2009 Sugar Bowl

2009 Allstate Sugar Bowl
	BCS Bowl Game; 75th Sugar Bowl
	Sugar Bowl 75th Anniversary logo
Utah Utes	Alabama Crimson Tide
(12–0)	(12–1)
31	17
Head coach: ; Kyle Whittingham	Head coach: ; Nick Saban
Date	January 2, 2009
Season	2008
Stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	QB Brian Johnson, Utah
Favorite	Alabama by 10[1]
National anthem	Shades of Praise Choir New Orleans, LA
Referee	Scott Novak (Big XII)
Halftime show	The Pride of Utah; Million Dollar Band
Attendance	71,872
Payout	US$17,500,000 per team[2]
United States TV coverage
Network	FOX
Announcers	Kenny Albert play-by-play; Daryl Johnston color; Charissa Thompson sideline; Chris Myers sideline
Nielsen ratings	7.8 (13.369 millions, up 11%)[3]

The 2009 Allstate Sugar Bowl was the 75th annual edition of the annual college football bowl game that is part of the 2008–09 bowl season of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game was played on Friday, January 2, 2009^[4] at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana between the Utah Utes, champions of the Mountain West Conference, and the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference.^[5]

The Sugar Bowl usually takes the champion of the SEC and pits them against an At-Large BCS team. However, with the 2008 SEC Champion, Florida Gators being selected to play for the national championship game, the Sugar Bowl selected two At-Large BCS teams. The bowl kept their traditional ties with the Southeastern Conference for the second consecutive year though, in selecting the Alabama Crimson Tide with an at-large selection.

In the 2009 edition of this bowl game, the No. 6 Utes pulled off an upset of the heavily favored No. 4 Crimson Tide by a score of 31–17. Utah quarterback Brian Johnson was named Most Outstanding Player of the game. With this win, Utah completed the 2008 season as the only undefeated, 13–0 Division I FBS team in the nation, along with becoming the first team from a BCS non-AQ conference to win two BCS bowls. It was also Utah's first win over a Southeastern Conference school.^[6] Andre Smith(Alabama starting left Tackle and 2008 Outland Trophy winner) was suspended for the game because he declined to cooperate with an investigation by the school's compliance staff on the issue with his uncle's illegal contact with a sports agent. A few days later, he declared himself for the NFL Draft and was the 6th overall pick.^[7]

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive		Team	Scoring Information^[8]	Score
Quarter	Time	Length	Time	Team	Scoring Information^[8]	Utah	Alabama
1	11:02	5 plays, 68 yards	1:19	Utah	Brent Casteel 7–yard reception from Brian Johnson, Louie Sakoda kick good	7	0
	8:37	5 plays, 32 yards	1:37	Utah	Matt Asiata 2–yard rush, Louie Sakoda kick good	14	0
	4:01	7 plays, 65 yards	1:57	Utah	Bradon Godfrey 18–yard reception from Brian Johnson, Louie Sakoda kick good	21	0
2	14:55	7 plays, 23 yards	4:06	Alabama	Leigh Tiffin 52–yard field goal	21	3
2	5:28	0 plays, 0 yards	0:00	Alabama	Javier Arenas 73–yard punt return, Leigh Tiffin kick good	21	10
3	11:41	7 plays, 30 yards	3:05	Alabama	Glen Coffee 4–yard reception from John Parker Wilson, Leigh Tiffin kick good	21	17
3	10:04	7 plays, 71 yards	1:37	Utah	David Reed 28–yard reception from Brian Johnson, Louie Sakoda kick good	28	17
4	2:49	7 plays, 31 yards	2:24	Utah	Louie Sakoda 28–yard field goal	31	17
Final Score						31	17

References

↑ "College Football Lines". Maddux Sports. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
↑ "BCS Bowl Facts". Fox Sports. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
↑ Mandel, Stewart (2009-01-05). "Ratings are proof the addition of fifth BCS game officially a failure". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
↑ "Sugar Bowl Preview". The Spread. 2008-12-16. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
↑ "Utah-Alabama Preview". ESPN. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
↑ Dinich, Heather (2009-01-02). "Whittingham, Utes believe they deserve consideration for national title". ESPN. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
↑ Andre Smith (offensive tackle)
↑ "Utah Utes vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (Jan 02, 2009)". University of Alabama Athletics Media Relations. 2009-01-02. Retrieved 2009-01-02.

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[1] "College Football Lines". Maddux Sports. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.

[2] "BCS Bowl Facts". Fox Sports. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.

[3] Mandel, Stewart (2009-01-05). "Ratings are proof the addition of fifth BCS game officially a failure". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.

[4] "Sugar Bowl Preview". The Spread. 2008-12-16. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.

[5] "Utah-Alabama Preview". ESPN. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-22.

[6] Dinich, Heather (2009-01-02). "Whittingham, Utes believe they deserve consideration for national title". ESPN. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.

[7] Andre Smith (offensive tackle)

[8] "Utah Utes vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (Jan 02, 2009)". University of Alabama Athletics Media Relations. 2009-01-02. Retrieved 2009-01-02.

2008–09 NCAA football bowl game season
EagleBank (Dec. 20) New Mexico (Dec. 20) St. Petersburg (Dec. 20) Las Vegas (Dec. 20) New Orleans (Dec. 21) Poinsettia (Dec. 23) Hawaii (Dec. 24) Motor City (Dec. 26) Meineke Car Care (Dec. 27) Champs Sports (Dec. 27) Emerald (Dec. 27) Independence (Dec. 28) PapaJohns.com (Dec. 29) Alamo (Dec. 29) Humanitarian (Dec. 30) Holiday (Dec. 30) Texas (Dec. 30) Armed Forces (Dec. 31) Sun (Dec. 31) Music City (Dec. 31) Insight (Dec. 31) Chick-fil-A (Dec. 31) Outback (Jan. 1) Gator (Jan. 1) Capital One (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 2) Liberty (Jan. 2) International (Jan. 3) GMAC (Jan. 6)
Bowl Championship Series games: Rose (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 2) Fiesta (Jan. 5) BCS National Championship (Jan. 8)
All-Star Games: East–West Shrine Game (Jan. 17) Senior Bowl (Jan. 24) Texas vs. The Nation Game (Jan. 31)

Sugar Bowl Game
History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Mercedes-Benz Superdome College Football Playoff Broadcasters Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1972 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972 and 1995. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015 and 2018 editions.