2009 Brut Sun Bowl
76th Sun Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners Stanford Cardinal
(7–5) (8–4)
Big 12 Pac-10
31 27
Head coach: 
Bob Stoops		 Head coach: 
Jim Harbaugh
APCoachesBCS
192121
1234 Total
Oklahoma 107140 31
Stanford 71703 27
DateDecember 31, 2009
Season2009
StadiumSun Bowl
LocationEl Paso, Texas
MVPRyan Broyles[1]
RefereeJohn O'Neill (Big Ten)
Halftime showDavid Archuleta[2]
Attendance53,713[3]
PayoutUS$1,900,000 per team[4]
United States TV coverage
NetworkCBS
AnnouncersCraig Bolerjack
Steve Beuerlein
Sam Ryan
Nielsen ratings3.3[5]

The 2009 Brut Sun Bowl game was the 76th edition of the annual college football bowl game known as the Sun Bowl. The Oklahoma Sooners defeated the Stanford Cardinal 31–27 on December 31, 2009. It was the two teams' fifth meeting.[6] The game featured two conference tie-ins: the University of Oklahoma represented the Big 12 Conference and Stanford University represented the Pacific-10 Conference. The game was played at the Sun Bowl Stadium on the University of Texas at El Paso campus in El Paso, Texas.

The game featured Stanford's 13th-ranked offense including Toby Gerhart, a Heisman finalist[7][8] who led the NCAA Division I FBS subdivision with 1,736 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns, against the seventh-ranked Oklahoma defense. The Stanford offense averaged over 440 yards per game while the Oklahoma defense had held its opponents to an average of 273 yards per game.[9][10] This was the first time the two teams played each other in a bowl game. They had faced each other 4 previous times in the regular season with Oklahoma holding a 3–1 advantage. The last contest played by the schools was a 19–7 victory in Norman, Oklahoma by the Sooners in 1984.

Team selection

An aerial view of a stadium with blue end zones that appears build into the hills around it. There is a separate track field with seats above and to the left of the stadium.
Sun Bowl Stadium, the site of the game.

By contract, the Sun Bowl Association—which produced the game—possessed the third pick from the Pacific-10 Conference.[11] With that pick, the Sun Bowl selected Stanford over Oregon State, as both teams had been in a three-way tie for second place in the conference with Arizona (whom the Holiday Bowl selected with the second pick from the Pac-10).

In 2005, The Sun Bowl and the Gator Bowl agreed to a four-year contract to alternate bids starting with the 2007 game which would prevent repetitive matchups. The Gator Bowl would be allowed to take the Big East's number two team or the Big 12 number three team; however, each conference would have two bids each to the Gator and Sun Bowls over the four years.[12] Since the Gator Bowl had taken a Big 12 team the previous two years, the Sun Bowl was obligated to take a Big 12 team this year.[13] In the Big 12, the Sun Bowl had the fifth pick, following the Alamo Bowl.[14] When the Alamo Bowl chose Texas Tech, the Sun Bowl then selected Oklahoma.[15]

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Sooners football team began the 2009 college football season as the reigning Big 12 Conference champions. The Sooners also played in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game against the top-ranked Florida Gators, losing 24–14.[16] Expectations were high for the Sooners as they were returning their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford as well as their All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham.[17][18]

However, before the season began, Gresham suffered a season-ending injury. During the season opener against BYU, Bradford suffered an injury to his shoulder that forced him to sit out the next several games.[19] The Sooners would go on to lose that game and their fourth game against Miami. Bradford returned for game number five against Baylor, but reinjured his shoulder the next week against Texas, ending his season and giving the Sooners their third loss of the season. The Sooners would continue to suffer many injuries throughout the remainder of the season including losing offensive linemen Jarvis Jones and Brody Eldridge, and defensive players Tom Wort, DeMarcus Granger and Auston English for the season. With freshman Landry Jones now leading the offense, the Sooners would go on win every home game from that point forward, including a season-ending win over in-state rival Oklahoma State, extending their NCAA-leading home winning streak to 30 games.[20] However, the Sooners would also lose all but one of their away games. Oklahoma ended the regular season with seven wins and five losses (5–3 in the Big 12). The game marked Oklahoma's third appearance in the Sun Bowl. They were a perfect 2–0 in their previous games. In 1981, they defeated Houston 40–14, and in 1993, they defeated Texas Tech 41–10.

Stanford

Toby Gerhart taking a hand off from Tavita Pritchard in the 2008 Big Game against California.

Following a 5–7 season in 2008, the expectations for Stanford were considerably lower than that of Oklahoma.[21][22] In a poll of media members covering the Pac-10 prior to the 2009 season, Stanford was predicted to finish in sixth place.[23]

Stanford's season began as expected with a loss to Wake Forest in the second game of the season. However, the Cardinal's fourth game was against a then-ranked Washington team, in which Stanford won 34–14.[24] A two-game skid to Oregon State and Arizona was a setback for the Cardinal.[25][26] However, after a bye week in early November, Stanford knocked off top-10 ranked (and eventual Pac-10 champions) Oregon 51–42 thanks to a school-record 223 yards rushing by Toby Gerhart.[27] The next week, after earning their first ranking of the season, the 25th-ranked Cardinal defeated the defending Pac-10 champions and 14th-ranked USC 55–21, the most points ever given up by USC in its history.[28] A subsequent loss to California knocked them out of the rankings but a season-closing victory over Notre Dame brought them back into the ratings at number 19.[29] Stanford ended the regular season 8–4 (6–3 in the Pac-10, for a three-way tie for second place). This was Stanford's third appearance in the Sun Bowl. Just like their opponent, they were 2–0 in Sun Bowl games prior to the 2009 game, with a 24–14 victory over LSU in the 1977 game and a 38–0 shutout over Michigan State in the 1996 contest.

Game summary

Sooners wide receiver Ryan Broyles set a Sun Bowl record with three touchdown receptions, quarterback Landry Jones passed for 418 yards and Oklahoma slowed Toby Gerhart just enough to beat Stanford. Jones took over as Oklahoma's quarterback after 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford was injured in an opening loss to BYU. Broyles finished with 156 yards receiving and set Oklahoma's single-game record with 13 receptions in front of a Sun Bowl record crowd of 53,713.[30]

Gerhart, who led the nation with 1,736 yards rushing, ran for 135 on 32 carries and scored two TDs in the first half. Tavita Pritchard went 8 for 19 for 118 yards and two interceptions filling in for Stanford starting QB, Andrew Luck. Stanford was making its first bowl appearance since losing to Georgia Tech in the 2001 Seattle Bowl.

Scoring summary

Scoring Play Score
1st Quarter
OU — Ryan Broyles 30-yard pass from Landry Jones (Patrick O'Hara kick), 12:37 OU 7–0
ST — Owen Marecic 1-yard rush (Nate Whitaker kick), 6:21 TIE 7–7
OU — Patrick O'Hara 28-yard field goal, 0:57 OU 10–7
2nd Quarter
ST — Toby Gerhart 19-yard rush (Nate Whitaker kick), 11:52 ST 14–10
OU — Ryan Broyles 13-yard pass from Landry Jones (Patrick O'Hara kick), 9:57 OU 17–14
ST — Toby Gerhart 16-yard rush, fumbled, recovered by himself in endzone (Nate Whitaker kick), 6:19 ST 21–17
ST — Nate Whitaker 35-yard field goal, 3:57 ST 24–17
3rd Quarter
OU — Ryan Broyles 6-yard pass from Landry Jones (Patrick O'Hara kick), 13:06 TIE 24–24
OU — DeMarco Murray 1-yard rush (Patrick O'Hara kick), 2:59 OU 31–24
4th Quarter
ST — Nate Whitaker 21-yard field goal, 12:43 OU 31–27

References

  1. ↑ Trotter, Jake (December 31, 2009). "Ryan Broyles sets Sun Bowl record with 3 TDs as OU beats Stanford 31–27". Daily Oklahoman. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Sun Bowl picks David Archuleta as halftime entertainer". KVIA. December 9, 2009. Archived from the original on December 10, 2009. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
  3. ↑ Korte, Tim (December 31, 2009). "OU beats Stanford 31–27 in Sun Bowl". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  4. ↑ Bracamontes, Ramon (December 30, 2012). "Sun Bowl director talks about state of annual game". El Paso Times. Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  5. ↑ Jon Solomon, 2009-10 Bowl TV Ratings, The Birmingham News, January 13, 2010
  6. ↑ Miller, Ted (December 6, 2009). "Stanford will face Oklahoma in Sun Bowl". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Heisman Watch". ESPN. December 5, 2009. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Tebow invited to 3rd Heisman ceremony". ESPN. The Associated Press. December 8, 2009. Archived from the original on December 10, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
  9. ↑ Jones, Mike (December 6, 2009). "Oklahoma Sooners assigned tough Sun Bowl duty: Stanford's Gerhart". Fort Worth Star Telegram. Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Stanford, Oklahoma Headed To El Paso" (Press release). Sun Bowl Association. December 6, 2009. Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  11. ↑ Shinn, John (December 6, 2009). "Here comes Sun?". The Norman Transcript. Archived from the original on December 9, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  12. ↑ Price, Jeff (July 14, 2005). "Big 12, Big East to split duties in Gator, Sun Bowls". USA Today. The Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  13. ↑ Griffin, Tim (November 10, 2009). "Big 12 mailbag: Look for South to dominate Big 12's top bowl slots". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 14, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  14. ↑ "2009–10 Bowl Agreements". Big 12 Conference. July 1, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  15. ↑ Bloomquist, Bret (December 6, 2009). "Stanford, Oklahoma to play in 76th annual Brut Sun Bowl". El Paso Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Florida rides Tebow, suffocating defense to another BCS title". The Associated Press. January 8, 2009. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  17. ↑ Trubow, Alan (August 23, 2009). "Analysis: why top five college football teams will (or won't) win it all". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  18. ↑ Reuter, Chad (August 24, 2009). "Top 10 Senior Prospects: Big 12". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  19. ↑ Griffin, Tim (December 6, 2009). "Brut Sun Bowl". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 11, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  20. ↑ Hoover, John (November 29, 2009). "Bedlam blowout". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
  21. ↑ "Top 120 countdown". Rivals.com. July 24, 2009. Archived from the original on October 18, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  22. ↑ "College football preview: Pac-10 predictions". The Sporting News. August 25, 2009. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  23. ↑ "USC Tabbed to Win Pac-10 in Preseason Media Poll (Again)" (Press release). Pacific-10 Conference. July 30, 2009. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  24. ↑ "Stanford returns opening kick for TD, cruises by No. 24 Washington". ESPN. The Associated Press. September 26, 2009. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009.
  25. ↑ "Rodgers' four TDs help Oregon State drop Stanford". ESPN. The Associated Press. October 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 15, 2009.
  26. ↑ "Arizona erases 15-point deficit to clip Stanford". ESPN. The Associated Press. October 17, 2009. Archived from the original on October 21, 2009.
  27. ↑ "Stanford rides Gerhart's legs past No. 8 Oregon". ESPN. The Associated Press. November 7, 2009. Archived from the original on November 11, 2009.
  28. ↑ "Gerhart fuels Stanford's throttling of No. 9 USC". ESPN. The Associated Press. November 14, 2009. Archived from the original on November 18, 2009.
  29. ↑ "Weis' future hangs in limbo after Irish lose to Stanford". ESPN. The Associated Press. November 28, 2009. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009.
  30. ↑ "Oklahoma vs. Stanford - Game Recap - December 31, 2009 - ESPN".
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