The 2011 Valero Alamo Bowl, the 19th edition of the game, was a post-season American

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 ...

, held on December 29,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season. The game, which was telecast at 8:00 p.m. CT on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, featured the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

from the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

versus 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 ...

, led by

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winner

Robert Griffin III Robert Lee Griffin III (born February 12, 1990), nicknamed RGIII or RG3, is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, most notably with the Washington Redskins. He ...

, from 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 ...

. With a total combined score of 123 points, the game is currently the highest-scoring regulation bowl game in college football history.

Teams

On December 4, 2011, both Washington and Baylor accepted invitations to play in the 2011 Alamo Bowl.Washington, Baylor To Play in 2011 Valero Alamo Bowl
. Alamobowl.com. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011. The two teams had not met since 1965, with the Bears holding a 3–1 advantage against the Huskies. Baylor and UW played home-and-home series in 1954–55 and 1964–65. The Bears won in Waco in 1954 (34–7) and in Seattle in 1955 (13–7). Washington won in Seattle in 1964 (35–14), and Baylor won in Waco in 1965 (17–14).

Washington

Washington entered the game with a record of 7–5, finishing 3rd in the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

North division. Washington quarterback Keith Price had a single-season school record 29 touchdown passes in the 2011 regular season. Running back Chris Polk was ranked 16th in the nation in rushing, averaging 112 yards per game. In addition, the Huskies were very efficient in the red zone, scoring 36 touchdowns on 45 trips. Washington's defense, on the other hand, was ranked only 116th out of 120 against the pass and only 102nd against the run.Lipka, Mike
Washington-Baylor Preview

Yahoo Sports Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from Stats Perform. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. ...

. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.Miller, Ted
Alamo Bowl: Three keys for Washington

. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

Baylor

Baylor entered the game 9–3, finishing 3rd in the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate 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, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

standings. The Bears were looking for their first bowl win since the 1992 John Hancock Bowl, notably the last game for legendary Baylor coach

Grant Teaff Grant Garland Teaff (; born November 12, 1933) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at McMurry University (1960–1965), Angelo State University (1969–1971), and Baylor University (1972–1992), compilin ...

. Baylor entered the game on a 5-game winning streak, after starting 4–3. During the 5-game winning streak, Baylor averaged 46.4 points and 587 yards, which included the Bears' first ever victory over

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. For the season, the Bears had the nation's 2nd ranked total offense (571.25 yards per game), 5th ranked passing offense (356.2 yards per game) and 18th ranked rushing offense (215.08 yards per game). Baylor's offense was led by

-winning QB

. Wide receiver

Kendall Wright Kendall Thomas Wright (born November 12, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Baylor Bears, earning All-American honors in 20 ...

and running back Terrance Ganaway were other players that led the offense. Baylor's defense, on the other hand, was ranked only 114th overall in the FBS.

Game summary

Baylor scored first on an 11-yard touchdown pass to

. Washington responded with a 5-yard Keith Price touchdown run to tie the game 7-7. The Bears were able to score two more rushing touchdowns from Jarred Salubi and

to go up 21–7 at the end of the 1st quarter.Washington Huskies vs. Baylor Bears Play-by-Play

. Retrieved 30 December 2011. In the 2nd quarter, Washington cut the deficit 21–14 on a 12-yard touchdown pass to James Johnson. After forcing Baylor to punt, the Huskies tied the game 21–21 on a 1-yard touchdown pass to Devin Aguilar. On the ensuing drive, Baylor's Robert Griffin III fumbled the ball at Washington's 43-yard line. Taking advantage of the fumble, Washington took the lead 28–21 on a 15-yard touchdown run from Keith Price. After Baylor turned the ball over on downs, Washington took a 35–21 lead with only 1 play on a 56-yard touchdown run from Chris Polk. Baylor was able to cut the deficit 35–24 at the end of the half on a 42-yard field goal. Washington received the ball in the 3rd quarter. The Huskies quickly took a 42–24 lead on an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse. Baylor responded with a Jarred Salubi touchdown run to make it 42–31. Baylor's defense was then able to force Washington to punt. However, Washington's defense responded by forcing a

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. On the ensuing punt, Washington's Kasen Williams returned the punt 46 yard to Baylor's 17-yard line. However, on the next play, Washington's Chris Polk fumbled the ball, giving Baylor the ball back at the Baylor's 11-yard line. Baylor quickly cut the deficit 42–39 on an 89-yard Terrance Ganaway touchdown run (Baylor went for a two-point conversion and succeeded). Washington answered with a 13-yard Devin Aguilar touchdown reception to make it 49–39. On the next drive, Baylor once again made it a 3-point game on a 1-yard touchdown run by Terrance Ganaway. After Washington's Eric Folk missed a 43-yard field goal, Baylor took a 53–49 lead on another touchdown run from Terrance Ganaway. 2011 Alamo Bowl Terrance Ganaway touchdown

2011 Alamo Bowl Terrance Ganaway touchdown

Washington retook the lead 56–53 in the 4th quarter on a 13-play, 76-yard drive that took 6 minutes, 18 seconds that was capped off by an 8-yard touchdown run from Keith Price. Baylor, however, retook the lead again 60–56 on a 4-yard touchdown run from Terrance Ganaway. Baylor's defense was able to force Washington to turn the ball over on downs with 3:20 left in regulation. The Bears then scored again on a 43-yard touchdown run from Ganaway to go up 67–56. After Washington fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Baylor was able to run out the clock to preserve the victory.

Records

Several records were set in the 2011 Alamo Bowl. The 123 combined points were the most scored in regulation in a bowl game. The game also had 1,397 combined yards of offense and 17 touchdowns, both bowl game records. Baylor's 67 points were the most scored in bowl history. However, the record stood for just six days, when the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Mountaineers have been a membe ...

defeated 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 ...

70–33 in the

2012 Orange Bowl The 2012 Discover Orange Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game on Wednesday, January 4, 2012, at Sun Life Stadium, now known as Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami Gardens, Florida. The West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Clemson Tigers by ...

.2011 Clemson Tigers (football) Schedul

Retrieved 21 November 2013. The Bears set an all-time bowl game record with 777 yards of total offense and was also the most yards ever allowed by Washington. Because of the Huskies' defensive performance, defensive coordinator Nick Holt was fired, as were defensive assistants Mike Cox (linebackers), and Jeff Mills (safeties) on December 31.Holt, Mills, Cox fired

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.Holt, 2 other defensive coaches out at Washington

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011. With the win, Baylor secured their first 10-win season since

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. Baylor also won its first bowl game since 1992.

Scoring summary

Source.Baylor Bears vs. Washington Huskies box score

. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alamo Bowl, 2011 2011–12 NCAA football bowl games

2011 in sports in Texas December 2011 sports events in the United States