| 2008 New Mexico Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 20, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | University Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Albuquerque, New Mexico | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | RB Gartrell Johnson, CSU (Offensive) DE Tommie Hill, CSU (Defensive) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Fresno State by 3 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Gil Gelbke (C-USA) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 24,735[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$750,000 per team[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.2[4] | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2008 New Mexico Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game held on December 20, 2008 at University Stadium on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque as part of the 2008-09 NCAA Bowl season. The game, telecast on ESPN, featured the Colorado State Rams from the Mountain West Conference and the Fresno State Bulldogs from the WAC. The two teams were rivals when Colorado State was in the WAC from 1968-98.[5][6]
Colorado State scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to defeat Fresno State, 40-35 behind running back Gartrell Johnson's 375 rushing and receiving yards, an NCAA bowl record.