2010 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl

The 2010 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl was the third edition of the college football bowl game formerly known as the St. Petersburg Bowl. This was the first edition of the bowl named after the Beef O'Brady's restaurant franchise. It was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 8 p.m. (ET). The game was telecast on ESPN and featured the Southern Miss Golden Eagles from Conference USA (C-USA) versus the Louisville Cardinals from the Big East Conference.

2010 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl
3rd Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl
1234 Total
Southern Miss 14707 28
Louisville 021010 31
DateDecember 21, 2010
Season2010
StadiumTropicana Field
LocationSt. Petersburg, Florida
MVPKR Jeremy Wright, Louisville
FavoriteLouisville by 2.5[1]
RefereeCharles Lewis (Sun Belt)
Attendance20,017
PayoutUS$1 million
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
AnnouncersRece Davis, Lou Holtz, Mark May and Rob Stone
Nielsen ratings2.0 / 2.99M
Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl
 < 2009 2011

Teams edit

The two teams were not strangers to one another, having both played in the same conference, as Louisville was a member of C-USA from 1996 through 2004. Southern Miss entered the game with an 18–9–1 series lead. The teams had played each other in a non-conference matchup during the 2009 season, with Louisville winning at home, 25–23. This was the first time that the two schools had played each other in a bowl game.

Southern Miss edit

The Golden Eagles went to their ninth straight bowl game, the league's second longest active bowl streak. This was their first bowl trip to Florida in 29 years since playing Missouri in the 1981 Tangerine Bowl in Orlando.[2] Although the 2010 season proved to be a successful one on the field for the Golden Eagles, the most memorable public event was when three players were shot after a fight at a club spilled outside to the parking lot. Linebacker Martez Smith suffered the most serious injury, and is paralyzed from the waist down. The Golden Eagles went 1–1 following the tragic events, winning over Houston but losing a shootout to Tulsa.

Louisville edit

Under first year coach Charlie Strong the Cardinals returned to their first bowl game since the end of the 2006 season when they appeared in the Orange Bowl. Louisville entered the contest with a 6–6 record after defeating Rutgers to become bowl eligible. The Cardinals' defense ranked 12th in the nation in total defense during the regular season. Louisville had gone to eight bowl games in nine years but had been absent from bowl play for the three seasons immediately preceding 2010.

Game summary edit

Scoring edit

Scoring Play Score
1st Quarter
USM – Austin Davis 32-yard pass to Quentin Pierce (Danny Hrapmann kick), 12:06 USM 7–0
USM – Desmond Johnson 62-yard run (Danny Hrapmann kick), 10:12 USM 14–0
2nd Quarter
LOU – Justin Burke 11-yard pass to Cameron Graham (Chris Philpott kick), 11:21 USM 14–7
USM – Quentin Pierce 17-yard pass to Austin Davis (Danny Hrapmann kick), 9:15 USM 21–7
LOU – Justin Burke 10-yard pass to Josh Chichester (Chris Philpott kick), 4:24 USM 21–14
LOU – Bilal Powell 6-yard run (Chris Philpott kick), 1:18 TIE 21–21
3rd Quarter
No scoring TIE 21–21
4th Quarter
USM – Austin Davis 8-yard pass to Zeke Walters (Danny Hrapmann kick), 14:55 USM 28–21
LOU – Jeremy Wright 94 yard kickoff return (Chris Philpott kick), 14:40 TIE 28–28
LOU – Chris Philpott 36-yard field goal, 6:30 LOU 31–28

Statistics edit

Statistics Southern Miss Louisville
First Downs 24 15
Total offense, plays – yards 74-386 61-286
Rushes-yards (net) 41-159 29-110
Passing yards (net) 227 176
Passes, Comp-Att-Int 21-33-0 20-32-0
Time of Possession 28:47 31:13

Source:[3]

References edit

  1. ^ The Tuscaloosa News, December 21, 2010
  2. ^ "East Carolina, Southern Miss accept bowl invites". November 30, 2010.
  3. ^ "Scoring Summary (Final) Southern Miss vs Louisville (Dec 21, 2010 at St. Petersburg, Fla.)" (PDF). Gasparilla Bowl.

External links edit