The 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played on December 29, 2008 in the 65,000-seat

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 ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, and televised nationally by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. The game was one of the

2008–09 NCAA football bowl games The 2008–09 NCAA football bowl games, which concluded the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season, contained a record number of bowl games scheduled in college football history. A total of 37 bowl games, 34 team-competitive games and three all- ...

that concluded the

2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 28, 2008 and ended on De ...

. The 2008 Alamo Bowl was the 16th annual edition of the contest and the second to be sponsored by

Valero Energy Corporation Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power. It is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Throughout the United States and Can ...

. The game pit the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fro ...

(9–4) against the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

(9–3). The 2008 game was dubbed the Journalism Bowl by some in the media, owing to the nationally recognized journalism programs at each school: the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...

and the

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

Scoring summary

First quarter

Northwestern's Brian Peters intercepted Missouri quarterback

Chase Daniel William Chase Daniel (born October 7, 1986) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Missouri and was signed by the Washington Redskins as an undrafted f ...

on the Tiger's first drive. The Wildcats took advantage of the mistake and quarterback C. J. Bachér found a wide-open Eric Peterman for a 35-yard touchdown.

Second quarter

Missouri and Northwestern traded field goals in the second quarter. With just one minute before halftime,

Jeremy Maclin Jeremy Maclin (born May 11, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Missouri, where he was a two-time consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 2009 N ...

bolted for a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Third quarter

Bachér found Rasheed Ward for a 46-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the second half. However, Northwestern's extra point attempt bounced off the right upright, making the score 16–10. Danario Alexander gave Mizzou its first lead of the game with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Daniel with about 7 minutes left in the third. Missouri kicked another field goal later in the quarter. With 31 seconds left in the quarter, Bachér found Ross Lane in the back of the endzone to give Northwestern a 23–20 lead.

Fourth quarter

Jeff Wolfert made his third field goal of the game with 2:49 remaining to tie the game at 23–23. However, he missed a 44-yard field as time expired, sending the game into overtime.

Overtime

Missouri started on offense first to begin the overtime period. Daniel threw a 7-yard pass to Maclin to give Missouri a 30–23 lead. Like their offense, Missouri's defense delivered. They forced a back-pedaling Bachér to fumble the ball, leaving Northwestern with a fourth-and-goal from the 32-yard line. Bachér's desperation hail mary was knocked down into the end zone. Scoring Summary
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References

{{Northwestern Wildcats bowl game navbox

Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and ...

Alamo Bowl Missouri Tigers football bowl games Northwestern Wildcats football bowl games