| Year Game Played: | 2009 |
| Game Name: | Outback Bowl |
| Subheader: | 23rd Outback Bowl |
| Football Season: | 2008 |
| Visitor Name Short: | South Carolina |
| Visitor Nickname: | Gamecocks |
| Visitor School: | University of South Carolina |
| Home Name Short: | Iowa |
| Home Nickname: | Hawkeyes |
| Home School: | University of Iowa |
| Visitor Record: | 7–5 |
| Visitor Conference: | SEC |
| Home Record: | 8–4 |
| Home Conference: | Big Ten |
| Visitor Coach: | Steve Spurrier |
| Home Coach: | Kirk Ferentz |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 10 |
| Home 1Q: | 14 |
| Home 2Q: | 7 |
| Home 3Q: | 10 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Date Game Played: | January 1 |
| Stadium: | Raymond James Stadium |
| City: | Tampa, Florida |
| Mvp: | Shonn Greene (Iowa RB) |
| Odds: | Iowa by 4 |
| Referee: | John McDaid (Big East) |
| Attendance: | 55,117 |
| Payout: | 3.2 Million[1] |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman |
| Ratings: | 2.7 |
The 2009 Outback Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 23rd edition of the Outback Bowl, it was one of the 2008–09 bowl games concluding the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Scheduled for a kickoff of 11 a.m. EST and telecast on ESPN, the game pitted the South Carolina Gamecocks against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Iowa jumped out to a large lead, leading South Carolina 21–0 at halftime and 31–0 at the end of the third quarter, en route to a 31–10 victory. Shonn Greene, the MVP, had 29 rushes for 121 yards and three rushing touchdowns.[2] [3]
The game featured the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference and the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference. It was the first meeting between the two teams. It was each team's third appearance in the Outback Bowl.
See main article: 2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team. The Hawkeyes entered the game with wins in five of their previous six games, highlighted by an upset of #3 Penn State, and an overall record of 8–4 (5–3 Big Ten). Junior running back Shonn Greene earned consensus First-team All-American honors and received the Doak Walker Award.
See main article: 2008 South Carolina Gamecocks football team. The Gamecocks dropped their final two regular season games and entered the Outback Bowl with an overall record of 7–5 (4–4 SEC).
| Scoring Play | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter | |||
| Iowa - Trey Stross 6-yard TD pass from Ricky Stanzi (Daniel Murray kick), 7:39 | Iowa 7–0 | ||
| Iowa - Shonn Greene 1-yard TD run (Murray kick), 4:41 | Iowa 14–0 | ||
| 2nd Quarter | |||
| Iowa - Greene 1-yard TD run (Murray kick), 8:09 | Iowa 21–0 | ||
| 3rd Quarter | |||
| Iowa - Murray 18-yard FG, 9:09 | Iowa 24–0 | ||
| Iowa - Greene 11-yard TD run, :04 | Iowa 31–0 | ||
| 4th Quarter | |||
| USC - Jared Cook 10-yard TD pass from Chris Smelley (Ryan Succop kick), 13:35 | Iowa 31–7 | ||
| USC - Succop 48-yard FG, 2:02 | Iowa 31–10 | ||