The 2009 Gator Bowl was played on January 1, 2009, as part of the 2008 College Football season. It featured the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

, who finished tied for first in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

's North Division with

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

, who finished fifth in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

's Atlantic Division. Nebraska scored 16 unanswered points to beat Clemson after being down 21–10 in the third quarter. This game was the first meeting between the Clemson Tigers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers since the

1982 Orange Bowl The 1982 Orange Bowl was the 48th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1981–82 bowl game season, it matched the top-ranked and undefeated Clemson Tigers ...

where Clemson defeated Nebraska for their first national title. This was the second game between both schools with Nebraska evening up the record. The

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

is an annual

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

that is played at

EverBank Field EverBank Stadium is an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is the home facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL), and the headquarters of the professional wrestling promotions Al ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. It is one of the oldest college bowls, held continuously since 1946. This edition's full name was the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl after its sponsor,

Konica Minolta is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, in ...

Overview

The Gator Bowl has

tie-ins A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...

from the

(ACC),

, and

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Conferences, as well as independent Notre Dame. They have the right to the third pick of a team from the ACC, and have the option to offer the other spot to the second pick from the Big East, the fourth pick from the Big 12, or Notre Dame. The 2009 game featured the ACC's

, who finished the 2008 season with an overall record of 7-5 (4-4 in the ACC) playing the Big 12's

, who finished the 2008 season with an overall record of 8–4 (5–3 in the Big 12). Clemson went to the

Chick-fil-A Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played annually in Atlanta, Georgia, since December 30, 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Grant Field on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. Between 1971 and 1992, Atlanta–F ...

in 2007, while Nebraska did not qualify for a bowl game.

Teams

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers

Nebraska opened up the season with 3 straight wins against

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, and

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

. Bo Pelini's arrival saw a renewed interest and optimism in Nebraska football, as evidenced by their record Pay-Per View buys. Nebraska then proceeded to lose a close game to

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, while getting beat by

the next week. Hitting the road for the first time of the season, the Huskers lost to

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

in overtime. Then the Huskers traveled to

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

and beat

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

in a dominant fashion. They came back home and won against the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

. Pelini's Huskers then lost on the road the following week to the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. This game marked the first time Pelini went up against Bob Stoops who he formerly worked under as defensive coordinator at the University of Oklahoma in 2004. On November 8, Bo Pelini's Nebraska Cornhuskers won against

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, making them bowl eligible, something his predecessor, Bill Callahan, was able to accomplish only twice in four years. On November 28, 2008, the Cornhuskers faced the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

. This game proved to be a close one, with Nebraska getting win #8, 40–31 with the help of a school record 57 yard field goal by Alex Henery and an interception by Ndamukong Suh which was run back for a touchdown. This victory tied Nebraska with Missouri for first in the Big 12 North, although Missouri represented the division in the conference championship game because of its tie-breaking, head-to-head win over the Huskers.

Clemson Tigers

The season started with head coach

Tommy Bowden Tommy Pearce Bowden (; born July 10, 1954) is an American former college football coach. He served as the head coach at Clemson University from 1999 until October 13, 2008. He is a son of Bobby Bowden, former head football coach of Florida Sta ...

, who resigned six games into his tenth season with a 3-3 record in 2008. The interim head coach

Dabo Swinney William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American college football coach, currently serving as the head football coach at Clemson Tigers football, Clemson University. Swinney took over as head coach of the Clemson Tiger ...

took over the team and had a 4-2 record going into the Gator Bowl.Mark Schlabach
Bowden ousted at Clemson; coach 'deserved' to be fired, QB says
ESPN.com, October 13, 2008. Retrieved October 13, 2008.

Recap

After both teams traded punts throughout most of the first and second quarters, DeAndre McDaniel of Clemson scored on a 28 yard fumble return, with 4:52 in the second, after he batted down a pitch by Joe Ganz. The Cornhuskers battled back, and were able to tack on a 48 yard Alex Henery field goal with 1:10 left in the first half. Clemson was driving for another score before the half when Cullen Harper's pass was deflected and picked off by Nebraska. On the next play, Joe Ganz threw an interception right back to Clemson. Clemson capitalized with a 25 yard touchdown catch by Aaron Kelly with just 0:35 left in the half. Clemson took a 14–3 lead into halftime. Quarterback Joe Ganz drove the Huskers the length of the field on Nebraska's first possession of the second half, capping off with a 17 yard touchdown catch by Nate Swift to bring the Huskers within four. After Nebraska receiver

Niles Paul Niles Paul (born August 9, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football tight end who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a wide receiver at the University of Nebraska ...

botched the punt return, Clemson's

Jacoby Ford Jacoby Ford (born July 27, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and return specialist. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft. He was also an accomplished tra ...

caught a 41 yard touchdown pass to put Clemson up 21–10. Nebraska struck back with Joe Ganz eventually finding receiver Todd Peterson from 17 yards out for a touchdown to bring the Huskers within four points of Clemson at 21-17. Nebraska's Blackshirt defense intercepted Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper on the next drive. The turnover led to an Alex Henery 28-yard field goal to bring Nebraska within one point at 21–20. Clemson went three-and-out on their next four drives while Nebraska managed two field goals to bring the score to a 26–21 Nebraska lead. Despite the success of the Nebraska defense, Clemson held one more drive for a go-ahead touchdown. With no timeouts, Clemson converted on a third down and later a fourth down until they eventually drove down to the NU 10 yard line for a 1st & Goal situation. On 2nd & Goal, Nebraska cornerback Eric Hagg sacked Cullen Harper for 16 yards back at the NU 26. On 3rd & Goal, Harper found his tailback C.J. Spiller in the endzone, only to have the ball knocked from Spiller's hands by Cornhusker safety, Matt O'Hanlon. Facing a 4th & Goal, Harper threw an incomplete pass to end their drive, giving the ball back to Nebraska with no way to stop the clock. Nebraska kneeled on the ball three times, ending the game and giving the Huskers the 26–21 victory.

Scoring summary

Aftermath

The Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach

Bo Pelini Mark Anthony "Bo" Pelini (born December 13, 1967) is a former American football coach and former player. He was most recently the defensive coordinator for the LSU Tigers football, Louisiana State University Tigers football team. He is the youn ...

continued his perfect postseason record to 2-0. Pelini's 2008 regular season record of 9-4 was the highest among all 28 Division 1A teams with new head coaches and staffs that year. Ndamukong Suh was named to the all Bowl team award.2008 Husker Honors
/ref>

References

{{Nebraska Cornhuskers bowl game navbox Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Clemson Tigers football bowl games Gator Bowl

2000s in Jacksonville, Florida