| 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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 South Carolina and Connecticut players watch as the officials measure for a first down. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 2, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Legion Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Birmingham, Alabama | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | RB Andre Dixon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ron Cherry[1] (Atlantic Coast Conference) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 45,254[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$900,000 (SEC), $600,000 (Big East)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano[4] | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) of the Big East Conference, on January 2, 2010, at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The game was the final contest of the 2009 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-FBS) football season for both teams, and it ended in a 20–7 victory for Connecticut.
South Carolina had a 7–5 regular-season, highlighted by wins over then-No. 4[Note 1] Mississippi and then-No. 15[Note 1] Clemson. The Gamecocks faced Connecticut. The Huskies were selected to play in the 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl following 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. Pregame coverage focused on the tragedy that marked the Huskies' season, as well as on head coaches Steve Spurrier of South Carolina and Randy Edsall of Connecticut.
Connecticut scored twice in the first quarter: on a one-handed 37-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Kashif Moore and then on a 33-yard field goal after South Carolina failed to convert a fourth-down play at its 32-yard line. Running back Andre Dixon scored for UConn on a 10-yard rush early in the fourth quarter. South Carolina scored its sole touchdown after the game had effectively been decided, on a two-yard run by Brian Maddox.
Dixon was named player of the game, and finished with 126 rushing yards and one touchdown. 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 (NFL) draft.
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