The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Buffalo Bulls on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football season for both teams. UConn represented the Big East Conference; Buffalo entered as the Mid-American Conference champion. It was the first bowl game for the Bulls after their 2008 Championship Game victory over then-undefeated Ball State.
About 2009 International Bowl in brief
The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Buffalo Bulls on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football season for both teams. UConn represented the Big East Conference; Buffalo entered as the Mid-American Conference champion. Connecticut, led by running back Donald Brown’s 208 yards rushing, dominated the first half statistically, but found themselves down 20–10 midway through the second quarter because they committed six fumbles. The Connecticut victory was sealed when, late in the fourth quarter, Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy threw a pass that was intercepted by UConn safety Dahna Deleston and returned 100 yards for a touchdown. Following the game, Brown declared his eligibility for the 2009 NFL Draft; he would become the first Connecticut player ever drafted in the first round. It was the first bowl game for the Bulls after their 2008 Championship Game victory over then-undefeated Ball State. The Huskies had been frequent opponents during the previous decade as both programs made the transition from Division I AA to Division I I-A and joining the MAC in 1999. The Bulls and Huskies played each other six consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2005, with Connecticut winning five of the contents of the games. The 2005 game was UConn’s most recent meeting by 38–0, the most recent UConn won by 38-0, and the game was played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.
The International Bowl had contracts with the Big. East and Mid- American Conferences that allowed them to select one team from each conference to participate in their annual game. The teams were apportioned among the bowls as follows: South Florida to the St. Petersburg Bowl, Rutgers to the PapaJohns. com Bowl, and Connecticut to the International Bowl. By virtue of being Big East champion Cincinnati was awarded an automatic Bowl Championship Series berth; they would play in the 2009 Orange Bowl. After the Gator Bowl opted to select Big 12 member Nebraska and the Sun Bowl learned that they would not be allowed to select Notre Dame, Pittsburgh received theSun Bowl invitation. The Meineke Car Care Bowl, which had the third selection, picked West Virginia. The fourth, fifth, and sixth selections of Big East teams belonged collectively to theInternational Bowl, PapaJohnS. com bowl, and St. Petersburg Bowl. The 2008 MAC Championship Game was the invitation to the MAC champion Buffalo Bulls, who accepted an invitation to go to the Motor City Bowl due to being closer to the home school than Detroit, Motor City. On December 7, 2008, UConn formally accepted the bowl invitation, the third in their history. The team elected to refuse the bowl bid because of segregation, and Buffalo would not play in a bowl until this game, 50 years later. The previous season, Rutgers had played in the Internationalbowl and South Florida had appeared in the Papa Johns.com Bowl.
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