2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl

2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl

The 2010 PapaJohns. com Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference and the Connecticut Huskies of the Big East Conference. The game was the final contest of the 2009 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football season for both teams. Connecticut won the game 20–7 after a tumultuous 7–5 regular season that included five losses by a total of just fifteen points.

About 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl in brief

Summary 2010 PapaJohns.com BowlThe 2010 PapaJohns. com Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference and the Connecticut Huskies of the Big East Conference. The game was the final contest of the 2009 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football season for both teams. It was the 30th anniversary of South Carolina’s last postseason game at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Connecticut won the game 20–7 after a tumultuous 7–5 regular season that included five losses by a total of just fifteen points, a double-overtime victory at Notre Dame, and the murder of cornerback Jasper Howard. South Carolina scored its sole touchdown after the game had effectively been decided, on a two-yard run by Brian Maddox. Connecticut wide receiver Marcus Easley and South Carolina linebacker Eric Norwood were among four players from the teams to be selected in the subsequent 2010 National Football League Draft. The Big East had had a contractual bowl bid to the game since its inception in 2006. The SEC agreed to send its ninth bowl-eligible team to the bowl starting in 2008, but did not have enough bowl- eligible teams in either 2008 or 2009 to take advantage of the bid. In 2010, the SEC received USD 900,000 for sending a team, while the Big E received USD 600,000. For Connecticut’s opponent, the Papa John’s com Bowl had the right to select a SEC team, but only after all other bowls with contracts with the SEC made their selections.

The next-to-last selection was Georgia, leaving the last available team, South Carolina, as the only SEC team in the PapaJohn’s Bowl. Florida took the SEC champion game loser Florida’s automatic slot in the 2010 Sugar Bowl, vacant since Alabama was selected to appear in the national championship game. The Capital One Bowl selected Ole Miss. The Chick-fil-A Bowl selected Tennessee. The Liberty Bowl shared the next pick, which was shared by the Liberty Bowl and the Music City City City Bowl, which opted for Arkansas and Kentucky, respectively. The Meineke Car Care Bowl considered both Pittsburgh, which had the better regular-season record, and Rutgers, whose fans had a better traveling reputation; it selected Pittsburgh. The previous two years, Rutgers had played in the 2008 International Bowl and the 2008 PapaJohn’s.com Bowl. South Florida played in the 2007 PapaJohn. com bowl and the 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl. Connecticut had played in the 2009 International Bowl the previous year, and South Florida had played in the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl the year before. The Gator Bowl had the first pick after the BCS, and selected West Virginia. The Independence Bowl, with the next selection, picked Georgia, left the last-to last selection, leaving South Carolina the only available bowl- eligibility team, and it was picked by the Papa johns com Bowl. The Bowl was the first time the two schools had played each other in a postseason game.