| 2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BCS Bowl Game 77th Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 4, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Ohio State by 3[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Darius Rucker[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Jeff Flanagan (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 73,879 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$14-17 million | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Brad Nessler (Play by Play) Todd Blackledge (Analyst) Holly Rowe (Sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 8.4 (13.6 million)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the 77th Sugar Bowl. The contest took place on January 4, 2011, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The game had an 8 p.m. (ET) kickoff. Paul Hoolahan was the executive director.
The Sugar Bowl Committee overlooked the #4 Stanford Cardinal and selected as its participants the #6 Ohio State Buckeyes from the Big Ten Conference and the #8 Arkansas Razorbacks from the Southeastern Conference. The Buckeyes won 31–26. Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
On July 8, 2011, under scrutiny from the NCAA due to a variety of program irregularities and violations of Ohio State University and NCAA policies, Ohio State vacated the 2011 Sugar Bowl win along with 11 other victories in their 2010 season. Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, initially dismissed during the scandal, was subsequently allowed to retire from his position as head coach. The game's MVP, Pryor, did not finish his fourth year of eligibility for football at Ohio State, opting instead to seek employment in the National Football League.
Initially barred from the postseason play by the Ohio State coaching staff were Pryor, leading rusher Dan Herron, wide receiver DeVier Posey, offensive tackle Mike Adams, and defensive end Solomon Thomas. On December 23, 2010 Pryor and the four other players were granted permission to participate in the upcoming Sugar Bowl contest. This reversal came after the five suspended players publicly committed to remain at the institution for the 2011 season if allowed to participate in the upcoming Sugar Bowl. Subsequent to the 2011 Sugar Bowl, Pryor reneged on his promise to complete his fourth year.
The 2011 Sugar Bowl was the first-ever meeting between Ohio State and Arkansas. Prior to this game, the Big Ten Conference had a 1–4 record in the Sugar Bowl, with the sole victory coming when the 1998 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Texas A&M in the 1999 Sugar Bowl. The Buckeyes came into the game 0–9 against SEC schools in bowl games all-time and they had not beaten a SEC opponent since 1988, when they defeated LSU in a regular-season game by a score of 36–33. This bowl game win was vacated due to NCAA violations.
Cite error: There are <ref group=n> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=n}} template (see the help page).