2009

Valero Alamo Bowl | Saturday, January 2, 2010
Texas Tech 41 vs. Michigan State 31

Attendance: 64,757
TV Rating: 5.6
Team Payout: $4,450,000 combined

Offensive MVP: Taylor Potts, QB, Texas Tech
Defensive MVP: Jamar Wall, DB, Texas Tech
Sportsmanship Winner: Ross Weaver, DB, Michigan State

Head Coaches: Texas Tech: Ruffin McNeil, Michigan St.: Mark Dantonio
Final Records: Texas Tech 8-4, Michigan State 6-7

Game Recap

For the first time in Valero Alamo Bowl history, a team changed coaches during Bowl Week as Texas Tech named Ruffin McNeil interim Head Coach in place of Mike Leach.

The excitement continued on game day as 64,757 fans packed the Alamodome for its third sellout in its last four bowl games to watch a see-saw battle.

Michigan State took a 28-27 lead into the fourth quarter, and appeared to get a break when hot throwing Tech quarterback Taylor Potts (372 yard passing with 2 touchdowns) left the game after injuring his non-throwing hand.

However, his replacement quarterback Steven Sheffield was up to the task. After the Spartans added another field goal, Sheffield marched the Red Raiders downfield in eight plays, the last an 11-yard touchdown pass to Detron Lewis for a 34-31 lead. Baron Batch tacked on a 25-yard touchdown run late in the game to seal the victory.

The first January game date in Valero Alamo Bowl finished the night as the most-watched non-BCS game in ESPN history with 8.9 million viewers.

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

TT: Batch 3-yd run (Williams kick)
MSU: Baker 46-yd run (Swenson kick)

Second Quarter

TT: Wiliams 21-yd FG
TT: Leong 2-yd pass from Potts (Williams kick)
MSU: Martin 48-yd pass from Cousins (Swenson kick)
TT: Williams 38-yd FG

Third Quarter

MSU: Nichol 7-yd run (Swenson kick)
TT: Franks 14-yd pass from Potts (Williams kick)
MSU: White 8-yd pass from Martin (Swenson kick)

Fourth Quarter

MSU: Swenson 44-yd FG
TT: Lewis 11-yd pass from Sheffield (Williams kick)
TT: Batch 13-yd run (Williams kick)

Final Score

Team	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Final
Michigan State	7	7	14	3	31
Texas Tech	7	13	7	14	41

Team Stats

Category	Michigan State	Texas Tech
First Downs	13	31
Net Yards Rushing/Att.	148/32	119/31
Net Yards Passing	248	460
Comp-Att-Int	16-30-2	38-54-1
Total Offense Plays	62	85
Total Net Yards	396	579
Avg. Gain Per Play	6.4	6.8
Possession Time	28:27	31:33
Third-Down Conv.	6/16 (40%)	8/17 (47%)

Individual Stats

Rushing (Att-Yds)

MSU – Baker 12-97; Caper 11-25; Cousins 5-18; Nichol 1-7; Martin 2-3
TT: Batch 22-100; Stephens 4-31; Jeffers 1-4

Passing (Comp-Att-Int, Yds)

MSU – Cousins 13-27-2, 220; Martin 2-2-0, 10; Bates 1-1-0, 18
TT: Potts 29-43-1, 372; Sheffield 9-11-0, 88

Receiving (Rec-Yds)

MSU – White 6-114; Martin 4-86; Gantt 2-34; Nichol 2-11; Cousins 1-2; Baker 1-1
TT: Lewis 10-114; Swindall 7-49; Batch 6-85; Zouzalik 3-75; Leong 3-58; Stephens 3-33; Franks 2-19; Torres 2-15; Jeffers 2-12