The 2010 Outback Bowl

Outback Bowl

The Outback Bowl is an annual New Year's Day college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The event was originally called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1994 until being renamed in 1995 for its new title sponsor, Outback Steakhouse...

was the 24th 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 Raymond James Stadium

Raymond James Stadium

Raymond James Stadium, also known as the "Ray Jay", is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Tampa, Florida. It is home to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as the NCAA's South Florida Bulls football team. The stadium seats 65,857 , and it is expandable to 75,000 for special events...

 in Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

. The game started at 11 AM US EST

North American Eastern Time Zone

The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

 on Friday, January 1, 2010

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....

 and matched Auburn University

2009 Auburn Tigers football team

The 2009 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by first year head coach Gene Chizik...

 against Northwestern University

2009 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2009 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the Big Ten during the 2009–2010 college football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his fourth season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois...

. The game drew 5.69 million viewers (up 30% from the previous year), making it the 7th highest viewing on cable television for the week.

The game marked Auburn's third appearance in the Outback Bowl. It was the team's first appearance in the bowl since a 1996

1996 Outback Bowl

The 1996 edition to the Outback Bowl featured the Auburn Tigers, and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State turned a close first half into a blowout, with a big third quarter run, and ended up winning 43-14...

 43-14 loss to Penn State. The game marked Northwestern's first appearance in the Outback Bowl. The Wildcats sought their first postseason win since the 1949 Rose Bowl

1949 Rose Bowl

The 1949 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game. It was the 35th Rose Bowl Game, and the third since the Big Nine Conference and Pacific Coast Conference agreed to an exclusive agreement to match their conference champions. The Northwestern Wildcats defeated the California Golden Bears 20-14...

. The two teams had never played each other prior to the Outback Bowl. Darvin Adams, the MVP, had 12 receptions for 142 yards.

First Quarter

Northwestern started out on offense. On their first drive, quarterback Mike Kafka threw his first interception when his pass bounced off of a Wildcat player and caught by a diving Walter McFadden. The Tigers drove 31 yards, ending with a Kodi Burns 1 yard touchdown rush, to get a 7-0 lead. On Northwestern's second drive, the 'Cats moved the football all the way to the Auburn 6 yard line. However, Kafka's pass into the endzone resulted in his second interception, once again to McFadden. McFadden ran the ball back 100 yards for a touchdown giving Auburn a 14-0 lead. NU was finally able to score on its third drive, with Kafka hooking up with Andrew Brewer for a 39 yard touchdown, making the score 14-7.

Second Quarter

The first drive of the second quarter resulted in Northwestern's Stefan Demos missing a 48-yard field goal. Later in the quarter, Auburn extended its lead to 21-7 when quarterback Chris Todd found Quindarius Carr for a 46 yard touchdown. With 1:55 left in the quarter, Northwestern got the ball at its own 6. The Wildcats were able to drive to Auburn's 4 yard line with 47 seconds left. But, Kafka threw his third interception of the game to T'Sharvan Bell in the endzone.

Third Quarter

On the first drive of the third quarter, Auburn wide receiver Kodi Burns threw his second interception of the game to Brian Peters. Later in the quarter, Kafka threw his fourth interception to Neiko Thorpe. But on NU's next drive, Kafka completed a 35 yard strike to Brewer for a touchdown to cut Auburn's lead to 21-14. The Tigers' following drive resulted in a punt giving NU the ball at its 34 yard line. Kafka found Drake Dunsmore for a 66 yard touchdown on the first play of the drive to tie the game at 21-21.

Fourth Quarter

Auburn's first drive of the quarter resulted in another punt. On the subsequent drive, Kafka threw his fifth interception of the game, second interception for Auburn's Bell. The short field result in a Ben Tate 5 yard rush, giving Auburn a 28-21 lead. Northwestern's following drive ended with a punt. Auburn's next drive ended again with Tate touchdown, this time of 7 yards, giving Auburn another 14 point lead. Tate dunked the ball over the field goal, resulting in a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the kick-off. With the short field, Northwestern scored a touchdown on a Kafka 2 yard rush. However, Demos' extra point attempt was blocked, making the score 35-27. With 3:22 left in the game, Northwestern attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Tigers. Tate fumbled on Auburn's second play of the drive and the Wildcats recovered at its 31 yard line. NU drove all the way to Auburns 33, but faced a 4th and 3 with 1:31 left. It looked as if Kafka was going to be sacked for a loss by Nick Fairley, essentially giving Auburn the win. However, Fairley was called for a 15 yard personal foul after getting a hold of Kafka's face mask. The 'Cats were given a first down on Auburn's 18. Kafka connected with Sidney Stewart for a touchdown, making the score 33-35. On NU's two-point attempt, Kafka tossed the ball to Brewer in what appeared to be a reverse. But, Brewer threw the ball to a wide open Brendan Mitchell, tying the game up and capping NU's second 14-point deficit comeback of the day. With 1:15 left in the game it appeared that Auburn would have a chance for a game winning drive. But Demond Washington fumbled during the kick-off return giving the Wildcats the ball at the 50 yard line. Northwestern drove to Auburns 26 yard line. With 3 seconds left, Demos attempted a 43-yard field goal for the win, but missed wide right, sending the game into overtime. This was Demos' third miss of the game (2 FG and 1 blocked PAT).

Overtime

The overtime period alone turned the game into an instant classic. Northwestern won the toss and elected to play defense. Auburn reached the Northwestern 4 yard line, only to be stopped. Wes Byrum kicked a 21-yard field goal to give Auburn a 38-35 lead. On the fourth play of Northwestern's drive, Kafka was sacked for a 14 yard loss. Initially, he was ruled to have fumbled the ball causing the Auburn players celebrating and rushing the field. After further review, it was determined that Kafka was down. NU attempted a 37 yard field goal, which hit the right upright setting off another Auburn celebration. However, Demos was run into after the kick, resulting in a 10 yard penalty, giving the Wildcats a 1st and goal on the 9. The 'Cats were only able to reach the Auburn 5 yard line. Freshman kicker Steve Flaherty came in to try an 18 yard field goal due to Demos being injured on his previous attempt. With the Tigers still not ready, Northwestern ran their version of the fumblerooski

Fumblerooski

In American football, the fumblerooski is a trick play, most famously used by the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers against the University of Miami Hurricanes in the 1984 Orange Bowl. It was invented by John Heisman....

, with Markshausen taking handoff between the legs from holder Dan Persa

Dan Persa

Daniel Vaughn "Dan" Persa is an American football quarterback for the Northwestern Wildcats. He attended Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.-Recruitment:Persa committed to the Northwestern University on June 23, 2006...

 and rushing to the right. However, he was stopped short and hit out of bounds by Neiko Thorpe at the Auburn 2, sealing an Auburn victory.

Scoring Play	Score
1st Quarter
AU — Kodi Burns 1 yard rush (Wes Byrum kick), 12:25	AU 7-0
AU — Mike Kafka Mike Kafka Michael John "Mike" Kafka is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Eagles in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Northwestern.Kafka attended St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago,...  intercepted by Walter McFadden Walter McFadden Walter McFadden, Jr. is an American football cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft... , returned for 100 yards (Wes Byrum kick), 4:37	AU 14-0
NU — Mike Kafka 39 yard pass to Andrew Brewer (Stefan Demos kick), 2:04	AU 14-7
2nd Quarter
AU — Chris Todd Chris Todd (American football) Chris Todd is a former college football quarterback for the Auburn Tigers in 2008 and 2009. He was Auburn's starting quarterback for part of the 2008 season and for the entire 2009 season. He set all-time Auburn school records for most touchdown passes in a season and for the longest pass in... 46 yard pass to Quindarius Carr (Wes Byrum), 8:54	AU 21-7
3rd Quarter
NU — Mike Kafka 35 yard pass to Andrew Brewer (Stefan Demos kick), 2:42	AU 21-14
NU — Mike Kafka 66 yard pass to Drake Dunsmore (Stefan Demos kick), 0:27	TIE 21-21
4th Quarter
AU — Ben Tate 5 yard rush (Wes Byrum kick), 10:10	AU 28-21
AU — Ben Tate 12 yard rush (Wes Byrum kick), 7:32	AU 35-21
NU — Mike Kafka 2 yard rush (Stefan Demos kick Failed), 3:20	AU 35-27
NU — Mike Kafka 18 yard pass to Sidney Stewart (Andrew Brewer pass to Brendan Mitchell for 2 point conversion), 1:15	TIE 35-35
Overtime
AU — Wes Byrum 21 yard field goal	AU 38-35

Northwestern

• QB Mike Kafka: 47/78, 532 yds, 5 TD (4 pass, 1 rush), 5 Int
• WR Andrew Brewer: 8 rec, 133 yds, 2 TD
• WR Drake Dunsmore: 8 rec, 114 yds, 1 TD

Kafka set the all-time bowl record with 47 completions and 78 attempts. He set Northwestern and Outback Bowl records with 532 passing yards and an Outback Bowl record with 5 interceptions.

Auburn

• Chris Todd: 20/31, 235 yds, 1 TD
• Ben Tate: 20 rush, 108 yds, 2 TD
• Darvin Adams: 12 rec, 142 yds
• Walter McFadden: 2 Int, 100 yds, 1 TD
• T'Sharvan Bell: 2 Int

External links

• Official Website of the Outback Bowl