The 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl was the third 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 Legion Field

Legion Field

Legion Field is a large stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events. The stadium is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans. At its peak...

 in Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. The game was played starting at 2 PM US CST on Monday, December 29, 2008

2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on August 28, 2008, progressing through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in Miami Gardens, Florida on January 8, 2009, where the #2...

. The game, 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....

, pitted the Rutgers Scarlet Knights against the North Carolina State Wolfpack

2008 NC State Wolfpack football team

The 2008 NC State Wolfpack football team represented North Carolina State University during the 2008 college football season. The team's Head Coach was Tom O'Brien, who began his second season as the Wolfpack head coach with a 5-7 overall record, and a 3-5 conference record at NCSU. N.C...

.

The game marked the first ever meeting of the two universities' football programs. NC State led 17-6 at halftime, but crumbled in the second half after losing starting quarterback Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson is a quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers football team. Wilson formerly played for the NC State Wolfpack football and baseball teams before transferring for his final season of eligibility in 2011...

 to a knee injury. Rutgers won, 29-23.

This was also the first edition of the bowl game not to feature any current or former members of Conference USA

Conference USA

Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...

. The selection of NC State did have a connection to past bowl games in Birmingham as the Wolfpack had competed in the last All-American Bowl

All-American Bowl

The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985....

, held at Legion Field in 1990.

Scoring summary

Scoring Play	Score
1st Quarter
Rutgers - Rob Cervini 6 yard TD run (kick blocked), 11:47	Rutgers 6-0
NCSU - Owen Spencer 44 yard TD pass from Russell Wilson (Josh Czajkowski kick), 7:54	NCSU 7-6
NCSU - Czajkowski 32 yard FG, 1:00	NCSU 10-6
2nd Quarter
NCSU - Andre Brown 5 yard TD run (Czajkowski kick), :38	NCSU 17-6
3rd Quarter
Rutgers - San San Te 31 yard FG, 10:14	NCSU 17-9
Rutgers - Tiquan Underwood 10 yard TD pass from Mike Teel Mike Teel Mike Teel is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights before he was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft...  (Te kick), 6:50	NCSU 17-16
4th Quarter
Rutgers - Te 28 yard FG, 13:31	Rutgers 19-17
NCSU - Anthony Hill 16 yard TD pass from Daniel Evans (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...  no good), 9:21	NCSU 23-19
Rutgers - Kenny Britt Kenny Britt -Tennessee Titans:Kenny Britt was drafted in the 1st round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He was Rutgers' first ever first-round pick. This was a surprising pick because many thought that he would be selected by the New York Giants with the pick immediately before the Titans picked... 42 yard TD pass from Teel (Te kick), 8:30	Rutgers 26-23
Rutgers - Te 24 yard FG, :47	Rutgers 29-23

External links

• PapaJohns.com Bowl official website