into half-time
.
The Longhorns began the second half by scoring on another Ryan Bailey field goal, this one for 43 yards to bring the score to 14–13. Later in the third quarter, McCoy threw a rarely used wheel route to running back
Jamaal Charles
, who ran 72 yards for a touchdown to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game at 20–14. This touchdown pass was McCoy's 29th touchdown pass of the season, tying the national record for touchdown passes by a freshman. Iowa answered with another touchdown pass from Drew to Brodell that made the score 21–20 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, McCoy scrambled on fourth down with 11 minutes to go in the game to set up what would prove to be the winning touchdown. McCoy bootlegged
to the right with fullback Chris Ogbonnaya
as a blocker, running 8 yards to the Iowa 2-yard line. Running back Selvin Young
then regained the lead for Texas with a two-yard touchdown run. Texas failed at an attempted two-point conversion
, leaving the score at 26–21. Iowa drove into Texas territory but settled for a Kyle Schlicher field goal to make the score 26–24 with 6:20 left on the game clock.
With 3:35 left to play, Iowa attempted a trick play
— an attempted flanker pass that has posed problems for Texas all season. Safety Marcus Griffin
stuffed the play for an 11-yard loss. Commenting on stopping the trick play, Griffin said, "I knew it was coming — we'd been beaten by that play in the last 10 games. We knew it had to come, I guess that was the best time for it." Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz
described the call as "totally my fault. I was being greedy, I thought we had a secure play."
Tate then threw two incomplete pass
es and the Hawkeyes punted
with a little more than two minutes to play. Texas, assisted by an 11-yard end-around
run by flanker Billy Pitman, used all but 10 seconds of the game clock before punting to Iowa. One play later, the game was over. The final score was Texas 26, Iowa 24.
References:
Official Jeff Robinson released a statement to clarify the call which nullified the pass to Chandler: "The man who caught the ball (#87) came in motion and came across the line, which made him ineligible to go down field to catch the ball. There was already a man outside of him. The official term for the call on the field is 'covered up on the line.'"
The Texas Longhorns were ranked 19th in the Bowl Championship Series
(BCS) rankings, which were issued before the bowl season
. They received a final-ranking of 13th in the nation by both the Associated Press
AP Poll
and the USA Today Coaches Poll
The Iowa Hawkeyes finished the season unranked.
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...
, part of the 2006–2007 bowl season
NCAA football bowl games, 2006-07
The 2006-07 NCAA College Football Bowl Games post-season schedule followed the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS regular season in college football. The NCAA divided Division I into two divisions for football in 1978. The top level, originally known as "Division I-A" and officially changed to the "Football...
of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The 2006 Alamo Bowl
Alamo Bowl
The Alamo Bowl is a major American college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the 65,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It matches the second choice team from the Pacific-12 Conference and the third choice team from the Big 12 Conference.Traditionally, the Alamo Bowl has been...
was played in the 65,000-seat Alamodome
Alamodome
The Alamodome is a domed 65,000 seat, multi-purpose facility that is primarily used as a football/basketball stadium and convention center in San Antonio, Texas, U.S...
in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
on December 30.
The game matched the Texas Longhorns
2006 Texas Longhorn football team
The 2006 Texas Longhorn football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head football coach was Mack Brown, who received the 2006 Paul "Bear" Bryant Award for "Coach of the Year". The Longhorns play their home games in...
versus the Iowa Hawkeyes
2006 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
The 2006 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa during the 2006 college football season. The Hawkeyes played their home games at Kinnick Stadium and were coached by Kirk Ferentz...
and was televised 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....
and ESPN-HD. It was the most watched bowl game in ESPN history.
Alamo Bowl officials announced that both schools sold their entire allotment of tickets, resulting in the fastest sellout in Alamo Bowl history. The attendance for the game was 65,875, which established a new record for the most people to gather in San Antonio to view a sporting event. Texas won the game 26–24.
Pre-game build-up
2005 Texas Longhorn football team
The 2005 Texas Longhorn football team represented the University of Texas at Austin during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, winning the Big 12 Conference championship and the national championship. The team was coached by Mack Brown, led on offense by quarterback Vince Young, and played...
but lost early in the season to #1 ranked Ohio State University
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
and finished the year with back-to-back losses to Kansas State University
Kansas State Wildcats
Kansas State University's athletic teams are called the Wildcats. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple, making Kansas State one of very few schools that have only one official color; white and silver are generally used as complementary colors.Kansas State participates in...
and Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
to end all hopes of repeating as national champions.
With their loss to Texas A&M, Texas looked north to the Oklahoma
2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 2006-2007, winning the Big 12 Conference Championship...
vs. Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State Cowboys football
The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in college football. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference and completes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Cowboys are led by Mike Gundy, who is in his seventh year as...
Bedlam Series
Bedlam Series
The Bedlam Series refers to the athletics rivalry between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys, of the Big 12 Conference...
rivalry. If the Oklahoma State Cowboys had defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, then Texas would still have played in 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...
Championship Game with a chance to play in the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
. That is because both the Longhorns and the Sooners would have had a 6-2 conference record, but the Longhorns would have won the tie-breaker by virtue of winning the head-to-head game against Oklahoma. Oklahoma won the game, however, so the next game for Texas would be their bowl bid, with speculation originally centering around the Cotton Bowl Classic or Gator Bowl
Gator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Held continuously since 1946, it is the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nationally...
on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
. The Holiday Bowl
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...
and the Alamo Bowl were also mentioned as possibilities.
The Longhorns' starting quarterback, Colt McCoy
Colt McCoy
Daniel "Colt" McCoy is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Browns in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft...
, was injured on the first drive of the Kansas State game. He played against Texas A&M the following game, and final week of the regular season, and was injured after a controversial hit by Aggie defensive tackle Kellen Heard. Longhorns trainer Kenny Boyd said the injury was a severe pinched nerve in McCoy's neck. Boyd said that McCoy was expected to make a full recovery, but no timetable was initially set for McCoy to return to play and no announcement was initially made about his status for the bowl game.
Meanwhile, Longhorn defensive coordinator Gene Chizik
Gene Chizik
Eugene "Gene" Chizik is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Auburn University football team, a position he has held since the 2009 season. Chizik's 2010 Auburn Tigers football team completed a 14–0 season with a victory over Oregon in the BCS...
accepted the head coaching job at Iowa State University
Iowa State Cyclones
The Iowa State Cyclones are the athletic teams of Iowa State University. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams in 12 sports.*Men's sports...
and therefore could not be with the Longhorns for their bowl game. Also, on November 29 the Austin American-Statesman
Austin American-Statesman
The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....
cited un-named sources saying back-up quarterback Jevan Snead
Jevan Snead
Jevan Bryce Snead is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent...
would transfer from Texas and that his availability for the upcoming bowl game was also uncertain. On December 1, the Longhorns issued a statement confirming that Snead, along with sophomore defensive end Chris Brown and sophomore offensive tackle Greg Dolan, had left the team and would transfer to unspecified schools.
On December 3, Texas officially accepted a bid to play in the Alamo Bowl against the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, who finished the regular season at 6-6 overall and in eighth place in the Big 10. This was the first appearance for Texas in the Alamo Bowl, which is played only 75 miles from the University of Texas campus. On December 21, UT announced that McCoy was cleared to play in the bowl game. He did start at quarterback and played the entire game for Texas.
Texas and Iowa had only faced one another once before, in the inaugural playing of the Freedom Bowl
Freedom Bowl
The Freedom Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, from 1984 to 1994. Beginning with the 1995 season, the Freedom Bowl's WAC tie-ins were merged with that of the Holiday Bowl and the game was dissolved...
in 1984
1984 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Brigham Young University winning their first national championship by beating an unranked Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl...
. In the 1984 season, Texas had climbed as high as No. 1 in the rankings before losing the last two games of the season and falling to No. 19. In the Freedom Bowl, an unranked Iowa squad jumped out to a 14–0 first-quarter lead and ended up winning 55–17. Iowa quarterback Chuck Long
Chuck Long
Chuck Long is an American football coach. He played quarterback in college at Iowa for Hayden Fry and professionally with the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams. He is an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame. In the January 2008 issue of San Diego Magazine he was chosen as one of...
said, "That game didn't put us on the map, but it was the one that kept us on the map". The next year Iowa made it to the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
, and Long finished second to Bo Jackson
Bo Jackson
Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is a former American baseball and football player. He was the first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, and also won the Heisman Trophy in 1985....
in the voting for the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
.
For the Iowa Hawkeyes, the 2006 Alamo Bowl was the 22nd bowl game for the school (3rd most in the Big 10
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
) and continued a streak of six bowl game appearances. It was the fourth time for Iowa to play in the Alamo Bowl, with their most recent appearance being a 19-16 victory over Texas Tech
Texas Tech Red Raiders
The Texas Tech Red Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University . The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders; however, the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raiders" name. The university's athletic program fields teams in 15 varsity sports and 30 club sports...
in 2001. The game was the second time in three years for Iowa to face the defending national champion in a bowl game; the Hawkeyes beat Louisiana State University
LSU Tigers football
The LSU Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, represents Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States in NCAA Division I FBS college football. Current head coach Les Miles has led the team since 2005. Since 1999 when Nick Saban took over as...
30–25 in the 2004 Capital One Bowl
Capital One Bowl
The Capital One Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Orlando, Florida at the Citrus Bowl, and previously known as the Tangerine Bowl and the Florida Citrus Bowl...
in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
.
Iowa had a 6-6 record for the 2006 season, after going 5-1 in the first half of the season but only 1-5 in the second half. They were ranked as high as fifteenth before the slide. The Hawkeyes were led on the field by quarterback Drew Tate
Drew Tate
Drew Tate is a professional American and Canadian football quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Iowa....
, who ranks second behind Chuck Long in most major school passing categories. In his senior season at Iowa (prior to the bowl), Tate had completed 58 percent of his passes for 2,349 yards and 16 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. This was a slightly disappointing performance since he had completed more than 60 percent of his passes his previous two years, throwing for more than 20 touchdowns each year. Tate attended high school in Texas.
In the Hawkeyes' final regular-season game November 18, 2006, Drew Tate completed 26 of 36 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns, but he also lost a fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
and threw three interceptions in a 34–24 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers
2006 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
The 2006 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the college football season of 2006-2007. Coached by Glen Mason, the Gophers played their home games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as they had since Memorial Stadium closed after the 1981...
. Iowa did not have a super-star receiver to catch Tate's passes. No player on the team had more than 46 receptions or 614 receiving yards.
Iowa coach Ferentz said the month off should give his team an opportunity to get healthy. The time off allowed for the return of starting cornerback Adam Shada and defensive end Kenny Iwebema after both missed most of the second half of the season.
The Alamo Bowl announced that both schools sold their entire allotment of tickets, resulting in the fastest sellout in Alamo Bowl history. The actual attendance for the game was 65,875, which established a new record for the most people to gather in San Antonio to view a sporting event. As of December 11, the betting line was Texas by 11 points.
Game summary
Texas won the coin toss and elected to defer their possession to the second half. UT therefore kicked offKickoff (American football)
A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in American football and Canadian football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team"...
to Iowa, who went on offense. The Hawkeyes drove 77 yards for a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
. Texas was unable to score, and returned the ball to Iowa. Iowa's Drew Tate
Drew Tate
Drew Tate is a professional American and Canadian football quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Iowa....
threw a pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
to Andy Brodell, and he ran 63 yards for a touchdown. Texas was able to get some points on the board when walk-on placekicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
Ryan Bailey made a 27-yard field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
to make the score 14–3 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Tate threw an apparent touchdown pass to tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
Scott Chandler. Tate was seen celebrating by making an upside-down Hook 'em Horns
Hook 'em Horns
Hook 'em Horns is the slogan and hand signal of The University of Texas at Austin. Students and alumni of the university employ a greeting consisting of the phrase "Hook 'em" or "Hook 'em Horns" and also use the phrase as a parting good-bye or as the closing line in a letter or story.The gesture is...
hand signal. However, the officials ruled that Chandler was an ineligible receiver. On the next play, Tate again tried to find Chandler in the end zone but instead threw an interception
Interception (football)
An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...
to UT defensive back Aaron Ross. Texas got the ball at their own 20. Colt McCoy
Colt McCoy
Daniel "Colt" McCoy is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Browns in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft...
capped an 80-yard scoring drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Limas Sweed
Limas Sweed
Limas Lee Sweed, Jr. is a former American football wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He played collegiately for the Texas Longhorns. On April 26, 2008 Sweed was taken 53rd overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2008 NFL Draft.-High school:Sweed attended...
. This made the score 14–10 in favor of Iowa as the teams went into half-time
Half-time
In some team sports such as association football and rugby, matches are played in two halves. Half-time is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match...
.
The Longhorns began the second half by scoring on another Ryan Bailey field goal, this one for 43 yards to bring the score to 14–13. Later in the third quarter, McCoy threw a rarely used wheel route to running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
Jamaal Charles
Jamaal Charles
Jamaal RaShaad Jones Charles is an American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft...
, who ran 72 yards for a touchdown to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game at 20–14. This touchdown pass was McCoy's 29th touchdown pass of the season, tying the national record for touchdown passes by a freshman. Iowa answered with another touchdown pass from Drew to Brodell that made the score 21–20 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, McCoy scrambled on fourth down with 11 minutes to go in the game to set up what would prove to be the winning touchdown. McCoy bootlegged
Bootleg play
In American football, a bootleg play is a play in which the quarterback runs with the ball in the direction of either sideline behind the line of scrimmage...
to the right with fullback Chris Ogbonnaya
Chris Ogbonnaya
Chris Ogbonnaya is an American football running back for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft...
as a blocker, running 8 yards to the Iowa 2-yard line. Running back Selvin Young
Selvin Young
Selvin Young is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2007...
then regained the lead for Texas with a two-yard touchdown run. Texas failed at an attempted two-point conversion
Two-point conversion
In American and Canadian football, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert immediately after it scores a touchdown...
, leaving the score at 26–21. Iowa drove into Texas territory but settled for a Kyle Schlicher field goal to make the score 26–24 with 6:20 left on the game clock.
With 3:35 left to play, Iowa attempted a trick play
Trick play
A trick play, also known as a gadget play or a gimmick play, is a play in American football that uses deception and unorthodox strategies to fool the opposing team. A trick play is often risky, offering the potential for a large gain or a touchdown if it is successful, but with the chance of a...
— an attempted flanker pass that has posed problems for Texas all season. Safety Marcus Griffin
Marcus Griffin
Marcus Kevin Griffin was born on January 4, 1985 in Austin, Texas. Griffin entered the 2008 NFL Draft, however he went unselected. Griffin was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Vikings on April 28, 2008. Griffin was subsequently waived on June 30, 2008...
stuffed the play for an 11-yard loss. Commenting on stopping the trick play, Griffin said, "I knew it was coming — we'd been beaten by that play in the last 10 games. We knew it had to come, I guess that was the best time for it." Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz
Kirk Ferentz
Kirk James Ferentz is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since 1999. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the University of Maine. He has also served as an assistant coach...
described the call as "totally my fault. I was being greedy, I thought we had a secure play."
Tate then threw two incomplete pass
Incomplete pass
An incomplete pass is a term in American football which means that a legal forward pass hits the ground before a player on either team gains possession. For example, if the quarterback throws the ball to one of his wide receivers, and the receiver either does not touch it or tries to catch it...
es and the Hawkeyes punted
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
with a little more than two minutes to play. Texas, assisted by an 11-yard end-around
End-around
The end-around is a play in American football in which a wide receiver crosses the backfield towards the opposite end of the line and receives a handoff directly from the quarterback. The receiver then may proceed to do one of two things: he either runs the ball towards the line of scrimmage in...
run by flanker Billy Pitman, used all but 10 seconds of the game clock before punting to Iowa. One play later, the game was over. The final score was Texas 26, Iowa 24.
Game statistics
| Statistic | Texas | Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 17 | 17 |
| Total Yards | 378 | 363 |
| Passing Yards | 308 | 274 |
| Rushing Yards | 70 | 89 |
| Return Yards | ||
| Penalties | 6-60 | 8-53 |
| Passing (Att-Comp-Int) | 40-26-0 | 25-15-1 |
| Punts - Average | 6-37.8 | 5-42.4 |
| Third Down Conversions | 6-15 | 6-13 |
| Fourth Down Conversions | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Fumbles - Lost | 2-1 | 2-1 |
| Time of Possession | 29:04 | 30:56 |
References:
After the Game
ESPN announced that the 2006 Alamo Bowl was the most watched bowl game in the history of that television network.Official Jeff Robinson released a statement to clarify the call which nullified the pass to Chandler: "The man who caught the ball (#87) came in motion and came across the line, which made him ineligible to go down field to catch the ball. There was already a man outside of him. The official term for the call on the field is 'covered up on the line.'"
The Texas Longhorns were ranked 19th in the Bowl Championship Series
Bowl 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...
(BCS) rankings, which were issued before the bowl season
NCAA football bowl games, 2006-07
The 2006-07 NCAA College Football Bowl Games post-season schedule followed the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS regular season in college football. The NCAA divided Division I into two divisions for football in 1978. The top level, originally known as "Division I-A" and officially changed to the "Football...
. They received a final-ranking of 13th in the nation by both the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
and the USA Today Coaches Poll
Coaches Poll
The USA Today Coaches' Poll is the current name for a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and Division I college basketball teams....
The Iowa Hawkeyes finished the season unranked.